BackgroundSchool violence and bullying are prevalent problems that affect health in general, especially through the development of emotional and behavioral problems, and can result in the deterioration of the academic performance of the student victim. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence rates of aggressive behaviors according to types of school violence and bullying, sociodemographic characteristics, and variation by department, region, and time in the period between 2014 and 2018 in Peru.MethodsThe design was observational and (...) cross-sectional based on data from the Specialized System for Reporting Cases of School Violence in Peru, which covers a population of 23,641 students at the initial, primary, and secondary levels of Basic Regular Education [Educación Básica Regular ], for the 2014–2018 period. The prevalence rates of the different types of school violence and bullying, the sociodemographic characteristics, and the variation by department, region, and time in the period between 2014 and 2018 were estimated.ResultsPsychological violence/bullying occurred at higher prevalence rates. Women from public institutions reported greater sexual violence, mostly by teachers than by other students. The Selva region had the highest prevalence rate of sexual violence. The departments of Tacna and Piura had the highest and lowest rates of psychological/verbal violence and bullying in 2018.ConclusionPsychological/verbal violence and bullying is highly prevalent among students; women report being victims of sexual violence by administrative personnel of public institutions. The Selva region had the highest rate of sexual violence, and Piura and Tacna had the highest and lowest rates of violence and psychological/verbal bullying. Based on these results, it is suggested to conduct evidence-based prevention programs in Peruvian schools to reduce these social problems. (shrink)

The Hostile Environment: Students Who Bully in School analyzes seminal and current research on childhood risk factors, legal issues, cyberbullying, and associations between bullying and mental health to suggest preventative practices.

This study aimed to analyze the levels of personal aggression and victimization, ethnic-cultural aggression and victimization, self-esteem, empathy, social skills and gender in adolescents as potential predictors of bullying in Spain and Ecuador. The wide pluricultural sample comprised Secondary Education students from both countries (N = 25190, average age = 13.92, SD = 1.306; NSpain = 14437; NEcuador = 10753), who took part in the study by filling in a self-report. The results revealed that predictive models of bullying (...) for both countries explain 50-70% of variance. A transnational predictive pattern of personal victimization can be observed based on the levels of ethnic-cultural victimization, ethnic-cultural aggression, personal aggression, self-deprecation and affective empathy. A transnational predictive pattern of personal aggression is evidenced depending on the levels of ethnic-cultural aggression, personal victimization, self-deprecation, ethnic-cultural victimization and the fact of being female. We concluded that bullying can largely be predicted by involvement in ethnic-cultural discrimination. These results are discussed, and educational inferences are drawn for prevention. (shrink)

Our work aimed to study the relationships between different dimensions of school climate, moral disengagement, empathy, and bullying behaviors (perpetration and victimization). The study sample consisted of 629 students (304 boys and 325 girls) aged 12–14 years (M= 12.55,SD= 0.67). Results showed how different dimensions of school climate predicted moral disengagement, empathy, and victimization, and these, in turn, predicted bullying perpetration. The results show the need to generate favorable educational environments to reduce the levels of moral disengagement and (...) victimization and to increase empathy in students as a strategy to prevent negative consequences related to bullying. (shrink)

Violence in schools is a pervasive, highly emotive and, above all, global problem. Bullying and its negative social consequences are of perennial concern, while the media regularly highlights incidences of violent assault - and even murder - occurring within schools. This unique and fascinating text offers a comprehensive overview and analysis of how European nations are tackling this serious issue. _Violence in Schools: The Response in Europe_, brings together contributions from all EU member states and two associated states. Each (...) chapter begins by clearly outlining the nature of the school violence situation in that country. It then goes on to describe those social policy initiatives and methods of intervention being used to address violence in schools and evaluates the effectiveness of these different strategies. Commentaries from Australia, Israel and the USA and an overview of the book's main themes by eminent psychologist Peter K. Smith complete a truly international and authoritative look at this important - and frequently controversial - subject. This book constitutes an invaluable resource for educational administrators, policymakers and researchers concerned with investigating, and ultimately addressing, the social and psychological causes, manifestations and effects of school violence. (shrink)

A self-report questionnaire about involvement in different types of bullying, what behaviours were regarded as bullying, and attitudes towards bullying, bullies and victims was completed by pupils in Year 7 (aged 11/12) through to Year 10 (aged 14/15) ( n = 170). Overall, direct verbal assault was the most commonly reported, and stealing the least frequently reported, type of bullying. For six specific types of bullying investigated, and for a composite measure of all types of (...) bullying, significantly fewer Year 9 pupils than pupils in the other three years reported that they had behaved in these ways in the previous week. No significant sex differences emerged on these measures. These findings suggest that general patterns in bullying activities as a function of age and sex obtained in previous studies do not always hold. Although most pupils indicated that they thought that six out of eight types of behaviour viewed as bullying by researchers should be regarded as bullying, a substantial minority did not. The present study also extended bullying research by examining associations between pupils' definitions and attitudes towards bullying and their reports of bullying others. For one specific type of bullying, 'Forcing people to do things that they don't want to do', significantly fewer pupils who reported that they had behaved in this way than who reported that they had not done so included it in their definition of bullying. A consistent pattern of significant negative correlations of moderate size between attitudes and self-reported involvement in specific types of bullying were obtained. The implications of these findings for those concerned with tackling bullying in schools were discussed. (shrink)

Young adolescents’ online bullying behavior has raised a significant amount of academic attention. Nevertheless, little is known about the social context in which such negative actions occur. The present paper addresses this issue and examines how the patterns of traditional bullying and cyberbullying are related, and how electronic forms of bullying can be linked to the social context at school. To address these questions, social network analysis was applied to examine the networks of social interactions and (...) class='Hi'>bullying among an entire grade of 1,458 thirteen- to fourteen-year-old pupils. The results show that cyberbullying is an extension of traditional bullying as victims often face the same perpetrators offline and online, there is evidence of mutual cyberbullying among youngsters, and cyberbullying is more likely to occur in same-gender and same-class students. The implications for future research and prevention of cyberbullying are discussed. (shrink)

School bullying also referred to as peer victimization is considered extremely harmful for all parties involved. It has been recognised as an important issue in Polish schools. This article presents the first stage of a project financed by the National Centre of Research and Development and includes the results of qualitative research conducted in groups of middle-school students, middle-school teachers and psychologists. The results highlight several factors leading to the exclusion from the dominant peer group. The results also indicate (...) that although students are aware of the consequences of bullying and excluding behaviours, they do not implement this knowledge when explaining their own excluding actions. All results are discussed in terms of designing and implementing a data-based programme which would effectively mitigate excluding behaviours during middle-school transition. (shrink)

Bullying and violence pose widespread problems for contemporary society. In this paper, special attention is given to violence against pupils with SN. The empirical research analyses perceptions of peer violence according to differing roles in relation to violent acts among pupils with and without SN, regarding gender and age. We used the School Bullying Scales measuring instrument, translated and adapted for Slovenia. The main findings of the research are as follows: there is no statistically significant difference between pupils (...) with and without SN in terms of the different roles of peer violence in regular Slovenian primary schools. Among specific subgroups of children with SN, pupils with long-term illnesses were statistically significantly less often observers of violent acts compared to other groups of pupils with SN. (shrink)

"This book takes a new angle on a much-studied phenomenon, focusing on the role of domination and identity construction, understanding and self-knowledge, moral transformation and the social community, systems of training and hierarchy used ...

The problem of violence in schools causes considerable concern in many countries of the world and in our country as well because of the enormous psychological and physical consequences it brings to children and young people. In literature, research can be found even forty years ago, when this phenomenon was defined as aggressive, deliberate, and persistent action carried out by a group or individual against a victim who cannot be easily defended. More recently, violence is not only considered to be (...) physical, but also violence can also be experiences through social networks, which gives us an additional incentive for its further study, all in order to stand in the way of violence and reduce it as much as possible. This paper studies the theoretical and empirical knowledge about some significant factors that contribute to the occurrence of peer violence, such as: family, school environment and personality characteristics of the bully and the victim. At the end, an overview of effective violence prevention programs from different countries in the world is given. (shrink)

Bullying is a global issue that, beyond school, is present in different social contexts, such as sport environments. The main objective of this study was to get to know the experiences of victims of bullying in sport throughout their youth sport training. Semi-structured interviews to four Spanish women and seven Spanish men were carried out, within an age range of 17–27. The following main themes were established by means of a hierarchical content analysis: “bullying characterization,” “dealing with (...) bullying,” and “consequences of bullying.” The results show the presence of physical, verbal and social bullying in the sport context, with the changing room being the space where this type of behavior is most frequently developed. Most victims show an internal attribution for the bullying event, related to their motor skills and their personal physical and psychological characteristics. Double victimization can be observed, at the sport club and at the educational center. Passive strategies are used to deal with the situation, while little support is shown by sport agents. The victims, as a consequence of the bullying experience, suffer from short and long-term negative effects on a psychosocial level. The study highlights the necessity to design and implement programs focused on the prevention, detection and intervention of bullying for sport organizations, bearing in mind all the agents that make them up. Furthermore, the importance of promoting the creation of safe sport environments, free from any kind of violence, is emphasized. (shrink)

To examine whether high moral reasoning competence of adolescents is associated with low levels of bullying, and to understand whether moral disengagement mediates or moderates this relationship, 925 German children ranging from 11 to 17 years of age (M = 14.18, S = 1.21) completed questionnaires on moral reasoning competence and moral disengagement in surveys at three different schools. The children were classified according to their bullying role, based on a peer- nomination procedure. Multinomial logistic regression analyses showed (...) that moral reasoning competence negatively predicted whether a student took an aggressive role. Moral disengagement partially mediated this relationship. Corresponding effects for defenders and outsiders were not found. These results extend previous findings about the effect of moral reasoning on bullying in primary school. The implications for the prevention of bullying are discussed. (shrink)

Over the past decade, sexual rumor spreading, slut-shaming, and homophobic labeling have become central examples of bullying among young women. This article examines the role these practices— what adults increasingly call “bullying” and what girls often call “drama”— play in girls’ gendering processes. Through interviews with 54 class and racially diverse late adolescent girls, I explore the content and functions of “sexual drama.” All participants had experiences with this kind of conflict, and nearly a third had been the (...) subject of other girls’ rumors about their own sexual actions and/or orientations. Their accounts indicate that sexual drama offers girls a socially acceptable site for making claims to, and sense of, gendered sexuality in adolescence. While they reproduce inequality through these practices, sexual drama is also a resource for girls—one that is made useful through the institutional constraints of their high schools, which reinforce traditional gender norms and limit sexuality information. (shrink)

ABSTRACTThe current scales for self-blame are not suitable for school bullying scenarios and most lack validity. This study used a self-developed scale to measure bullied victims’ tendency to self-...

Despite a vast amount of research into school bullying and the widespread implementation of anti-bullying policies and programs, large numbers of students continue to report that they are routinely subjected to bullying by their peers. In this theoretical article, I argue that part of the problem is that there has been a lack of critical discussion of the theoretical foundations upon which such studies are based. Drawing on recent theoretical contributions within the field of school bullying, (...) the work of anthropologist James C. Scott, and the work of philosophers Michel Foucault and Giorgio Agamben, I take particular issue with the notion of power that has long been a foundational pillar of bullying definitions. Utilizing a Foucauldian understanding of power, I argue that rather than focusing on the power imbalance involved in bullying relations, focus instead needs to shift onto the role that bullying plays in power relations. Reimagining Agamben’s figure of homo sacer as a victim of school bullying, I consider the ways in which some individuals are reduced to bare life and forced into a state of exception whereby social laws are no longer deemed applicable. The article concludes with a discussion of how this state of exception might be challenged. (shrink)

AimUnderstanding interrelations between the factors predicting students’ aggressive behavior is a priority for bullying-prevention programs. Our study explores two possible mechanisms linking school disciplinary structure and students’ aggression. We test students’ moral disengagement and bullying by teachers as mediational pathways from school authoritative discipline to students’ aggressive behavior.MethodsWe used a regionally representative sample of 213 schools that participated in a school climate survey in Kaluga Oblast (a federal subject of Russia) in 2019. The analytical sample contained the anonymous (...) responses of 16,809 students from grades 6–9 (12–15 years old); 51% of the respondents were girls. The analytical procedure consisted of structural equation modeling (SEM), which was implemented in Mplus 8.7.ResultsThe mediation model fit the data well, suggesting that the clarity and fairness of school rules negatively predicted peer aggression, while student moral disengagement and bullying by teachers independently and partially mediated this association.ConclusionWe confirm that authoritative school climate, characterized by a clear and fair disciplinary structure, is associated with a decrease in bullying. Novel result is the evidence for mediating mechanisms and the influence of teachers’ aggression on students’ behavior. Prevention programs designed to increase the fairness and consistency of school rules, eliminate bullying and humiliation from teachers, and decrease students’ moral disengagement may reduce violence and victimization at school. (shrink)

This study examined three main issues among 364 primary school children: (1) self?reported levels of perceived safety in classroom and playground, and relationship with teacher, (2) associations between perceived safety in the two contexts and peer reported levels of being bullied, and (3) if relationship with teacher moderated the associations between peer reported levels of being bullied and perceived safety in classroom and playground. Data were collected in individual and small group interviews. Overall, while most participants reported positive relationships with (...) their class teacher, and felt safe in their classroom and in the playground, a substantial minority did not. The correlations between level of being bullied and perceived safety in classroom and playground were significant but of modest size. Relationship with teacher did moderate the correlation for perceived safety in the classroom, but did not do so for perceived safety in the playground. No significant age or sex differences were obtained. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings were discussed. (shrink)

This book provides an eye-opening look at the outsized role that seven Presidents played in shaping the policies and practices relative to school desegregation through their bully pulpit.

The subject of bullying has received widespread academic attention, going back to pioneering studies in the 1970s. However, work in this area has tended to take a gender-neutral/male perspective that does not distinguish between male and female bullying. While retaining a dialogue with generalist literature on the subject, this article seeks to highlight the theoretical and political-social relevance of gender-specific and intersectional approaches when exploring the question of bullying between adolescent girls. Based on the study _Il bullismo (...) femminile a scuola. Un’indagine intersezionale mixed-method_ (Female bullying at school, an intersectional, mixed-method study) – conducted in medium-sized and large cities in northern, central and southern Italy – it proposes a theoretical-analytical framework in which to consider the phenomenon of female bullying in Italian schools. (shrink)

ABSTRACTMany anti-bullying programmes use teachers in the critical role of provider, yet few trials focus on enhancing their ability to fulfil this role. As teachers’ readiness may impact on the ef...

In this article we take off from critiques of psychological and school bullying typologies as creating problematic binary categories of bully and victim and neglecting sociocultural aspects of gender and sexuality. We review bullying research informed by Judith Butler’s theories of discursive performativity, which help us to understand how subjectification works through performative repetitions of heterosexual gender norms. We then build on these insights drawing on the feminist new materialist approach of Karen Barad’s posthuman performativity, which we argue (...) enlarges our scope of inquiry in profound ways. Barad’s theories suggest we move from psychological models of the inter-personal, and from Butlerian notions of discursive subjectification, to ideas of discursive-material intra-action to consider the more-thanhuman relationalities of bullying. Throughout the article, we demonstrate the approach using examples from qualitative research with teens in the UK and Australia, exploring nonhuman agentic matter such as space, objects and time as shaping the constitution of gender and sexual bullying events. Specifically we examine the discursive-material agential intraactions of skirts and hair through which ‘girl’ and ‘boy’ and ‘slut’ and ‘gay’ materialise in school spacetimematterings. In our conclusion we briefly suggest how the new materialism helps to shift the frame of attention and responses informing gendered intraactions in schools. (shrink)

Teaching ethics poses a dilemma for professors of business. First, they have little or no formal training in ethics. Second, they have established ethical values that they may not want to impose upon their students. What is needed is a well-recognized, yet non-sectarian model to facilitate the clarification of ethical questions. Gestalt theory offers such a framework. Four Gestalt principles facilitate ethical clarification and another four Gestalt principles anesthetize ethical clarification. This article examines each principle, illustrates that principle through current (...) business examples, and offers exercises for developing each principle. (shrink)

Real Life Bully Prevention For Real Kids addresses the pervasive problem of bullying by offering students hands-on activities. Teachers will want to use this book in their classrooms with their students as part of the school’s anti-bullying curriculum. As an added bonus, the activities reinforce English/language arts, social studies, and health education curricular goals. Counselors, therapists, and school administrators can also use the activities in large and small group instruction. Additionally, leaders of after-school programs and youth leadership programs, (...) such as scouting, dramatics classes, and religious education classes, will find the activities helpful in addressing their bully prevention programs. Each activity contains a description, goals for children, and helpful hints for adults to guide their youngsters through the program. (shrink)

Gun violence in American and Canadian schools is an ongoing tragedy that goes substantially beyond its roots in the interlocking emotional and behavioral issues of mental health and bullying. In light of the need for effective policy development, Dianne T. Gereluk, J. Kent Donlevy, and Merlin B. Thompson examine gun violence in schools from several relevant perspectives in this article. The authors consider the principle of standard of care as it relates to parents, teachers, and community members in a (...) particular school's context. They posit that normative principles may provide a procedural mechanism appropriate for policymakers and practitioners when contemplating and implementing heightened security measures. Finally, they propose Rawlsian reasonableness as an effective and deliberative democratic process that reduces emotional, reactive responses to school shootings. Through these overlapping concepts, the authors advocate for purposeful discussions regarding gun violence in schools based on the unique pragmatic, educational, social, political, and contextual circumstances of individual schools and their surrounding communities. (shrink)

The vast majority of schools in Canada are dominated by unsafe spaces and experiences for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth 1 who continue to experience higher rates of suicide, depression, isolation, harassment/bullying, and self-harm compared to their straight peers2. Gay/Straight Alliances (GSAs) and other LGBTQ-inclusive groups exist in schools with the goal of mitigating and working against homophobia. Most often in Ontario (Canada), straight teachers lead these groups3. Because of the pervasive role straight teachers play in (...) GSAs and other anti-homophobia initiatives in schools, there is a practical need to analyze the role and experiences of straight teacher ally activists working with LGBTQ students and the overall effectiveness of anti-homophobia efforts under their purview. Here, I explore the efficacy of straight teacher allies, the importance of understanding straight privilege, and the significance of radical heterosexuality for straight people doing LGBTQ activism. Relying on queer theory and decolonizing/Indigenous queer theory, I argue that it is necessary for straight teachers to acknowledge their straight privilege in order to challenge homophobia’s companions: heterosexism and heteronormativity. In addressing the latter two covert forms of oppression in schools, teachers and students could shift into deeper, more effective resistance measures. (shrink)

Bullying has over the years been examined and explained in individual as well as in contextual terms, and from a wide range of different theories and methods. A growing number of bullying researchers approach bullying as a socially complex phenomenon and from social psychological and sociological perspectives. There is today a tension between theoretical perspectives on bullying, but also a need for investigating the social and contextual aspects of bullying further. In this article, I will (...) argue for the necessity of dialogue between different theoretical perspectives and the inclusive potential of the social-ecological framework to create a meeting point of theories in order to develop a more comprehensive understanding of school bullying. (shrink)

Moving on to a higher level of schooling represents a crucial developmental challenge for children: studies have shown that transitioning to a new school context can increase the perceived importance of peer acceptance, popularity, and adaptation to the new social environment. The aim of this study was to investigate simultaneously the influence of interpersonal variables and personal variables on role-taking in bullying episodes from a longitudinal perspective. These variables were assessed on 41 children in their last year of kindergarten (...) and in their 1st year of primary school. The main longitudinal results showed that prosocial behaviors are more stable than hostile, victim, and outsider behaviors. Moreover, social preference—together with affective empathy—at t1 had a clear negative predictive effect on hostile roles at t2, while social preference had a positive effect on prosocial roles at t2. Social impact at t1 negatively predicted being a victim at t2. On the other hand, social preference at t2 was negatively predicted only by the victim role at t1. Social impact at t1 had a significant and negative effect on being victimized at t2 while was negatively predicted at t2 by the outsider at t1. Our study—even if exploratory—seems to highlight the existence of a specific, differentiate effect of two distinct social status indices on the participant role-taking in bullying episodes in the transitional period from kindergarten to primary school. (shrink)

Objectives: This study explored a multidimensional model of the relationships between social media use, gender, peer bullying victimization experiences, and the onset of anxiety symptoms among children. We hypothesized that greater experience of bullying would be associated with greater onset of anxiety. We also expected that gender and social media use would be linked with anxiety among elementary school children. To test this hypothesis, a structural equation modeling approach was used.Methods: A total of 456 elementary children aged 11–13 (...) years from nine schools were recruited for this research. We used two psychological measures: The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders and the Personal Experience Checklist as well as a sociodemographic questionnaire.Results: The social media usage survey found that all participants used social media. Instagram and YouTube were the platforms most used by the participants. The Structural Equation Model results suggest that bullying victimization and gender predicted the onset of anxiety in elementary school children. The model explained 32.1% of the variance of the outcome with very adequate fit indicators based on most indices, χ2 = 173.56, df = 52, p < 0.001; CFI = 0.92; TLI = 0.94; RMSEA = 0.07. Instagram use was correlated positively with generalized anxiety disorder. Gender was negatively correlated with Instagram use and positively correlated with YouTube use. Girls were found to use Instagram more and boys were found to use YouTube more. It was also found that girls had higher scores onSCARED dimensions, except for school avoidance. Girls were more prone to onset of anxiety than boys, except for school avoidance, which was not related to gender. Boys were found to experience significantly more physical bullying than girls. On the other hand, girls were found to experience more panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, and social anxiety than boys.Conclusion: This study found that bullying victimization significantly influences the onset of anxiety in children. Particular attention should be paid to cyberbullying in this context. This study also found a link between gender and anxiety—girls had a greater tendency to experience the onset of various types of anxiety, including panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, and social anxiety. Gender was also correlated with the form of bullying victimization. The findings of this study suggest that boys were more likely to experience physical bullying than girls. Interestingly, we found that Instagram use was significantly correlated with developing separation anxiety. In particular, children demonstrated school avoidance when experiencing cyberbullying. Limitations and future directions are discussed. (shrink)

To date, research on bullying has largely employed empirical methodologies, including quantitative and qualitative approaches. Through this research we have come to understand bullying as both a dyadic and peer group phenomenon, primarily situated in the heads of those involved, or in a lack of skill or expertise, or in the delinquency of a bully who needs to be reformed. This research has largely directed its strategies toward problem students using individual and peer group approaches. And yet school (...) bullying continues to be a crucial educational issue affecting millions of students each year. In this project I introduce a missing philosophical perspective. Analyzing the work of Hans-Georg Gadamer I am led to conclude that typical anti-bullying strategies at times simply train bullies to be better at bullying. Gadamer invites us to think about bullying in new ways. While certainly involving the thinking and skills of the bully and the victim, Gadamer contends that bullying does not fundamentally result from a problem within the participants, but is fostered by certain spaces between them; terrains that cultivate specific experiences of an. (shrink)

Given the high prevalence and dramatic impact of being bullied at school, it is crucial to get more insight into how teachers can reduce bullying. So far, few instruments have measured elementary teachers’ responses to bullying. This study investigated the validity of the student-reported Teachers’ Responses to Bullying Questionnaire. The factor structure and measurement invariance were tested across two educational contexts among fourth and fifth grade students from Italy and Belgium. Furthermore, associations between student-perceived teachers’ responses and (...) students’ bullying behavior were examined. Confirmatory Factor Analysis supported the predicted five-factor structure, distinguishing Non-Intervention, Disciplinary Methods, Group Discussion, Mediation, and Victim Support. A partial factor means invariance model was found, allowing for valid comparisons between the Italian and Belgian educational contexts. Significant associations were found between self-reported, but not peer-nominated, bullying behavior and most student-perceived teachers’ responses. (shrink)

Recent studies show that the current punitive approach to bullying, in the form of zero-tolerance policies, is ineffective in reducing bullying and school violence. Despite this significant finding, anti-bullying legislation is increasing. The authors argue that these policies are not only ineffective but that they are also unjust, harmful, and stigmatizing. They advocate a broader integrative approach to bullying programs that includes both victims and bullies.

PurposesThis paper aims to discuss the relationship between college students’ sports participation, school bullying, emotional intelligence and self-esteem. At the same time, it explores the intrinsic mechanisms of school bullying, in order to provide a reference for reducing bullying phenomenon among college students, and pave the way for college students to lead happy, healthy and confident lives.MethodsA total of 1,317 students from four universities in Southwest China were selected as subjects for this survey. They were selected by (...) stratified random sampling, and the data needed was obtained using a structured questionnaire. The data was subsequently processed with statistical software SPSS19.0 and AMOS21.0.Results Sports participation has a significant and positive correlation with emotional intelligence and self-esteem, likewise, it has a significant negative correlation with school bullying. Emotional intelligence has a marked positive correlation with self-esteem, at the same time it has a significant negative correlation with school bullying. In addition, self-esteem is strongly negative correlated with school bullying. Sports participation has a direct effect on school bullying. Emotional intelligence and self-esteem also play a significant mediating role between sports participation and school bullying, and the chain mediating force of emotional intelligence—self-esteem also reaches a significant level.ConclusionSports participation affects school bullying among college students not only directly but also indirectly, such as through emotional intelligence, the mediating role of self-esteem, and the chain mediating role of emotional intelligence to self-esteem. Apart from sports participation, emotional intelligence is another key factor that affects college students’ school bullying. Therefore, while attaching great importance to college students’ sport participation, schools should also provide courses aimed at developing students’ emotional intelligence. (shrink)