Dr N. P. Ogbuokiri & Dr O. E. Igbe
Abstract
The study investigated the students’ perception of the impact of peer bullying on the academic performance of school adolescents in Okigwe Education zone 1 of Imo state and the counsellors’ role. A survey research design was adopted for the study. Simple random sampling technique was used to draw a sample of 240 senior secondary II students from ten (10) schools. A research question was posed to guide the study, while a hypothesis was formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. A researchers-designed instrument was used to generate data for the study namely: Effects of Peer Bullying Questionnaire (EPBQ). Data generated was analysed using mean, standard deviation and t-test. The finding showed that all the items on peer bullying negatively affected the academic performance of students. There is no significant difference in the mean scores of male and female respondents on the effect of peer bullying on the academic performance of school adolescents in Okigwe Education zone 1, Imo state. Based on the findings, it was recommended that school counsellors should make themselves available to students by conducting seminars and workshops to make students know the negative effects of bullying.