Bullying: A Silent Epidemic in Schools

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Preventing Bullying
Phoebe Prince is a name some of us might not know or remember, but in 2010 her name and picture were everywhere. Phoebe Prince was an Irish immigrant who moved to South Hadley, Massachusetts. In her new high school she was the subject of malicious bullying by her classmates, both at school and online. This bullying would eventually drive Phoebe to hang herself. Bullying in schools and online has become a serious problem in our country. . According to cyberbullyinghotline.com, 20 percent of those cyberbullied think about committing suicide, while 1 in 10 victims attempt it. With rates like this, the question left to be answered is, when is bullying “just kids being kids “, …show more content…

Bullying is not act that is covered in any federal law yet, but all 50 states have anti-bullying policies. Bullying is a crime because it can cause bodily harm or mental anguish to the victim. What are some strategies that can be used to help hinder bullying? One suggestion is to implement an intervention program in schools. A Norwegian study published in The British Journal of Educational Psychology, aimed to “evaluate the effects of anti- bullying intervention program targeting group as a whole. Teacher who attended a one year training course carried out interventions in school classes.” The results were “a positive impact was found on several outcome variables (frequencies of bullies and victims, observing and experiencing bullying, attitudes, and efficacy beliefs)” Salmivalli.C, Kaukiane.A, Voeten. 2005). the success of the intervention program in this study has been put into practice all over Europe. In the United States the passing of new legislation relating to school based bullying policies is make punishments harsher for students who are caught bullying other students . “Although schools are governed by a complicated set of interrelated federal and state laws, the majority of policies and practices regarding disciplinary practices are crafted at the state and local levels.” “State laws have a greater potential to influence the policies …show more content…

Her story is just one of thousands. Bullying comes in many different forms, some are easier to spot than other. We have witnessed, been the victim of, or been the bully at some point of our lives. Even adults are not immune to being bullied, the high school bully can grow up to be the workplace bully. Next time you see a child on the playground being bullied, ask yourself, is it kids just being kids or something more hurtful? Bullying has long lasting effects on the victims and bullies alike. Something need to be done to deter these hateful

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