Implementing Bullying Awareness Programs: A Bright Change for the Future

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"A person is bullied when he or she is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other persons, and he or she has difficulty defending himself or herself." Dan Olweus (Olweus1). Bullying effects millions of kids on a daily basis and will most likely never cease to stop. According to international studies, bullying is common and affects anywhere from nine to fifty-four percent of children (Parker-Pope). Statistics also show that seventeen percent of students in grades sixth through tenth reported having been bullied "sometimes" or more with eight percent being bullied once a week, and ninteen percent said they had been a bully to others "sometimes" or more (Olweus2). Bullying has the capability of lasting effects on a ones physcological state, as well as physical. No human being should be in constant fear of when a bully may strike next, or whether one will survive the next day. For this reason, bullying awareness programs should be implemented in schools across the nation to aid and battle bullying to protect kids as well as teach the importance of anti-bullying.

The three important components to bullying are as followed; bullying is aggressive behavior that involves unwanted, negative actions, bullying involves a pattern of behavior repeated over time, and bullying involves an imbalance of power and strength (Olweus1). At one point in time, bullying had meant a push on the playground, or a mean slur, however bullying has progressed from then. Bullying can be described as the systematic abuse of power (Smith3). Kids take it upon themselves to hurt, and bring down others, which is not justification whatsoever. It is hurtful, and spiteful. Regardless of your personal feelings about someone, ...

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Olweus Bullying Prevention Program from Hazelden & Clemson University. © 2011 Hazelden Foundation, 2011. Web. 02 Jan. 2012. .

Olweus, Dan "Peer Harassment: A Critical Analysis and Some Important Issues," in Peer Harassment in School, ed. J. Juvonen and S. Graham (New York: Guilford Publications, 2001): 3-20.

Parker-Pope, Tara. "With Bullying, Suicide Risk for Victims and Tormentors - NYTimes.com." Health and Wellness - Well Blog - NYTimes.com. The New York Times, 18 July 2008. Web. 02 Jan. 2012. .

Phan, Aimee. "A soldier's death, bullying and bias." USA Today n.d.: Newspaper Source. Web. 7 Jan. 2012.

Smith, Peter K., and Sonia Sharp. School Bullying Insights and Perspectives. London:Taylor & Francis, 1994.

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