EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CYBERBULLYING PREVENTION PROGRAMMES IN PRIVATE SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN YENAGOA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF BAYELSA STATE, NIGERIA.

The study investigated the evaluating the effectiveness of cyberbullying prevention programmes in private secondary schools in Yenagoa local government area of Bayelsa State. Descriptive survey research design was used for the study. Three research questions and two hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The population of the study consisted of 3,067 students in 82 private secondary schools in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. A stratified random sampling technique was used to draw 200 students as the sample size from the population. The instrument for data collection was a self-designed questionnaire titled: Effectiveness of Cyberbullying Prevention Programmes Questionnaire (ECPPQ). Face and content validity were employed in this study. Validation was ascertained by experts in Educational Psychology, Guidance and Counseling, and Measurement and Evaluation Department in Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt. To determine the reliability of the instrument, a test–retest method was adopted. The instrument was administered twice to a group of students outside the study area at an interval of two weeks. The data obtained were analyzed using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation, which yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.84, indicating that the instrument is reliable for the study. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, while t-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study showed that the following are types of cyberbullying prevention programmes implemented in private secondary schools in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa: digital safety awareness seminars, guidance and counseling services, school rules on internet usage, peer mentoring/peer education and parental sensitization programmes; to a high extent cyberbullying prevention programmes reduce cyberbullying behaviours among students in private secondary schools in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State; and finally a substantial improvement in students’ digital citizenship awareness after exposure to cyberbullying prevention programmes. Based on the findings, it was recommended that private senior secondary schools should institutionalize cyberbullying prevention programmes, teachers and school counselors should receive regular training on digital safety, schools should involve parents in cyber safety awareness programmes, and clear school policies on cyberbullying should be developed and consistently enforced.