Bullying Among Special Education Students

The purpose of the study is to examine traditional and cyberbullying among the students with special education needs attending special education schools. Additionally, traditional and cyber victimization among special education students have been examined in terms of gender and grade levels. A sample of the present study consists of 295 students with special education needs (177 gifted, 118 deaf) attending segregated special education schools. The Revised Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire, the Revised Cyber Bullying Inventory-II, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, and a demographic data sheet were employed to collect data. Results of the study indicated that of the total 295 students with special education needs, 28.1% of the students with special education needs were bullies and 39.3% were victims of traditional bullying. Furthermore, 13.5% of the students with special education needs were identified as cyberbullies, and 23.3% of them were found as cybervictims. When gender and grade level were examined in regard to traditional and cyber victimization, significant gender differences were found in 9 and 10 grade levels. Male students with special education needs obtained higher scores for victimization than female students with special education needs. The results of the study were discussed in the light of literature.