An issue that is particularly pertinent to students in the middle phase of schooling is that of harassment. Harassment has been ‘conceived narrowly as involving physical threatening behavior only. It is now generally seen as including verbal forms of aggression, as in the case of ridicule and name calling’.1 This essay will concentrate on the harassment as an issue within the middle phase of schools, years 5 to 10, and investigate what actions or responses are being taken by schools to address the needs of the learners. ‘The full extent of harassment is very hard to detect. It usually happens out of sight, away form teachers and other adults. The people most likely to know what is going on are other children. Children who are being bullied often do not tell anyone because they feel weak or ashamed.’1 This is the issue that needs to be addressed, students will not communicate with teachers/parents or seek help from teachers/parents if they are being bullied. This essay will address this need through how other schools have dealt with this problem.
A school of approximately 450 students from middle to low income families reduced their harassment problem by introducing peer mediation. Firstly, changes were introduced within the student council, where a representative from each grade level was elected. Secondly, teachers were to demonstrate a positive role towards the new behaviour management system, and this in turn helped towards their ‘Working It Out’ process, with students getting involved in dealing with the harassment issue. Thirdly, a peer mediation team was setup that dealt with harassment that is more interpersonal. Mediation is now occurring on a regular basis and most issues brought to the mediators are resolved easily. The school intends to continue to expand on the mediation team-training students as others leave school.2
Another school of 750 students in a secondary, coeducational setup included a variety of cultural backgrounds throughout the school. This school recognized that a harassment problem was occurring in the school and a zero tolerance outcome was adapted for the school. There was a survey carried out for students from years 8 – 10 to gain a students perspective on the harassment situation in the school. The result of the survey helped teachers gain an understanding of what areas the harassment problems were prominent. A register was then setup to monitor those harassment and being bullied and workshops were setup for these students.
Bullying, often dismissed as a normal part of growing up, is a real problem in our nation's schools, according to the National School Safety Center. One out of every four schoolchildren endures taunting, teasing, pushing, and shoving daily from schoolyard bullies. More than 43 percent of middle- and high-school students avoid using school bathrooms for fear of being harassed or assaulted. Old-fashioned schoolyard hazing has escalated to instances of extortion, emotional terrorism, and kids toting guns to school. It is estimated that more than 90 percent of all incidents of school violence begin with verbal conflicts, w...
Imagine a society overrun by bullies. It would be awfully frightening if it was true, but it is. The Bully Society, by Jessie Klein discusses the many stories kids who are entangled with issues regarding bullying and how they are struggling to cope. Before Klein began writing her book, she worked for years as a high school teacher, a social worker, and a conflict resolution coordinator. Klein writes many scholarly journals, articles which have appeared in many well-known media organizations. One of her main goals as described on her website, www.JessieKlein.com, is “I hope to help schools build compassionate communities leading to more peaceful and productive education environments.” Klein is a very diligent and hardworking woman. She tries to emphasize the need for improvements whether it is about education or communities. She strives as an influential role model to possibly many of her past students and those she has encountered.
It is important that everyone in a district, school, and classroom work together to prevent and solve bullying. This is a problem that concerns everyone including teachers, students, and parents. As a school or classroom we must educate students and staff to the warning signs of those who bully and those who are victims. Equally, we must communicate to the students the district policies and expectations that are laid out clearly in the handbook. Districts must decide on and implement a bullying prevention program that fits the needs of its student body.
Stories such as Monique’s prove that there are policies out there that consistently fail to work. One is called zero-tolerance policies, and while these succeed at sending the message that bullying is not tolerated, there are several problems with them. Nora M. Findlay believes, “One of the most serious problems inherent in zero tolerance is that it treats dissimilar problems in a similar way” (14). Secondly, the United States Department of Health and Human Services declares, “Students and teachers may be less likely to report and address bullying if suspension or expulsion is the consequence” (“Support the Kids Involved”). Two other policies that are used but never works is called peer-mediation, and conflict resolution. In “Myths about Bullying”
Bullying.. it has been around for who knows how long and it is becoming a big problem in the past couple of years. Professor Louise Arseneault, senior author, also from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's adds: "We need to move away from any perception that bullying is just an inevitable part of growing-up. Teachers, parents and policy-makers should be aware that what happens in the school playground can have long-term repercussions for children. Programmes to stop bullying are extremely important, but we also need to focus our efforts on early intervention to prevent potential problems persisting into adolescence and adulthood." I agree with this this statement 100% we need to stop looking at how this is all can be a learning process and they have to get through this. Bullying is becoming a world problem and needs to be put to a stop.
Neimen, Samantha, Brandon Robers, and Simon Robers. “Bullying: A State of Affairs.” Journal of Law & Education (n.d.):n. pag. Print.
The topic of bullies is one that has concerned parents and schools for almost as long as schools have been around, but the real question is who should dispense with this serious dilemma of our children getting harassed the school or the parents? It is time for schools to step up to the bat and dispense of this serious problem of our children getting tormented in and out of class by other pupil. It is time for schools to step up to the bat and dispense of this serious problem of our children getting tormented in and out of class by other pupil. Learning institutes should be cutting the problem of bullying down from the roots instead of deserting it and letting this mess appear into the bullied child’s personal live at home. Not letting the problem develop will prevent many mishaps from occurring in the future.
Workplace harassment is unwelcome actions that are based on a person’s race, religion, color, and sex, and gender, country of origin, age, ethnicity or disability. The targets of the harassment are people who are usually perceived as “weaker” or “inferior” by the person who is harassing them. Companies and employers can also be guilty of workplace harassment if they utilize discriminatory practices against persons based on ethnicity, country of origin, religion, race, color, age, disability, or sex. These discriminatory practices have been illegal since the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Civil Rights Act of 1964), and have been amended to be more inclusive of other people who experience discrimination by the Civil Rights Act of 1991 (The Civil Rights Act of 1991), and most recently, President Obama’s signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (Stolberg, 2009).
THESIS STATEMENT: In today’s society 40 percent of the nation’s 55 million working women have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace.
Walls, L. (2004). Bullying and sexual harassment in schools. Retrieved April 20, 2005 from http://www.cfchildren.org/articlef/walls1f/walls1_print
When our group was deciding what issue in education we wanted to do our project on, we wanted something that we all were really passionate about. A huge issue that is occurring throughout schools all over America is bullying. The definition of a bully is to use superior strength or influence to intimidate someone and typically force him or her to do what one wants. However, bulling is not just teasing children on the playground; it is much more serious and could leave negative lifelong long scars. When we discuss the kind of classrooms we hope to have we always describe that we want a “safe” and “welcoming” place for our students. Therefore this is a huge issue to address to make sure our classrooms can be this way. There is no reason why any child should ever endure such torment.
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
Olweus, D. (1993). Bullying at schools: What we know and what we can do. Cambridge, MA:
Sharp S, P. K. Smith, & P. Smith, (2002) School bullying: Insights and perspectives, London: Routledge.
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.