Bullying: A Response Paper

Bullying is a major social problem experienced in many countries around the world. Bullying is intentionally causing harm to an individual, using an association that is based on power imbalance (Juvonen and Sandra 159). Bullying is usually repetitive and persistent. However, in some unique case, a single act of bullying can have continued or permanent effect on a victim. Studies show that every two children between the age of 8 and 16 are being bullied in schools (StopBullying, 2013). A school is a place where all the kids learn how to behave, respect one another and also a place where they should feel safe. Unfortunately, we have a problem in our school of bullying that needs to be acknowledged. There is a high prevalence rate, and yet in some countries, the rates are higher (Juvonen and Sandra 159). Bullying has various detrimental psychological impacts. Apart from immediate health effects, bullying also leads to cases of depressions, lowered self-esteem and anxiety, even after the victim grows up. Some scholars have linked bullying to truancy, suicidal thoughts as well as eating disorders (Juvonen and Sandra 161). This paper discusses a solution of bullying and proposes various techniques of addressing the problem.

Studies consider bullying as a critical pathway where social

inequalities of different domains are initiated, showing the need for identification of children who are at a high risk of being bullied (Juvonen and Sandra 160). These adverse effects and the high rates of occurrences have attracted much attention leading to the development of some techniques, both proactive ad reactive, to address the problem.
There are two primary forms of bullying, namely;
• Physical bullying
This form of bullying is where the perpetrator physically confronts the victim by hitting, pushing, shoving, tripping, and other forms of forces.
• Verbal bullying
This is where the perpetrator bullies the victim by using abusing language, name-calling, and other verbal techniques, without coming in contact with the victim.
Problem Description
I have become aware that at the school are some kids getting bullied. This situation has been going on for a while now, and as of now, the school doesn’t have any policy against bullying. A few weeks ago a pair of siblings came to the school from Kentucky. My son told me they were two new kids in the school and one of the girls is in his class. She is 9, and her sister is 11. These girls stand out for their outfits and accent. I was told by my son the kids laugh the first day when the girl introduced herself to the class, and she started crying. During lunch time the kids started screaming the girl's name and saying they hated her. I hate Rosa! Other situations have happened of bullying were kids are getting bullied by their sneakers or because they can’t afford to pay for lunch. These kids don’t only get bullied in the schools; they also suffer the pain of having to deal with the harassment while playing in the community park, riding the bike in the neighborhood, because the kids in the school are the same kids in the community. These children eventually isolate themselves, and we can’t let that happen in our school. Teachers are breaking that behavior at the moment that happens, but a policy should be putting in place to control the bullying in the school. Parents, teacher, and kids should be working together to bring an end to the bullying in the school and community.
Solution Description
Establishing Anti-bullying polices
The school should try to develop shared visions on bullying to ensure that the school community knows various ways of handling cases of bullying. Strategies can be developed to have some forms of punishment with the aim of discouraging bullying as a behavior. Studies show that most cases of bullying happen in playgrounds (Cornell, Dewey, and Susan 333). As such the playground policies should be developed.
The development of these anti-bullying polices would facilitate openness and offer specific information of how to handle the issue. This policy provides reference points to both the students and the teachers. In developing, the policies, it is recommendable that the students are involved (Cornell, Dewey, and Susan 333). Many studies report that cases of bullying are decreased in schools having strict policies.
The current and new students should be made to sign the policy documents stating that they agree to the terms and the consequences.

Signing these documents alone will bring about a sense of responsibility and the students will feel responsible for their actions. As such, the possible perpetrators will be discouraged from engaging in these acts (Cornell, Dewey, and Susan 333). However, the process of dealing with the policy should not stop there and should extend to full implementation. Specific teachers should be assigned the responsibility for enforcing the policies. The policies should also be posted at strategic points around the school to serve as a reminder to the

students.
Peer support
This method entails the use of student peer groups to prevent and respond to bullying. The peer support technique involves the use of training bystanders, the circle of friends, peer mediation, peer mentoring as well as peer listening (Salmivalli 286). The method provides both emotional and social support to the victims or possible victims of bullying. Most of the vulnerable students are the newcomers and the relatively weak, both physically and intellectually. The older or peer individuals are identified and given the task of supporting the more vulnerable. Kids involve in the peer group can be trained on ways of listening and mediating (Salmivalli 286). The peer group members become buddies of the victims and the vulnerable. In selecting these peer members, precaution should be taken since some of these individuals could end up bullying the kids they are supposed to protect. The peer members are, therefore, selected after assessment of their behaviors. These peer members do not only get training but are also assigned supervisors, who in this case are teachers, to monitor their behaviors (Salmivalli 288).

Involvement of parents and the community
In addition to teachers, parents have a crucial role to play in the development of their children. Bullying is a two-sided affair; has a victim and a perpetrator. Dealing with bullying on an individual scale requires the development of the characters of the two players i.e. the perpetrator and the victim (Wang et al. 296). The perpetrators should be brought up in a manner that discourages them from bullying others. The victims, on the other hand, should be worn up in a way that improves their esteem and empowers them to avoid being vulnerable. The parents are encouraged to be keener with their children to notice any behavioral changes that may portray forms of bullying. Parents should be trained on proper parenting techniques (Wang et al. 297). The parents can also be involved in the drafting of the bullying policies. When parents are involved in the process, and they are aware of the policy, they can easily communicate them to their children.
Supporting Reasons
Some cases of bullying do not occur in the school setting. These form of bullying occur when the children are out of school too, playing with other kids from the same community. Community plays a huge role. The society can be taught to abandon certain cultures and traits that make children bully others. That's because children have a tendency of copying what they see. The church and other religious groupings are also part of the community. These bodies can be encouraged to be involved in the fight by teaching the children not to be bullied (Wang et al. 300). Churches can also be asked to reach out to the children who are bullied and provide them support. They can also offer guidance to those individuals who have a tendency of bullying others.
Conclusion
Other than the measures proposed above, schools have other strategies that have been tried and tested. However, these strategies have their strengths and weaknesses, as well as their dynamics. Therefore, it is important that schools assess the available strategies for their strengths and weaknesses. Schools should choose those strategies that actively would best work for them. The next phase involves the pooling of the necessary resources and sharing the vision with the stakeholders. These techniques can be fully implemented, and after implementation, the schools can assess the effectiveness of these policies. Like any other system, the efficiency of the policies embraced could be evaluated through ascertaining the change attained. The effectiveness of policies could be determined by cost and change attainable. If for instance adopting the policy reduces the problem of bullying in schools, it should be considered efficient and hence adopted.