Analysis of Articles Concerning Bullying in Schools - Essay Example

Capstone Project: Bullying in Schools Roll No: Teacher: 24th August 2009 Capstone Project: Bullyingin Schools Introduction There are children that face fears each day as they prepare for school. These children live a life of terror. They face different types of bullying such as hitting, name calling, harassment, exclusion, and other behaviors that are meant to cause grief and humiliation. Often times the children that are being picked on or bullied go unnoticed by adults in the homes and schools. Bulling often creates negative effects on individual students and on the school climate as whole cause long-term problems for both the victims of bullying and the bullies. As a child finds themselves the victim of incidents of bullying, changes can be registered in behavior. According to Coloroso (2004), there are visible changes that will take place that a parent or teacher can identify. Other educational factors that can be seen are: taking an unusual route to school, a drop in grades, withdrawal from family and school activities, is unusually hungry after school - or makes an excuse for not having his lunch money available, and other unusual behaviors that suggest something is being taken or denied to them (p. 51). This distraction hampers adequate focus on educational interests that will affect the overall development into adulthood. Yet, this has often gone on long before these symptoms become obvious. These changes can cause a once happy student into another person, a person afraid of what the next day will bring. This problem is not just a locally centralized problem but a problem that stretched across the nation haunting student of all nationality, genders, and economical status. Therefore, this would be a great capstone project. Finding a way to eliminate or just decrease the bulling in the schools would make a huge difference in many children life. This makes this topic a justifiable area to produce a capstone piece and identify ways to help the problem of school bullies. This research will review articles concerning bullying in schools. For this purpose, literature will be reviewed which is a qualitative methodology of collecting data. After reviewing the literature available on bullying in schools, results will be obtained through evaluation of the literature. A literature review is not just a list of work that has been published, nor is it a list of work with summaries of each (this is an annotated bibliography). A literature review critically evaluates the work that others have done in the area (Patton 1990). A literature review is not a primer or tutorial. Nor is it a summary or annotated bibliography. It interrelates, evaluates and forecasts trends in the work that has been done by multiple researchers (Patton 1990). Problem Statement The concept of the school bully is understood by most who attend school in the United States. However, the definition of what constitutes bullying over teasing becomes difficult when discussed through the point of view of trying to define rules and consequences for the actions. According to Kathleen Conn (2004), teasing and harassment are expected aspects of the experience of growing up, however bullying is not. The difference that Conn notes is in the imbalance of power between the bully and the victim. The problem can become critical when the victim turns on the bully, searching for a way out of the dynamic through extreme measure such as suicide or homicide (p. 30). The victim will suffer changes in the way in which the world is approached, diverting the path of growth and subverting potentials for achievement. As a child finds themselves the victim of incidents of bullying, changes can be registered in behavior. According to Coloroso (2004), there are visible changes that will take place that a parent or teacher can identify. A child who is being bullied will express it in their body, eyes, face, tone of voice and words. Changes in these behaviors are mostly likely not a phase to be dismissed - and can indicate a factor that will influence successful growth and possibly affect their education. One of the first blatant signs that can be seen is a lack of interest in school or a refusal to attend. Other educational factors that can be seen are: taking an unusual route to school, a drop in grades, withdrawal from family and school activities, is unusually hungry after school - or makes an excuse for not having his lunch money available, and other unusual behaviors that suggest something is being taken or denied to them (p. 51). This distraction hampers adequate focus on educational interests that will affect the overall development into adulthood. There are times when bullying will take on an ethnic aspect, choosing this as the central focus of the abuse and creating a poor sense of identity for the victim. As well, certain physical attributes may be the cause, excluding diverse looks from central activities (McGrath, 2007). In a discussion about the effects of bullying, it is important recognize that the long term affects can do permanent damage to the victim. As well, the bully gets a sense that force can provide him or her with desired power and encourage a sense of entitlement that can affect the way in which goals are approached. While the literature is clear on the affects that the victim may suffer, it is unclear on how this type of aggression affects the growth of the abuser. According to Smith, Cousins, and Stewart (2005), the incidents of depression among bullies is significantly higher than that of their peers. Although the rate is higher in victims, this suggests that the aggression of being a bully is symptomatic of other problems within the child (p. 741). However, most relevant literature focuses on the victim, creating a sense that the bully, although more than likely a child who is acting out a greater issue, cannot be seen as sympathetic. The aggression of a bully is just as dynamic to the overall societal ill effect of the situation as is the terror of the victim. As these individuals grow to adulthood, the effects of these experiences will cloud their true potential, thus affecting a larger social context (McCleod & Kaiser, 2004). From the aspect of a diversity point of view, this topic will explore ways in which being a bully affects the ability to socially relate to a larger community. From the perspective of a global point of view, the wasted potentials of individuals involved in the dynamic are at issue. When viewed from a social perspective, the way in which people relate can be examined for possible links to experiences of being a bully and how this can be diminished. Integrated Literature Olweus (1996) explain that a student “is being bullied or victimized when he or she is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or the other” (p. 9). He explains that ‘negative actions’ refer to the general aggressive behavior of the bully towards the victim which is intended on inflicting injury or discomfort to the victim. The behavior includes taunting, threatening, calling names, physical actions like hits, pushes, pinches, or the behavior could be a dirty gesture, or excluding a person from a group. Thus, the behavior of a bully is not necessarily a physical contact; they can bully the victim by simply inflicting emotional harm to the person through other gestures too. Olweus (1996) explains that the child-rearing experienced by bullies is different from other students in that the parents remained unaware of the activities of their child and basically the interaction between the parents and the child was relatively lesser compared to other students. Also, since the parent remained unaware of their children’s behavior, they either talked a little about the issue of bullying or did not discuss it at all. Olweus (1996) completely rules out that competition has anything to do with the behavior of bullies or external appearance has anything to do with a person being targeted. He basically associates the cause to certain personality traits of the bullies and he explains that the bullies are physically stronger than other boys while the victims are generally weaker. Olweus (1996) points out that “being a bully or a victim is something that can last for a long time, often for several years “(p. 23). The effect of being a victim is not just a loss of self-confidence but also the person remains scarred for life about the horrible experiences the person has to go through as a child. Beran (2009) explains that the gender differences are evident in bullying and that the behavior and experiences of girls and boys towards bullying are different. Espelage and Swearer (2004) too explain that, “it depends on important contextual factors that might vary across investigations such as the definition of aggression, the method of assessment employed, and the age of child/adolescent” (p. 15). The main reason that girls indulge in bullying is because of peer conflicts. Thus, it is more common among girls to bully other girls through a peer group. The harassment methods used by girls usually include spreading rumors, or gossips about a particular girl, and by isolating her. Also, sexual bullying, that is touching of private body parts and or receiving sexual messages, is more common among girls than boys. Due to bullying, “a girl’s sense of enthusiasm for school and learning, self-esteem, and hopes for the future” are devastated (p. 1). Usually bullying behavior of a girl is more unacceptable than a similar behavior of a boy. Hence, even though outright bullying behavior is not as common in girls as in boys, but the mentioned bullying among girls also causes an equal amount of distress for the victims. Garrett (2003) explains that it is a myth that bullies do not come from good families. In fact “usually bullies come from middle-class families that do not monitor their children’s activities.” She explains that usually the family background of bullies is such that bullying among adults is considered normal, the children have been subjected to physical punishment as kids, and are taught to strike back physically to deal with problems. She also points out that bullies should not be rejected as being just normal people. They can be either outgoing and aggressive or reserved and manipulative; in either case, the bullies like to inflict pain to others, are concerned with their pleasure, enjoy the power over others and think that it’s fun when they harass somebody. Garrett (2003) mentions that the effects of bullying are as extreme as bullycide, a term that defines the suicide by students because of being bullied. “At least 16 children commit bullycide in the UK every year…19,999 attempt suicide annually-one every half hour” (p.39). She mentions that the recent high-profile school shootings have all had the same basic background of bullying and revenge. “The recent shootings in Williamsport, Pennsylvania (involving teenaged females as both victim and assailant), and Santee, California (involving a teenaged male assailant wounding or killing a dozen teenagers), have again raised a number of issues concerning early identification of violence risk factors and possible missed prevention opportunities” (p. 59). Mc Grath (2007) further mentions bullying can also be directed at a student who belongs to an ethnic group. She says that when bullying behavior is directed towards a person who belongs to a protected class, such as a taunt because of the ethnicity of the person or harassment of the person because the person belongs to different ethnic group, comes under illegal harassment and discrimination (p. 56). She says that bullying has various effects on the victim. “Some suffer self-doubt and a drop in self-esteem and confidence; others become bullies themselves in an attempt to compensate for their suffering” (p. 16). She mentions that the memories cause pain to the victims throughout their life and not all victims are resilient to the harassment they have to deal with. The extreme step taken by victims is committing suicide. Critical Analysis Narrative Xiao (2007) in his research paper about bullying in schools mention that over the past two decades the problem of bullying has intensified. He mentions that bullying behavior is at a peak during the middle school decreasing with age as people learn more social skills and become more mature. He mentions that bullying is detrimental to “students’ well-being and development” and that victims suffer from depression, anxiety, decrease in self-esteem, and social withdrawal. Espelage and Swearer (2004) in their book about the problem of bullying in American schools explain that bullying occurs within a socio-ecological framework. “Bullying and victimization are ecological phenomena that are established and perpetuated over time as the result of the complex interplay between inter- and intra-individual variables” (p. 1). They explain that the bullying is not an isolated phenomenon which would happen without the acknowledgment of others. The phenomenon of bullying is affected by the complex relationship between the individuals, peers, family, teachers, community and culture. They explain that bullying has negative repercussions for the victims who have to deal with the trauma of being bullied for the rest of their lives. Elias and Zins (2003) in their book about bullying and peer harassment explain that bullying is at becomes prominent during early adolescence. They explain that the transition from elementary school to middle school is marked by many changes which cause a lot of pressure on students. “It is a time typically characterized by increased academic demand, decreased personal attention in school, increased social stressors, and a shift from adult-focused to peer-focused relationships” (p. 46). They explain that the changes in relationship dynamics and the increased pressure to deal with the relationships and the studies causes many students to thrust their anger at others and they start bullying others. They too confirmed that victims had to deal with emotional distress because of bullying. Juvonen and Graham (2001) explain in their book that the term mobbing which was used to explain the harassment of a person by his peers at his school is not the appropriate term; instead peer harassment describes the condition the best. They note that usually people involved in peer harassment are in small groups and target a particular victim for no particular reason, even though they enjoy the power over others in general. The victim who is subjected to such bullying has to deal with a low self-confidence because of the rejection by his peers. Elias and Zins (2003) in their book about bullying and peer harassment explain that peer harassment and bullying is a complex problem. It is explained that victims of peer harassment and bullying have to go through some of the worst experiences in their lives and the effect of such harassment is long lasting. Coloroso (2004) explains in her book about the bully, the bullied and the bystander that there is a triad to the phenomenon of bullying. The triad includes the bully, the one who inflicts pain and harm; the bullied, the one who is subjected to the aggressive behavior of the bully; and the bystanders, the people who don’t act against bullying and the bully. She explains that it is contempt and not anger that drives bullies and that the victim usually changes his behavior when subjected to bullying. The victim becomes quieter, shouts at the near ones to get rid of the frustration of being bullied. Also, it is important to recognize the changes in behavior pattern of the victim, because usually the extreme actions of victims are either homicides or suicides. Smith (1998) in their book about the nature of school bullying explains that bullying is a sub-category of aggressive behavior and that the aggressive behavior is more vicious than in general. The bully either gains a psychological gratification or a direct gain in the form of money by inflicting pain and harm on a victim. He explains that bullying is common in schools because the victim has nowhere to escape to. He explains that victim is usually outnumbered, or less strong, or psychologically not as confident as others. The bullying only causes them to become more introvert and they gradually loose interest in activities which would involve social gatherings. Garrett (2003) in her book about bullying in American schools explains that bullying is a huge problem and should not be ignored. She explains that bullies can not be ignored as just normal people and that their family background explains the reason for their behavior. On the other hand, the victims are the ones who have to unnecessarily deal with the traumatic experience. McGrath (2007) in her book about school bullying explains that it is easy to spot a bully in that all of them love to intent harm on others, enjoy their actions and often repeat them in a systematic manner. She explains that victims’ psychological and physical health deteriorates because of the actions of the bullies. The findings from the sources mentioned above were interesting in that they strongly argue that the bullies are necessarily people who have certain psychological traits, and who’s rearing has been different from other children. Also, bullying should not be considered as a simple phenomenon and it is much more complex than it is usually considered to be. Problem Resolution The problem of bullying is not concerned with just the bully and the victim. Instead the problem also involves the teachers, peer group and the parents. The basic three approaches to solve the problem would be to ask the teachers to become more aware of the issue, and to educate their students; to inform the parents about the issue and to provide them with the knowledge to recognize if their child is a victim, a bystander, or a bully; and the third option is to educate the class, so that they become more aware about the why bullying is a bigger nuance than they would have thought. The first solution offers the scope that since bullying usually happens in the school premises, teachers will be able to identify any such activity quickly and will be able to educate their students about it. However, teachers cannot be present everywhere all the time and they will not be able to do much about the bullying that happens outside of school premises. The second solution will be of help outside of school premises and since children fear their parents more, they would probably listen to them. However, this does not guarantee that the students will abide by what their parents tell them even in the school premises. The third method is a more direct approach and hence perhaps the best. Educating students directly will help in curbing the activity both within the school premises and outside of it. Though explaining things to students is always a difficult job, however, once the students decide to listen, this method will be the most effective. Conclusion The project regarding the problem of bullying in schools was not just an interesting project for me but it also helped me understand the various factors that are associate with bullying, something that I was not aware of earlier. Bullying is a growing nuance in schools and the best solution that can help curb the nuance is to educate people involved in the cycle, the students, parents and teachers. Educating the three will help in complete elimination of the problem. As discussed, educating students is the best option to eliminate the problem since students are the main part of the cycle. This project helped in developing my knowledge about the problem of bullying and the research helped in increasing my understanding about the various factors associated with the problem. Bullying is certainly a major problem and stern measures need to be taken to curb this nuance. References Beran, T. (2009). Bullying: What are the differences between boys and girls? Retrieved August 12, 2009, from education.com website: http://www.education.com/reference/article/difference-between-boy-and-girl-bullies/ Coloroso, B. (2004). The bully, the bullied, and the bystander: From preschool to high school: how parents and teachers can help break the cycle of violence. New York: HarperCollins. Conn, K. (2004). Bullying and harassment: A legal guide for educators. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Espelage, D. L. and Swearer, S. M. (2004). Bullying In American Schools: A socio-ecological perspective on prevention and intervention. New Jersey: Erlbaum. Garrett, A. G. (2003). Bullying in American Schools: causes, preventions, interventions. London: MacFarland. Graham, S. and Juvonen, J. (2001). Peer Harassment in School: The plight of the vulnerable and the victimized. New York: The Guilford Press. McGrath, M. J. (2007). School Bullying: Tools for avoiding harm and liability. California: Corwin Press. McLeod, J. D. & Kaiser, K. (2004). Childhood emotional and behavioral problems and educational attainment. American Sociological Review. 69 (5) pp. 636-658. Olweus, D. (1996). Bullying At School: What we know and what we can do. USA: Blackwell Publishers. Patton, M. Q. (1990). Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods. Newbury Park CA: Sage Publications. Smith, P. K. (1998). The Nature of School Bullying: A cross-national perspective. London: Routledge. Smith, D. J., Cousins, J. B. & Stewart, R. (2005). Anti-bullying interventions in schools: Ingredients of effective programs. Canadian Journal of Education. 28(4) pp. 739-762. Xiao, J. (2007). Bully in School. Retrieved August 10, 2009, from Georgia State University Center for School Safety, School Climate and Classroom Management website: http://education.gsu.edu/schoolsafety/ Zins, J. E. (2007). Bullying, Victimization and Peer Harassment: A handbook of prevention and intervention. New York: Haworth. Zins, J. and Elias, M. (2003). Bullying, Peer Harassment and Victimization in the Schools: The next generation of prevention. London: Routledge. Read More