Abstract
Bullying is a serious social problem leading to adverse long term physical and emotional consequences. One such consequence is that of suicidal thoughts and behaviours (suicidality) that result from being bullied, with South African secondary school children not being immune from this modern age social problem. This cross-sectional study explored the nature and prevalence of bullying victimisation and its relationship to suicidality in a sample of Gauteng secondary schools. The study recruited 155 participants between the ages of 13–17 years that attend government schools in the greater Johannesburg area. Eighty-one male and 74 female participants completed the Bullying and Cyberbullying Scale for Adolescents (BCS-A) and the Paykel Suicide Scale (PSS). Data were analysed using SPSS Version 29. The results indicated a significant relationship between bullying victimisation and suicidality. Gender was not found to be significantly associated with bullying victimisation but was found to be significantly associated with suicidality, with higher scores for females being found on the PSS. Age was also not found to be significantly associated with bullying victimisation or suicidality. A hierarchical regression analysis indicated that after controlling for gender, physical and verbal victimization were predictors of scores on the suicidality measure. The findings align with the South African and international data confirming the relationship between bullying victimisation and suicidality.