Pupil and parent attitudes towards bullying in primary schools

This paper describes an investigation of pupil and parent attitudes towards bullying, comparing attitudes with bullying behaviour. 747 parents and 326 children aged 6 to II from four primary schools completed the Parental Att itudes to Bullying Scale and the Children's Attitudes to Bullying Scale. Mo st were found to be largely sympathetic towards victims, supportive of inte rvention, but less understanding towards bullies. There was little associat ion between parental and children's attitudes, nor did parent attitudes pre dict children's behaviour; although there was a link between the children's attitudes and their behaviour. Mothers were more sympathetic than fathers, but there were no sex differences among children. Children with more sibli ngs were more likely to bully others.