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Bullying is a complex behavior and difficult to define. But , it is abusive and it goes far beyond teasing.It becomes
so fearful that children are afraid to go to school .Here are some criteria :
It is aggresive and intentionally harmful
It
is carried out repeatedly
It occurs in an imbalance of power
It usually occurs with no provocation from the victim
Nonmalign bullying is like teasing or a game . It appears harmless from which some sort of pleasure is gained.Not all bullying
is obvious , like hitting or verbal teasing are.It can be subtle like excluding victims from groups or activities.
The most common type of bullying is verbal-name calling and hurtful teasing.Even though bullying is everywhere,it is more
prevalent in the school setting. It happens in the classroom, playground, hallways, restroom and the lunchroom.
Who is the bully? It is the person who has a power difference over the victim . They enjoy harassing the same classmates over
long periods of time. They seem to gain satisfaction from the pain of their victims and have no empathy or concern for the
students being victimized. They are usually older than their victims . They are of average popularity , and operate in groups
, which serves as a support system. They are oppositional toward adults , are anti-social , and are likely to break school
rules.In many cases, they have parents or guardians who use physical punishment and their parent /child relationship is poor.
Who is the victim? The victims are usually on the bottom rung of the social ladder. They are passive or provocative. They
have low self esteem, fear retaliation , and can't stand up to the bullies because of they are smaller and weaker. They have
little sense of humor and appear depressed. They may be the least popular person and their classroom behavior is often disruptive
that everyone reacts negatively to them.
How to reduce bullying at schools?
Identify the extent of the problem through a questionnaire
Begin aparental awareness program
Involve students and teachers with bullies and victims
Implement cooperative learning activities
Increase adult supervision
Kinds of elementary bullying
- Being called names
- Rumors
- Being left out of activities
- Being hit or kicked
- Having things stolen
- Being threatened
Kinds of middle school bullying
- Being called names
- Being teased unpleasantly
- Being left out of things
- Being hit or kicked
- Being threatened
What about high school ?
Bullies and victims
- Victims are just as likely to suffer name calling and stealing as younger victims
- Victims believe that a common reason for being bullied is having good grades
- The number of victims decrease considerably at he high school level
- Male victims are more likely to be victims than females
- Male victims are often viewed as not macho, unathletic or artsy.
- Bullies are more likely to be depressed than their victims
- Bullies hold higher social status , use alcohol and tobacco, and tend to have poor academic achievement
- Many bullies were found to have racist attitudes
- They have poorer relationships with classmates, more likely to steal, damage property , and not the same age as the victims.
Possible answers?
- Leadership-help in governance in the school
- Responsibility-not interfering with the rights of others
- Communication-Students and faculty discuss concerns openly
- Kindness-Treat others with respect , regardless of differences
- Collaboration- Students work with others and value their differences,talents and abilities
- Critical thinking-solve problems together when difficult issue occur
And finally , here is a list of warning signs that need attention .
- Fear of walking to and from school
- Changing route to school
- Unwilling to go to school
- Doing poorly in school work
- Losing possessions
- Having few friends
- No invitations to parties
- Becoming withdrawn
- Stammering
- Displaying temper outbursts
- Losing appetite
Losing sleep
- Refusing to say what is wrong
- Making poor excuses for any behaviors
The final chapter should include an anti-bullying policy to provide guidelines that includes the school, community, students
and parents :
A strong statement against bullying
A definition of bullying
A declaration of rights of studnets and the school
A statement of the responsibilities of individuals within the school community
A geneneral description of the consequences for bullying( detention, contact parents, counseling, imposing sanctions)
An evaluation component
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