Conference presentation
Tall Poppies: Bullying behaviours faced by Australian female high performance secondary school athletes
USC Research Week, 2015 (Sunshine Coast, Australia, 13-Jul-2015–16-Jul-2015)
University of the Sunshine Coast
2015
Abstract
Tall Poppies: Bullying behaviours faced by Australian female high performance secondary school athletes.* Maureen O'Neill, Angela Calder, Bill Allen Background: This research revealed that Australian high performance secondary school athletes were victims of the Tall Poppy Syndrome. Tall Poppies are successful individuals bullied by those who are less successful in order to "normalize them". Methods: As part of a larger study about issues for school-age high performance athletes, 19 current and former national or international high performance secondary school athletes were interviewed. This included 12 females and seven males. NVivo 10 SP 6â„¢ matrix queries was used to analyse interview data. Findings: Despite no direct questions on bullying, all 12 females indicated they were bullied by others at school but none of the seven males reported being bullied. These experiences had a detrimental impact on the female athletes' school life and wellbeing. Common issues experienced as a consequence of being bullied included avoiding school, increasing self-doubt, reduced self-esteem, turning to alcohol and becoming more reclusive. No male athletes reported being bullied and their failure to mention this warrants further investigation. Implications: Further studies asking boys about this issue are required. Plus to address this issue specifically for all high performance secondary school athletes a targeted approach involving schools and parents is required. Increasing parent and teacher awareness of Tall Poppy Syndrome behaviours faced by these talented individuals is the first step. Secondary, anti-bullying strategies that include resilience training in school should be reinforced by the teachers and parents of these young people. *Tall Poppies: Bullying Behaviours Faced by Australian High Performance School-age Athlete Journal of School Violence / Vol. 13, No. 2, pp.210-227
Details
- Title
- Tall Poppies: Bullying behaviours faced by Australian female high performance secondary school athletes
- Authors
- Maureen O'Neill (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and EngineeringAngela Calder (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and EngineeringBill Allen (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
- Conference details
- USC Research Week, 2015 (Sunshine Coast, Australia, 13-Jul-2015–16-Jul-2015)
- Publisher
- University of the Sunshine Coast
- Date published
- 2015
- Copyright note
- Copyright © The Author.
- Organisation Unit
- Centre for Support and Advancement of Learning and Teaching; School of Education - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Health and Sport Sciences - Legacy; School of Health - Sports & Exercise Science
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99449224002621
- Output Type
- Conference presentation
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