Bullying involvement of Korean children in Germany and in Korea

Abstract

This study compared bullying involvement of Korean or Korean-German children living in Germany with children in Korea, and examined children’s perceptions of school environment associated with bullying involvement of the children. This study included 105 Korean or Korean-German children living in the Bayern State of Germany as the study sample and 95 Korean children in Gyeongnam Province of Korea as the control group. Korean children in Germany were significantly less likely to be exposed to and less likely to be engaged in bullying behaviors than those in Korea, except relational bullying. Overall 21.0% of Korean or Korean-German children were being bullied and 18.1% of children were bullying peers in Germany, whereas 33.7% of children were exposed to being bullied and 35.8% of children were involved in bullying peers in Korea. Children’s perceptions of school environment as being more favorable were significantly associated with decreased bullying involvement of children. Policy implications were suggested based on the findings.