Stomp Out Bullying

1766 Words4 Pages

When the word bullying is brought up, one always pictures in his or her mind a big angry boy, who picks on other small helpless children. What some don’t realize is that bullying comes hand in hand with popularity, likeability, and peer acceptance. Children are heavily influenced by other kids his or her age, as the old saying goes, “But mom Jimmy gets to stay up past 10, why can’t I?” According to Miranda Witvliet, to understand children’s peer group affiliation, you need to be able to examine children naturally occurring groups resemble each other on bullying, likeability, and perceived popularity. To be accepted by a popular group of kids, others would follow in his or her footsteps and will bully others, even if the child knew it were wrong. Schools around the country have constructed anti-bullying campaigns and have programs setup to teach students, teachers, and family members what to do to prevent bullying. In an article by Jennifer Dignan, she explains how Stomp Out Bullying and The National Center for Bullying Prevention are two organizations working to put an end to the epidemic. To help prevent bullying people need to understand how the victims and the bullies are affected by other peers. Children create peer groups to gain a sense of belonging and acceptance, alongside with socializing with others who have common interests, jobs, or social positions. At a young age, peer groups show children what is considered acceptable behavior around his or her peers and what is deemed unacceptable behavior. In certain social groups, there are role expectations that people have to be met. When in the peer group, often children will influence each other to engage in appropriate behaviors that can be seen as right or wrong. Young ch... ... middle of paper ... ...In E. Mitchell (Ed.), Sociology in our times (8th ed., pp. 119-120). United States: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Salmivalli, C. (2010). Bullying and the peer group: A review. Aggression & Violent Behavior, 15(2), 112-120. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2009.08.007 Witvliet, M., Olthof, T., Hoeksma, J. B., Goossens, F. A., Smits, M. I., & Koot, H. M. (2010). Peer Group Affiliation of Children: The Role of Perceived Popularity, Likeability, and Behavioral Similarity in Bullying. Social Development, 19(2), 285-303. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9507.2009.00544.x Vannini, N., Enz, S., Sapouna, M., Wolke, D., Watson, S., Woods, S., & ... Schneider, W. (2011). 'FearNot!': a computer-based anti-bullying-programme designed to foster peer intervention. European Journal of Psychology of Education - EJPE (Springer Science & Business Media B.V.), 26(1), 21-44. doi:10.1007/s10212-010-0035-4

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