Racial Bullying

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The word bullying is heard almost everywhere, but what does the word really mean? The definition of bullying according to Dan Olweus, the creator of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, is aggressive behavior that involves unwanted negative actions, involves a pattern of behavior repeated over time, and involves an imbalance of power or strength (Olweus). Bullying doesn’t affect just the victim, but it also affects the bystanders around the incident and even the person doing the bullying. There are several different forms of bullying, but one that stands out from all others is racial bullying. Racial bullying is offensive action against people because of the color of ones skin, cultural or religious background or ethnic origin. Racial bullying affects over thousands of children negatively everyday and everywhere around the world. More prevention programs and counseling are needed to help bring this horrible act to a halt.

Students tend to bully because they thrive for power and find satisfaction in causing suffering in other students, they often feel rewarded for their behavior. In the end bullying doesn’t affect just the victim and the person doing the bullying. According to Olweus, nearly one in five students in an average classroom is experiencing bullying in some way (Olweus). The article also describes how there is a bullying cycle and that there is over seven different roles that take place in bullying. There are the students who bully, followers, supporters, passive supporters, disengaged onlookers, possible defenders, defenders and the student who is bullied (Olweus). The first is the student who bullies, the student wants to bully and play a leader role in front of the school. The followers are the students who feel ...

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...ied but everyone around the situation. Bullying has many long term emotional and physical effects on students, suicide rates from bullying have raised in the past several years. While bullying is a problem, racial bullying is an even bigger problem in America. Racial bullying has been a problem everywhere for many years to come, and causes a person to feel insecure about their race or culture. More bully prevention and tactics should be provided in schools to help stop this ongoing problem.

Works Cited

McDonald, J. (2010, April 13). Bully Solutions. Retrieved March 3, 2011, from Racial Bullying

Nittle, N. B. (n.d.). Racist Bullying in School. Retrieved March 3, 2011, from About

Olweus, D. (n.d.). What is Bullying. Retrieved March 3, 2011, from Olweus Bullying Prevention Program

What is Racist Bullying? (n.d.). Retrieved March 3, 2011, from Kidscape.

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