Bullying can threaten students’ physical and emotional safety at school and can negatively impact their ability to learn. According to U.S. surveys, more than 70 percent of all students report seeing some sort of bullying in their schools with 41 percent reporting seeing it on a weekly basis. Students also report problems with negatively worded anti-bullying messages which flatly told them what not to do. Messages such as "don't be a bully" and "bullying is wrong" are often ignored by students. Schools may choose to implement formal evidence-based programs or curricula. But how effective are these programs? Some suggests that anti-bullying programs work best for younger students but, for students in Grade Eight or above, may actually be counterproductive. …show more content…
Whether it be through staff meetings, or training sessions. It is important for school employees and volunteers to understand accurate definitions of bullying and school procedures, timetables and expectations for the in-school reporting of observed bullying incidents. Teachers and principals consistently underestimate the amount of bullying that takes place under their radar–on playgrounds, in hallways, even in classrooms. Teachers want to help stop bullying, but they don’t know how. Most try to help, but few receive training on how to do so. They need to be trained for this sort of thing, and be able to stop it from happening again, considering that is the goal after …show more content…
Programs encourage students to intervene when they see a child being bullied in school or in their neighbourhood. Most studies indicate that the actual benefits of these programs may be small at best and that their overall impact may not be as great as schools hope. Students often reported that the posters and teacher presentations used to educate students about bullying tended not to be helpful in engaging students, especially if students found it boring. One Grade Eight girl said that "after you read posters like four times, you really don't want to read them anymore." Since bullying is often seen as something that only affects "younger kids", older students often appear visibly bored during anti-bullying presentation, something that younger students see and imitate. Ultimately, what really determines whether anti-bullying programs are effective is how well the anti-bullying guidelines are followed in
As shown as a real issue within high school through television’s Freaks and Geeks, bullying is something that needs to be understood and dealt with. In an age with more resources for bullies to use, the consequences are too severe not to do anything about it. Bullying is now stretching beyond the school hallways and has invaded students in their own homes. There needs to be more awareness on what the actual effects of bullying are and that bullied victims are not alone.
Bullying has become a major problem facing the United States today. The American Psychological Association reports that roughly 40% to 80% of children are involved in bullying on some level during their time in school. (APA, 2014) The magnitude of the problem can be observed in the statistics. In the United States, a total of 4,080,879 children between the ages of five and 18 have been the victims of bullying compared to 3,892,199 who have reported that they have engaged in bullying someone else. Additionally, 851,755 said that they have been both the victim and the bully. That's a whopping 8,824,833 people in the United States that have been involved in bullying behavior on one level or another. (High, B., 2000 Census)
In fact, Columbine was the first major incident to bring to light the issue of bullying. Due to these findings, many schools in the 21st century have adopted anti-bullying programs to help put an end to bullying. However, anti-bullying programs are not effective, or as successful as they should be, which show there is no solution to fully end the growing problem of bullying. Many people find the word “bullying” hard to define. In fact, the definition of the word has changed greatly over the last ten years.
Not only is it already hard to be a teenager, but having to deal with constant teasing and harassment is just something no one needs. There is a point in life where bullying can become so terrifying that students will rather stay at home than have to face their bully. Darnell “Dynasty” Young is a 17 year old gay teen who has gone through every possible way to stop his bullies from harassing him. His mother has tried everything but hasn’t been able to put a stop to it. Until one day, Young’s mother bought Darnell a stun gun. His mother told him to bring it to school and when the bullies began to torment him to take it out. He did just that, he did not actually shoot anyone he just waved it up in the air to intimidate his bullies. He not only got suspended but he also got arrested, yet the six boys teasing him and calling him names received no punishment whatsoever. (CNN) Young is one of the many kids that go through this type of abuse in a place where they should feel safe. This is an example of the school failing to do anything to prevent this kind of behavior, even after the parents try to intervene. This is also a great example of parents failing to implement high behavior standards by enforcing them to retaliate. Parents should be there to advice a peaceful way of resolving this in a non violent way not give them the weapon. By implementing prevention programs such as activities that help fight bullying can ultimately lead to the end of this horrific thing some kids face each day.
Even though I work in a school district where we are expected to watch videos on bullying annually, this series was eye opening to the real problem of bullying. According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development three out of ten children are a bully, victim, or both. Another statistic from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development reveals that 3.2 million youth are bullied and 3.7 million youth are the bullies. These statistics are staggering. The characteristics of bullying is repeated aggressive behavior that is carried out over time with the intent of inflicting verbal, nonverbal, or physical harm to another individual. Normal peer conflict happens infrequently between two equal
With this unfortunate circumstance, schools need to put a stop to bullying. Informing the school and the community on the issue of bullying is the first step in ending it. To continue, the next is to make rules that will prevent kids from wanting to bully other students. Also, creating an anti-bully committee and a bullying report office in schools will help reduce bullying. With cyber bullying being so difficult to detect, we inform parents and students about safe internet use and ask parents to monitor their child internet usage. Bullying is
Bullying and Violence in Public Schools Although bullying has always been a problem in schools, it has more recently become a bigger crisis with vicious consequences. “However it is defined, bullying is not just a child’s play, but a terrifying experience many schoolchildren face everyday. It can be as direct as teasing, hitting or threatening, or as indirect as exclusions, rumors or manipulation” (Garrett 2). Most kids do not think certain actions are classified as bullying, yet they do not realize the severity of the way they treat their peers.
Some children have normalized the bullying culture and can no longer recognize what is and isn’t bullying. By adding anti-bullying programs schools, including administration and parents, will be aware of all forms of bullying and what they could do to help the cause. There are many forms of anti-bullying programs said to be built for the many different forms of bullying. There are programs that find the parents to be the source of the solution. This includes schools sending guides to the parents homes to teach how to deal with bullying, and to begin a discussion on how to talk about bullying with their child, which often leads to therapeutic talks. Programs that only involve schools are filled with anti-bullying messages throughout the school year that reinforce positive behavior. There also are programs that include both forces, parents and schools. These programs according to Elizabeth Lawner and Mary Terzian in “What Works for Bullying Programs: lessons from experimental evaluations of programs and evaluation” say “Five of the six programs that involved parents and implemented a whole-school approach worked for at least
Bullying has been around for decades and yet it is still a reoccurring problem, and it is only getting worse. The National Center for Educational Statistics, in 2009, said nearly 1 in 3 students between the ages of 12 and 18 reported being bullied in school. Eight years earlier, only 14 percent of that population said they had experienced bullying(Ollove,2014). There are two types of bullying the direct form and indirect form, in the direct form the victim receives physical harm example kicking pushing shoving. In the indirect form the victim receives emotional or mental harm by name-calling, rejection, gossip, threats, or insults(Green,2007). It doesn’t matter which way the victim was bullied it still causes
Bullying has been a part of schooling for as long as children have been congregating. To some it seems like a natural, though uncomfortable, part of life and school experience, while to others it can mean terrifying experiences which spoiled and characterized otherwise happy years in school. Dan Olweus, a pioneer in bully behavior research documented that 2.7 million children are affected as victims, and that 2.1 children act as bullies (Fried, 1997, as cited in Aluedse, 2006). With bullying cited as the reason for violent, gun-related crime in the past few years, school districts as well as national governments have put anti-bullying policies in place. Bullying is a complicated phenomenon, involving more than one child demanding lunch money from a smaller child. It is a worldwide epidemic hitting schools everywhere. Virtually everyone has seen or experienced bullying. With technological advances, bullying is even hitting the internet. Parents, teachers, students and governments agencies alike are attempting to put a stop to bullying practices.
In recent times bullying has become a national issue, notwithstanding the fact that it has been in existence for many years. Traditionally, bullying has been seen as horseplay, but with the increase of harassment in schools and suicides; parents and schools are now forced to take action to prevent bullying in schools. Bullying is an unwanted, aggressive behavior that involves a real or perceived power imbalance which has the potential to be repeated over time. Strategies to prevent bullying in schools are grouped into identifying the causes of bullying, creating policies and rules, building a safe environment and educating students and staff.
Whitted, K., & Dupper, D. (2005). Best practices for preventing or reducing bullying in schools. Children & Schools, 27(3), 167-175. Retrieved April 8, 2007 from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Premier.http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=17538038&site=ehost-live
“Researchers have conducted that at least 25% of all children will be affected by bullying at some point during their school years, and many of these children miss significant numbers of school days each year owing to fear of being bullied” (Bray, M., Kehle, T., Sassu, K. (2003). Bullying has become a major problem for our students and our schools. Children are missing educational time and are losing self-confidence because they are afraid or intimidated by other students. We, as teachers, need to reduce bullying in our schools and prevent bullying from being a reoccurring issue in the lives of our students in order for them to learn, grow and develop. Our goal as teachers should be “to reduce as much as possible-ideally to eliminate completely- existing bully/victim problems in and out of the school setting and to prevent the development of new problems” (Olweus, D. (1993).
Bullying has always been present within the United States. Although the issue has been around for a long time, it continues to grow and become more of problem. It is said that about 160,000 children within the United States are refusing to go to school because of bullying. Another statistic is that within American schools alone, there are an estimated 2.1 billion bullies and 2.7 billion victims (Dan Olewus, MBNBD). The numbers presented here are outrageous and although there are organizations to stop bullying, obviously there needs to be a new set of solutions. Any type of bullying presents problems to children, “Suicide, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, trouble with the law, poor performance in school and work, and lack of involvement in socially accepted activities are some of the difficulties resulting from bullying (Austin, Reynolds, Barnes, Shirley). Of course, there is more than just a single type of bullying. Feeding ground for bullies can range anywhere from text-message or cyberbullying to physical bullying in schools. Also, bullies can begin to strike at a young age and could also be; teenage, middle-age, or even the elderly. Even though there are these many versions of problematic bullies, the largest bullying problems take place within the school setting: a place that is supposed to be safe for children rather than harmful. Although it seems impossible to completely get rid of bullying, these are a few suggested solutions; making the school informed on bullying issues, schools implementing rules on bullying, and having students positively use electronics to stop bullying.
Bullying has become a serious problem in public schools systems. Being a victim of bullying is a daily struggle for some students. The issue continues to grow, but the question is how to stop bullying from occurring. Many ways have been attempted to stop bullying, but some are more effective than others. Having the students get involved seems to have the most positive effect on the bullying issue in public school systems.