The Relationship Between Exposure to Media Violence and School Bullying in Jordan

PURPOSE: To examine the relationship between exposure to media violence and bullying among school students in Jordan.

METHOD: A cross-sectional, correlational design and a self-reported questionnaire were used to answer research questions. A multistage, stratified random sampling was utilized to recruit a sample of 550 students from eight governmental educational directorates in a large governorate in Jordan. A self-reported questionnaire included demographic data, Media Violence Exposure scale, and School Bullying scale was distributed.

RESULTS: Prevalence of school bullying was 47%. There was a positive correlation between media violence exposure and school bullying (r=.549); significantly more boys reported exposure to media violence, perpetrating of school bullying in general, and perpetrating of physical bullying in particular than girls (p=.00). While significantly more girls reported perpetrating of relational bullying than boys (p=.00). Media violence viewing time explained 42% of variance in school bullying scores.

CONCLUSION: The findings call urgent need for intervention programs tailored by specialized health professionals to combat the consequences of this growing phenomenon.