Peer Aggression and Bullying in Australian Schools

This chapter shows that teacher professional development, and more informed resources about peer aggression should be made available if peer aggression is to be curbed in Australian schools. It focuses on the peer aggression experiences self-reported by over 800 Australian school students aged 11-16. The chapter provides details of the context of the study with information about Australian schooling and the school contexts in which the participants were immersed. School safety is addressed in Australia through the National Safe Schools Framework, a document endorsed by education ministers in all Australian states and territories. The metropolitan public high school was a public school with students from middle to high socio-economic backgrounds and where an anti-bullying policy had been in operation for over a decade. For some school-aged young people however, school memories are marred by experiences of bullying and altercations with peers.