Phoebe Prince: Should School Bullying Be a Crime?
The purpose of writing this article is to highlight the adverse effects of bullying on vulnerable individuals. Hopefully, the light shed here using Phoebe Prince story will put a halt on this vice in our school system. Playing it safe by being well mannered can only get you so far when it comes to avoiding being victimized by bullies.The key to avoid bullying as such is not to learn how to be as invisible as possible, but to learn how to stand up for oneself and have a support network that one can fall upon. The Phoebe Prince story features prominently to help students and parents understand the dynamics behind bullying and how to arrest it so that no individual gets emotionally damaged.
In Phoebe’s Prince story, for instance, no amount of finger pointing or apportioning blame can address the underlying issues. For one, she was an emotionally disturbed girl who had tried to end her life before she got bullied in school. Apart from her depressive state, Phoebe had minimal communication of her challenges in school with her parents or any authority figures (teachers or even the school principal) in her life. These gaps are what are highlighted in this paper and hopefully when fully grasped can help to minimize the gaps that exist in our social
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structure that allow bullying to flourish. The first pillar that will be advanced to build up the arguments in this piece of work is the vital role that parents play in the lives of their children. Technical appearances in the lives of children by their parents leads to a sense of abandonment and insecurity. The spillover effect of this is a breakdown in communication and when this sets in parents miss the tale tell signs of what could be going on in their children’s lives including incidents of bullying. The key point when it comes to parenting roles is that whether they are separated from their children by work schedules or even divorce, they should invest in quality time with their children for this makes a significant difference in the emotional stability of their progeny. Open lines of communication create a sense of stability and children will naturally open up on the challenges, including bullying, that they are experiencing in their lives. The second thrust of this thesis is to look into the phenomena of internet bullying and bullying by peers who might be nameless and faceless but deadly.
From Phoebe’s example, the paper aims to show how these elements can make a normal life in school almost impossible. The paper advances the argument that an example must be made from internet trolls and students who break down the minds of their peers. The purpose of meting out punishment would be to serve as a deterrence to anyone who basically makes the life of another individual a living hell. Schools should have strict policies to check against this vice and states must come up with regulations to deter would-be
bullies. In a nutshell, the paper hopes to be a resource not only for students but the society in general of the corruptive influence of bullying. Eternal vigilance is the price society has to pay to nurturer balanced individuals, and this molding of character begins from home. Phoebe’s life is highlighted against bullies to advance the point of view advanced in this paper. The voice of the article is positive, personal, practical, frustrated, serious, brutal, and emotional. Personally, this article is an awakening of sorts to me. As parents, we should always communicate with our kids. Pay attention to every minute detail in their lives, even in a fast-paced society like ours. Phoebe’s case touched a raw nerve in me. As a parent, I would seek justice, even though her suicide was largely attributed to her depressive state. An open door policy is also something that I think is important when it comes to managing our schools. Phoebe could have easily have walked into her Principal’s office and sought remedial action against the bullying in her life. This article will form a good read for both bullies and their victims and highlight how a seemingly harmless activity can end tragically.
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.
Document C, states that K.K., a 12th grade student from Musselman High School made a discussion group on Myspace that accused a peer, S.N., of being sexually promiscuous and that she invited 100 people from her school to join and 24 actually accepted. This is an example of how cyberbullying disrupts learning, the 12th grader not only harassed her peer, but she also invited various students from school to join her and many did. K.K. disrupted the school by inviting others to join her in humiliating S.N., this not only has an effect on the victim, but it also has an effect on how the victim actually feels at school. After being cyberbullied by a classmate school can become an environment of fear and disrespect, preventing the victims from learning. Students also feel insecure, embarrassed, and unsafe. Students’ shouldn’t have to deal with extra stress at school because school is already stressful as it
Approximately 83% (5 out of 6) of all males have never been a victim of cyberbullying. This evidence helps explain why schools should not limit students’ online speech because the majority of the students are not affected by cyberbullying, making no reason for new reinforcements on the students. In document D, the court sided with the students, but the students must serve ten days, but the ten day suspension will not be shown on their records. It must pose a threat, there was no threat so they sided with the students.
Bullying surrounds today's society. It is to the point where the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared bullying the third leading cause of death in between the ages of ten and twenty four (Thompson). Almost daily, a new story is broadcasted on the news about someone getting beat to death or killing themselves because of bullying. In fact, on April twenty-ninth of this year, a seventeen year old high school student got brutally beaten outside of school on her way home. She made it to her house, but with severe injuries. When she went to sleep that night, she fell into a coma and never woke up (CNN). Unfortunately, situations like this are typical, especially in teenage females. According to survey results recently collected, more than two thirds of students at Mitchell think that girls are more involved in bullying than boys because girls tend to act more catty and rude to each other. They usually attack one another mentally, emotionally, and socially, however, physical fights occur as well. Bullying is a huge issue at Mitchell High School that needs to be resolved promptly. To help dissolve the tensions that are constantly rising within the female underclassmen at Mitchell, they need to feel united and understand that they are all unique but have similar emotions and thoughts. The ideal result is that they'll come to the realization that there isn't a need for all of the bullying and fighting.
In school you probably remember the “odd-balls” being picked on by the “cool kids”. Maybe they were being called offensive names or were being laughed at because of something they liked, if they looked or acted a certain way. Or possibly it was because of their religion. The truth of the matter is, people will use just about any reason to bully and use different methods when bullying. Questions that rise is what kind of bullying is there? How does it affect the person being targeted? How can we take a stand to stop bullying and ultimately, how can we help those who are being bullied? This essay will consider and answer these questions.
Bullying has both short term and long effects on the victim. A victim of someone who has been bullied for so long can lead to them bullying other individuals, making this a never-ending cycle. "Bu...
After all, parents expect that the students are partially under the school’s protection and responsibility. When the bullying continues outside of school, and personal information is exposed for others to see on social media, it is still up to the district to set the consequences for its students. Because most cases of cyberbullying start at schools, it is nearly impossible for students to avoid the bullies’ torment throughout the day. As for the consequences, a school district’s Code of Conduct must also consider the former record of these bullies and anyone else who is involved. The severity of each student’s punishment shall be partially determined by his or her history of previous misbehavior or faulty actions.
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 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.
Providing a safe, civil, and supportive environment in school, is necessary for students to learn and achieve high academic standards. To maintain this type of environment, the school prohibits any acts of bullying, cyber-bullying, harassment, intimidation or any other type of victimization of students, faculty, and staff. Examples of these are, but not limited to, making a spoken or symbolic, emotional or physical threat. A virtual threat, cyberbullying, would include any form of bullying through the use of electronic devices such as, but not limited to, telephones, cellular phones, computers, instant messaging, text messaging, and electronic mail. Victimization of any kind is also prohibited at all on or off campus school-sponsored activities,
The article, “Bullies and Their Victims”, by Berk (2010) gives an analysis of how bullies and their victims develop, what makes them persistent and how they and their victims can be assisted. Bullying is an activity that thrives mostly in a school setting because of peers and the various cultures and diversities among them. Interactions are inevitable among children, but bullying is destructive because it aims at peer victimisation. Both boys and girls have the ability to become bullies but the majority of them are boys who use physical and verbal attacks on their victims. In the more recent generations, the means of bullying is amplified in the adolescent stage by using electronic means like cyber bullying. Students will rarely like bullies but if they do, it is because of their leadership abilities or influential personalities. Their peers may join or stand by to watch as the victims are bullied.
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.
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
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.