Perception of teachers working at secondary schoolson cyberbullying and their encounter level

This study was carried out to determine perception of the teachers and administrators working in middle schools against cyber bullying and their encounter level. It was conducted with 316 teachers and 14 school administrators working in secondary schools in the centre of Siirt, Turkey. The research uses both qualitative and quantitative methods. In the quantitative method of the study, teachers' perception of cyber bullying and their encounter level were examined by screening method. In the qualitative method of the study, the views of middle school administrators on bullying were examined with semi-structured interviews. In the study, it was found out that the teachers' perception of cyber bullying was high yet their encounter level was low. It was determined that teachers' level of cyberbullying perception and their encounter level did not differ statistically in terms of gender, seniority, child ownership, internet usage frequency and expertise. It was also determined that there were various cyber bullying problems such as annoyance in the cyber environment, insulting personality, nicknaming and immoral expressions. Moreover, the problems of cyber bullying that would require technical knowledge were found to be experienced at a very low level. The research revealed that awareness raising activities were needed to raise awareness of cyber bullying in every part of the society. Finally, various suggestions were presented in the direction of the obtained results. Key Words: Cyberbullying, Cyberbullying Perception, Bullying