Abstract:

Today, it is seen that high school students exhibit different risky behaviours due to the rapid changes experienced in adolescence. The purpose of this research is to examine how administrators, teachers and school counsellors working in different high schools define risky behaviour and their views on risky behaviours exhibited by high school students.

In this context, the research addresses five questions:
1.How would you define the concept of risky behaviour in students?
2.What kind of risky behaviours do you encounter?
3.What precautions do you take against risky behaviours?
4. How do you react when you observe risky behaviours?
5.What do you think are the main reasons for the risky behaviours you encounter in your students?

In this research, "basic qualitative research" method is used in order to reveal the opinions of teachers, psychological counsellors and administrators working in high schools about "risky behaviours exhibited by high school students". The study group of the research consists of fourteen participants including four school administrators, four psychological counsellors and six teachers who were selected by the "maximum diversity sampling" method among the teachers, psychological counsellors and administrators working in official high schools in Denizli, Manisa, Uşak and Kütahya provinces in Turkey. The city of the participants, the type of task and the type of school are taken into account in providing diversity. The semi-structured interview form created is presented to the expert opinion, and after the trial application, the interview form is given its final form. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with the participants and recorded with a voice recorder. The obtained data were transcribed, coded and categorized, and content analysis was made and reported by creating themes. For the validity and reliability of the study, the research model, study group, data collection tool and process, data analysis and interpretation process were presented in detail.

According to the findings, the participants define risky behaviours as any conscious or unconscious behaviour that harms the person him/herself or his/her environment. Participants state that risky behaviours such as smoking, substance and alcohol use, peer bullying, cyberbullying, profanity, tendency towards the opposite sex, tendency to violence, ganging up, school absenteeism, lying, talking inappropriately with friends, going to open high school and inability to manage stress are observed in high school students. The most important point is that the participants stated that smoking among students has become commonplace and that their families consider smoking as normal. In addition, the participants state that cyberbullying has increased a lot today and there are events that are reflected in the court. Participants state that preventive studies are carried out and trainings are provided in cooperation with the school administration, teachers, school guidance service and families to prevent these behaviours. It is emphasized that the reasons for the emergence of risky behaviours are factors such as broken family, low socio-economic status, domestic violence, indifferent parents, education system, aimless students, misuse of social media, adolescence, inadequacy of family communication, the desire to be accepted among peers, to be free and marginalized, character of the individual and the environment are effective.

Keywords:

Risky behaviours, high school students, administrators, teachers, guidance and psychological counsellors.