Systematic Review on Parents’ Attitude towards the Problem of Bullying among Primary School Students

Abstract

The issue of bullying has reached an alarming level of severity and seems to persist through generations. Instances of bullying, particularly among students, attract significant attention on social media platforms. This is a deeply concerning matter as it causes immense harm to the victims, leading to feelings of fear, humiliation, disappointment, and a significant decline in self-esteem, sometimes even resulting in tragic student deaths. While there have been numerous studies on school bullying, conducting a comprehensive review of this research topic has proven to be challenging due to the lack of research on bullying specifically in Malaysia that examines parental attitudes and strategies. Studies conducted in other countries may not be directly applicable to the unique cultural and racial dynamics of Malaysia. Hence, the objective of this study is to ascertain the attitudes of parents towards bullying among primary school students. The review process encompassed five essential methodological steps, such as adhering to a review protocol, formulating research questions, employing systematic searching strategies on well-established databases like Scopus, Science Direct, Springer Link, and Google Scholar to identify, screen, and evaluate relevant studies, followed by a stringent quality appraisal, and meticulous data extraction and analysis. Additionally, the thematic analysis revealed four major themes: (1) the attitude of parents'; (2) type of bullying; (3) factors contributing to bullying incidents and (4) bullying prevention strategies.