Parents' and teachers' opinions on bullying and cyberbullying prevention: The relevance of their own children's or students' involvement

The goals of the present study were (1) to examine parents' and teachers' opinions on bullying and cyberbullying prevention, and (2) to investigate whether the involvement of their children or students in bullying affects their opinions. Altogether, 959 adults (466 parents, 493 teachers) reported on their opinions. More than 95% of parents and teachers regarded bullying as an important topic. Cyberbullying was seen as the least serious form and physical bullying as the most serious one. Ninety-five percent of parents and 90% of teachers stated that they would accept a bullying prevention program; 61% of parents and 75% of teachers were willing to actively participate in bullying prevention; 34% of parents and 66% of teachers reported that their own children or students were victims of bullying. This involvement moderated teachers' opinions. Teachers of students affected by bullying rated verbal and cyberbullying as more serious, accepted prevention programs more readily, and were more willing to actively participate in a program compared to teachers whose students were not involved.