Examining the effectiveness of peer bullying awareness program in primary school students

The primary aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of the five-session "Peer Bullying Awareness Program-Primary School", developed by Yılmaz and Cenkseven Önder (2021) under the Psychoeducation Project for Challenging Life Events (ZOYOP) of the Turkish Ministry of National Education (MoNE), in increasing the peer bullying awareness levels of primary school students (in terms of both bullying and victimization roles). A concurrent mixed method design was employed in the study. A one-group pretest-posttest-follow-up weak experimental design was used for the quantitative part, and a phenomenological design for the qualitative part. The study was conducted with two experimental groups, one from third grade and one from fourth grade, at a public primary school in Eskişehir, Türkiye. Quantitative data were collected through the "Peer Bullying Scale: Child Form" and the "Peer Bullying Knowledge Form", while qualitative data were gathered via semi-structured interviews with students and teachers. According to the findings, the third-grade group showed a significant decrease in bullying scores between pretest and posttest (z=-2.417, r=.624, p<.05), and pretest and follow-up (z=-2.596, r=.649, p<.05). In the fourth-grade group, victimization scores significantly decreased between pretest and follow-up (z=-2.251, r=.563, p<.05). Both groups also showed improved conceptual knowledge on peer bullying. Qualitative results revealed positive changes in students' peer bullying awareness, and teacher interviews confirmed that the program had partially positive effects. In conclusion, the findings indicate that the "Peer Bullying Awareness Program-Primary School" is effective in enhancing students' peer bullying awareness across cognitive, behavioral, experiential, and emotional dimensions. Keywords: Peer bullying, Bully, Victim, Primary school, Awareness program