Introduction In recent years, it seems that every time we turn on the television, there is the unfortunate news of another child taking either their own life or that of someone else, as a result of bullying. According to Ferguson, Miguel, Kilburn, & Sanchez (2007), “Peer-to-peer abuse, such as bullying, is a distressing reality in schools and more common than child abuse”. An alarming, “1 in 3 U.S. students say they have been bullied at school” (Bullying Statistics 2014, 2014). Bullying is a genuine social problem and we as a society need to be more aware of it. In order to raise awareness, we must understand what bullying is, why it is a problem, and explore ways to make positive changes in the schools and our homes so the number of children …show more content…
This is considered cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is defined as: “willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices” (Hindjura & Patchin, 2014). The most common forms of cyberbullying can be compared to peer-to-peer bullying. For example: name calling or the spreading of rumors is still happening, nevertheless, the harassment is now through methods of texting, message boards, or social media. However, cyberbullying can also be different in that “victims may not know who the bully is, or why they are being targeted” (Hindjura & Patchin, …show more content…
When you get down to it, parents are the first tool when it comes to addressing bullying prevention and response. “The home environment is central to antibullying initiatives because psychologists agree that children are not born as bullies; it is a learned behavior” (Abrams, 2009). As parents, we must remember that our children have a way of memorizing practically everything we do or say. “Researchers have found that parents can help prevent bullying by raising their sons and daughters from their youngest years in a household that rejects intimidation and urges nonviolent conflict management while stressing civility, tolerance for individual differences and empathy for others” (Abrams,
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)
The experiences of America’s youth has changed significantly over the last two decades. One of the greatest changes is the advancements and accessibility of technology. Although these advancements are beneficial to society; there are instances of dismay, especially as it pertains to bullying. Cyberbullying in resents years has become a hot topic because of the severity of some cases brought to the public’s attention. There are many reasons for cyberbullying and the results may be life-threatening.
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
Parents and schools play a significant role in stopping bullies. The research states “the families of bullies are lacking in warmth and closeness and focused on power and dominance.” (1) To prevent bullying, parents, school staffs and all adults have a role to play. Help children who experienced bullying to understand that it is unacceptable behavior and how to stand up to it. Communication is always the key. Adults should listen to children, know what is going on around them, friends, school, and understand their concerns. Encourage children to build their interest and hobbies, this will boost their confidence and help them to make friends. Gather parents and children together is a great way to prevent and protect from bullying.
Bullying is a growing concern in a society where status and exercising power over another human being are increasingly important in developing one’s social circles. Dan Olweus (Norwegian researcher and founder of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program) defines it as an “aggressive behaviour that is intentional and that involves an imbalance of power. Most often, it is repeated over time” (Violencepreventionworks.org). School victimization is an especially delicate matter that has only really been in the public eye for the past half century, as more and more researchers and psychologists pointed out its short- and long-term negative effects on targeted individuals. It has since been widely investigated and numerous programs have been developed in an effort to address and prevent the many forms of bullying that exist today. The negative effects of such an abusive behaviour are various and can greatly differ from individual to individual. However, there are three main consequences that can be associated with school bullying, which are: school avoidance, depression/anxiety and even suicidal attempts.
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.
Facebook and other social media platforms have brought communication across the world to a whole new level. The rise of social media has created a place for children to communicate with others in both a positive and negative manner. Although it has made a positive impact on American youth, it has also contributed and exacerbated bullying in our schools. This new form of bullying, often referred to as cyberbullying, has created an around-the-clock atmosphere where bullying can occur even when school is not in session. Many professionals have sought to address the negative aspects of social media and have worked to develop a solution to bring cyberbullying to an end.
The topic I chose to write about for the key assessment is bullying. Bullying can be described as a type of repeated aggressive behavior among school aged children where a student causes physical, emotional, or social power imbalance to another. Traditionally, bullying was done on school grounds and was easier for teachers and school administrators to prevent. However, with the rapid growth in student use of technology, bullies have used electronic platforms to send harmful messages to recipients. While physical bullying and violence towards other students should never be acceptable, the lasting emotional effect on students is also something to consider. This topic deals with the sociological approach to teaching that was covered
Peter K. Smith focuses on school bullying while still covering the broad range of different types of bullying such as cyberbullying and biased or identity-biased bullying. Through the article he refers to the four waves of school bullying, beginning in in the 1970’s and finishing in the present year. He mentions research done in Europe that has been established to prevent bullying, possible causes and risk factors of victimization, and gives an insight on the prevalence of school bulling. Smith mentions school-based programs that have both failed and succeeded, showing that there are multiple ways to intervene. Smith argues that there is still a need in developing and continuing anti-bullying work, suggesting that while traditional bullying has not increased in the recent years, cyberbullying seems to become more predominant. He reminds the reader that the utopian outcome is to create safer environments for children.
“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 is something that is not something new and is actually something that society continues to face. Over the years, bullying has been looked at as being so ordinary in schools that it is continuously overlooked as an emanate threat to students and has been lowered to a belief that bullying is a part of the developmental stage that most young children will experience then overcome (Allebeck, 2005, p. 129). Not everyone gets over the extreme hurt that can come as an effect from bullying, for both the bully and the victim. Because of this, we now see bullying affecting places such as the workplace, social events and even the home. The issue of bullying is not only experienced in schools, but the school environment is one of the best places
Imagine being personally targeted and bullied by another individual constantly. Maybe never seriously injured but verbally abused in person and possibly online. The issue of cyberbullying can be quite pivotal in this new generation. Cyberbullying is a controversial matter that the world must address because of how it can occur anywhere at any time, causes harm to targeted people, and affects all associated parties.