Coping Strategies and Preventing Approaches for Bullying among School-aged Children and Youth in Chonburi Province, Thailand

Abstract

This research article aimed to examine coping strategies and prevention approaches for bullying among school-aged children and youth in Chonburi Province, Thailand, and to propose guidelines for developing mechanisms to address and prevent bullying. The study employed a mixed-methods research design conducted in two phases. The first phase was quantitative research, in which data were collected through questionnaires from 907 school-aged children and youth in Chonburi Province and analyzed using descriptive statistics. The second phase was qualitative research, involving in-depth interviews with 30 participants and focus group discussions with 40 participants, including children and youth, parents, teachers, psychologists, social workers, social development practitioners, and representatives from relevant agencies. The qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. The findings revealed that the most common forms of bullying experienced by children and youth were being ridiculed, mocked, teased about personal weaknesses, or teased about their parents’ names. These were followed by verbal insults and derogatory remarks, as well as threats or gossip. In terms of coping strategies, most children and youth tended to seek alternative ways to avoid risky situations or stay close to trusted friends. This was followed by seeking help from others, communicating with the perpetrator to stop the behavior, and trying to ignore the situation. However, institutional mechanisms, such as reporting channels, homeroom teachers or advisors, and peer support systems, still faced limitations in terms of trust, continuity, and confidentiality. As a result, some children chose to handle the problem on their own or avoided seeking help. The key recommendation of this study is to develop a child-centered system for addressing and preventing bullying by integrating the roles of families, schools, communities, child protection agencies, and relevant professionals. Such a system should include prevention, monitoring, assistance and referral, as well as protection and rehabilitation processes in order to create a safe and child-friendly environment and reduce bullying among school-aged children and youth.