Cyberbullying/Cyber-Victimization Status, Cyberbullying Awareness, and Combat Strategies of Administrators and Teachers of Pre-School Education Institutions

Abstract

This study aimed to determine whether the administrators and teachers of pre-school education institutions are aware of cyberbullying, whether they are cyber victims or cyberbullies, and their situations of creating strategies by taking security measures to combat cyberbullying. In this regard; A total of 15 public, private and independent kindergartens and teachers of the Ministry of National Education in Edirne city center were included in the study. The Cyberbullying Scale for University Students, developed by Tanrıkulu and Erdur - Baker (2019) was used as a data collection tool, the survey forms and the interview forms prepared by the researchers were used for managers and teachers. According to the results of the analysis, administrators and teachers' cyberbullying levels are lower than cyber victimization levels. Teachers who have not heard of cyberbullying are more likely to be cyberbullying than teachers who have heard of it. When the cyberbullying and cyber-victimization status of the teachers participating in the research were analyzed by age, it was concluded that younger teachers were more likely to be cyberbullies than older teachers. Managers with younger children are more cyberbullies than managers with older children. The managers and teachers who participated in the study stated that they learned the concept of cyberbullying most from social media. In addition, it was determined that participants' strategies to combat cyberbullying were also different from each other. Most managers and teachers have stated that seminars on cyberbullying should be held for them, and that family education is also important.