Investigation of secondary school 5th-6th-7th grade students' exposure to peer bullying types and ways of coping (the case of Ayancık district)

Although childhood and adolescence are the ages when the individual is most open to social changes, the negative experiences experienced during this period lead children and adolescents to adopt and become accustomed to acts of violence and bullying in the group. As a result of the rapid increase in these behaviors, defined as peer bullying, in Turkey and in the world, emphasis has been placed on studies that include students involved in bullying. For this reason, this study aimed to examine the exposure to types of peer bullying and the ways of coping with it of 5th-6th-7th grade middle school students. It was applied to a total of 223 students who attended a public middle school in Ayancık district of Sinop province in the 2023-2024 academic year. Phenomenology design was used in the study using the qualitative research method. The age range of the participating students ranged between 10-12. Data were collected through Form-1 and Form-2 surveys applied face-to-face. In the study, which was conducted using the descriptive method, statistics were obtained with frequency and percentage rates. According to the results of the research; It was found that students could not make a terminological definition by not expressing the components when defining bullying; they used the concepts of violence and bullying interchangeably and had difficulty distinguishing peer bullying incidents, they had superficial knowledge; students encountered/witnessed peer bullying incidents at school; the incidents mostly occurred at school; their classmates and other classes bullied them the most; bullying was mostly done by boys and girls were the victims; they chose to share the peer bullying incidents they encountered with an adult, family or teacher they trusted; they shared the situation with their families; their families mostly discussed the bullying incidents with the school administration and teachers; they received help from their friends in bullying incidents, bullying incidents did not affect academic success, and they coped with peer bullying by asking for help from their families, class guidance teachers and an adult they trusted. As a result; it was observed that students used the concepts of violence and bullying interchangeably and had difficulty distinguishing peer bullying incidents. Increasing research on peer bullying in similar age groups will contribute to revealing deficiencies and conducting research in this direction