Relationships of School Performance and Responsibility-sharing with Bully Activities in Indian Schools

Background: The coexistence of schools and school bullying are time contextual. Though its components are explored to different lengths at different geography the relationship with school performance and responsibility-sharing for Indian subcontinents are far and few. Aim and Objectives: The study took cognizance of this knowledge gap and tried to explore the existence of any relations between academic performance and responsibility-sharing with school bullying. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 6 randomly selected schools (3 urban and 3 rural) in a district of Madhya Pradesh, India. The participants from the 6th to 10th standard were selected by systematic random sampling and 96 participants per class were enrolled. The tools used were back-translated and pilot tested. They are the Bullying Prevalence Questionnaire (BPQ) and the Rosenberg Self-esteem questionnaire. School performance and responsibility-sharing information were collected from concerned school records. Results: From 480 participants, 48.3% were involved in some form of school bully activities. Students’ academic grade (2 - 0.20) and school attendance (2 - 0.75) were not associated with school bully behaviors, but their non-cocurricular recognition and lack of responsibility-sharing made them vulnerable to bullying (2 and ANOVA p = 0.02 each) and victimized (ANOVA p = 0.03). Participants who shared school responsibilities and received acclaim were prosocial (ANOVA p = 0.00) and immune to bullyism. Conclusion: Schools are places where the pupils are groomed to be responsible and productive. The results established these points.