Research Paper

Nigel Grant

Freshman Composition

Ms. Noone

December 1, 2014

Bullying

Bullying within an educational environment can impede children from achieving full academic success. It is a problem in today’s society that must be addressed with strict vigor and vitality. Bullying can come in many forms because there is not one set of common characteristics to describe this form of abuse. Making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, purposeful exclusion and cyberbullying are all actions that relate to this act. The youth in our society are the future leaders and innovators of tomorrow. Unified action must be initiated to rid schools of bullying because it is a problem among young children that not only effects educational progression, but possesses destructive effects on the child being bullied and the bully as well.

Bullying can be described as unwanted or aggressive behavior among school aged children. It involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated and is almost always repeated or has the potential to be repeated over time. The most common setting for bullying is in schools. A society called the American Society for Positive Care of Children, or the SPCC, has taken the initiative to raise awareness on bullying. According to the SPCC, “About 28 percent of students ages 12 to 18 reported being bullied at school during the school year” while “1 in 3 U.S. students say they have been bullied at school”. These shocking stats show that bullying is a problem that must be addressed with quickly and effectively. There are many kids today that dread going to school because of the physical or verbal aggression of other students and many others who go to school in a constant state of fear, depression or anxiety. The SPCC also provides statistics for bullying on a national level. The SPCC reported that “20% of U.S. students in grades 9 to 12 experienced bullying. Approximately 30% of young people admit to bullying others in surveys. 70.6% of young people say they have seen bullying in their schools while 62% witnessed bullying two or more times in the last month and 41% witness bullying once a week or more. Also 6% of students in grades 6 to 12 have experienced cyberbullying”. These current statistics show how bullying is a problem in the United States and needs to be resolved.

There are many causes to why bullying occurs and a similar amount go characteristics to these bullies and their victims. Children tend to act out what they see. Mass media, social media, household atmospheres and social atmospheres are all places where children can pick up on aggressive behaviors and try to imitate them. In a journal titled “What Teachers and Schools Can Do to Control the Growing Problem of School Bullying”, author Hani Morgan explains school bullying, or “peer victimization”, and how it can be harmful if schools and teachers do not implement effective bully-prevention programs. Morgan writes that “children often model what they see; when children observe aggressive behavior in the mass media, they learn bullying behaviors”. Violent video games and social media are prime sources that Morgan describes. Today, children have easy access to these sources and are at a stage where they are easily influenced to engage in what they call fun. Websites like YouTube and World Star are full of videos that have explicit or violent content just to name a couple. The videos being posted are put up for entertainment but have unintentionally and negative effects on youth. In the journal, Morgan also explains that children “learn aggressive behavior by observing

other children, or adults, directly”. This can come in the form of other children fighting each other or even domestic abuse. Unless children are engaged in constructive conversation with adults about what they experience and what they see, then bullying behavior will continue to be a risk and a problem in schools.

Bullying is a rising problem in schools today and a solution needs to be implemented to stop this problem from becoming any worse. Unfortunately bullying is a subject that many teachers and faculty do not have the proper training for, but there are ways that initiate a change   in schools. This change can be described best though Hani Morgan’s words in her journal

“What Teachers and Schools Can Do to Control the Growing Problem of School Bullying”. Morgan says that “educators need to understand that implementing an effective anit-bullying program is not a simple task that can be fulfilled in a single session but, rather, must be a prolonged and detailed effort involving all members of the school community in order to change the culture of bullying”. Bullying is not a problem that can just be taken care of quickly. Similar to how bullying begins is the method to how it must be stopped. Bullying is developed over time through children’s observations of the situations and actions around them and then is repeated through their own actions. An intervention program must be developed in the same way. Children must be able to see the correct actions and learn positive and helpful behaviors. Behind these programs must be basic principles that are nationally accepted. In a journal titled “Bullying or Peer Abuse at School: Facts and Intervention”, author Dan Olweus describes basic principles of a bullying prevention program that can serve as a model for future programs. Olweus writes that “it is [thus] important to try to create a school environment characterized by warmth, positive interest, and involvement from adults, on one hand, and firm limits and rules, on the other”. He is saying that there needs to be a certain level of monitoring of children in and out of school. Parents and faculty of the school need to act as caring authority figures who implement not just standard school education, but influential life lessons and behaviors that can effect children in a positive manner. This is the solution.

Awareness of bullying as a problem of education is the first step to this solution. The next steps are programs that are geared to the supervision of children’s behaviors and habits. A positive education atmosphere must be the goal of each and every school. There has to be a mix of strict and caring attitudes that oversee the entire educational culture in a school. This is a problem that can be solved in our society.

Works Cited

Awiria, Onesemus. "Bullying at School - What We Know and What We Can Do." British Journal of Educational Studies 42.4 (1994): 403-06. JSTOR. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.

"Bullying." American SPCC. American Society for the Positive Care of Children, Jan. 2013. Web. 21 Nov. 2014. <http://www.americanspcc.org/>.

Hani, Morgan. "What Teachers and Schools Can Do to Control the Growing Problem of School Bullying." Clearing House 85.5 (2012): 174-78. Ebsco Host. Web. 21 Nov. 2014

Olweus, Dan. "Bullying or Peer Abuse at School: Facts and Intervention." Current Directions in Psychological Science 4.6 (1995): 196-200. JSTOR. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.