School Bullying in Primary Education: Forms and Frequency of Occurrence

School bullying is a complex social issue that manifests in various forms within school communities and has serious consequences for both the individuals involved and the overall functioning of school life. This study examines primary school principals’ perceptions of the frequency of different forms of bullying in the school environment, focusing on the Greek primary education context. A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was employed, involving 512 principals in the quantitative phase and 21 principals in the qualitative phase. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, while qualitative data were examined through thematic analysis. The results indicated that the most frequently occurring forms of bullying were mild verbal bullying, low-severity non-verbal bullying, mild physical bullying, and low-severity sarcasm, ridicule, or mockery. In contrast, severe forms, such as severe racist bullying, sexual bullying, severe cyberbullying, serious physical aggression, and high-intensity social exclusion, were reported as rare. The study contributes to the literature by offering context-specific evidence on how different forms of bullying become visible from the institutional perspective of primary school principals. These findings may inform prevention and intervention strategies that respond to the organisational realities of primary schools.