Bullying And Sexual Harassment in Schools

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Bullying and sexual harassment perhaps do not immediately come to mind when discussing school violence, however they are two of the most widespread and pervasive issues facing schools today. While the word “bully” brings to mind a harmless school age right of passage to many, research today shows that bullies often times have a number of family or social problems. Also, in today’s modern world, bullies may not merely shake down classmates for lunch money; they have found ways to hound their victims long after they have left the school grounds by using the internet. Another form of bullying is sexual harassment, which is bullying based on the person’s gender or sexual preferences. Sexual harassment is a very damaging problem, especially to school age child who have yet to develop a strong sexual identity of their own. While sexual harassment is generally considered to be aimed from a male to a female, both males and females are victims and perpetrators of this destructive act. For people who are not knowledgeable on the subject of school violence, they may be confused on where the line has been crossed and dangerous behavior begins, nevertheless, there is clear data on who is a bully, what behavior is characterized by a bully, who are victims of bullies, what sexual harassment is, and who is affected by sexual harassment. Many factors in a child’s life may lead him or her to have such emotional distress that they begin bullying other students at school. Social factors are usually the easiest aspect to identify that would cause a child to bully their classmates. The child may have been bullied them self, which leads to pent up aggression which leads to the release of this aggression on other students. It may also be simp... ... middle of paper ... ..._resources/wa_shared/backgrounders/challenge_cyber_bullying.cfm?RenderForPrint=1 Coy, D. (2001). Bullying. Greensboro, NC: ERIC Clearinghouse on Counseling and Student Services. (ERIC Document Reproductive Service No. ED459405) NASBE Policy Update. (2003, June). Bullying in schools. Retrieved April 22, 2005 from http://www.nasbe.org/Educational_Issues/Policy_Updates/11_10.html Ross, T. (2005, January 21). Schools ban camera phones amid ‘happy slapping’ craze. Retrieved April 28, 2005 from http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4030257 Swartz, J. (2005, March 7). Schoolyard bullies get nastier online. Retrieved April 1, 2005 from http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2005-03-06-cover-cyberbullies_x.htm?POE=NEWISVA Walls, L. (2004). Bullying and sexual harassment in schools. Retrieved April 20, 2005 from http://www.cfchildren.org/articlef/walls1f/walls1_print

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