According to the work of psychologist David Smith, 57 percent of anti-bullying policies did nothing, 14 percent helped slightly, and 29 percent even made the problem worse (Smith, Schneider, Smith, and Ananiadou 547-560). Every day we see news of “innocent teasing” escalating into death threatening violence. Yet each day, year after year schools are using the same old methods, attempting to solve this very big problem with little temporary solutions. It is no secret that the bullying problem is not being handled correctly by American schools.
The number one problem with America’s “anti-bullying programs” is that schools are helping the wrong person. The programs focus on helping bullies, mediating bullies, changing bullies. Bullies are not the ones who need help, bullies are not the ones getting hurt, victims are the ones who need help. Bullying will never stop, “it’s inevitable, a natural byproduct of human nature”(Morgan 1). Even if all bullies were eliminated new bullies would arise because it is all about the imbalance of power. Verbal bullying is not even against the law, in fact it is protected by the first amendment, freedom of speech. In this conundrum yet to be solved victims are the ones killing themselves. Victims are the ones bringing guns into schools and shooting people. Victims need to be taught to stand up for themselves. The only way bullying is going to stop is if we remove its power by teaching victims and leveling the playing field.
The idea that American schools often fail to realize is that bullying is almost never just between two kids. There are often a pack of bullies or even more common bystanders that encourage and “add fuel to the fire.” In one study results, “showed that bystanders were involved in...
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...chers have heavier workloads or have less support by their administrators they are usually less empathetic to victims. Now not only are teachers connected to bullying incidents but so are administrators. If we want to help bullying victims we must inspect every aspect of the problem.
With school shootings and constant outbreaks of bullying in the media it is obvious that American schools are not approaching the bullying problem correctly. However there is hope for a brighter future. When going up against bullying we can not just concentrate on one piece of the puzzle. We have to mediate not only the bullies, but the victims, and any other factors contributing to the problem. If American schools reevaluate their programs, shift their focus towards changing old mindsets placed upon us at a young age, and look at the bigger picture, than we truly can be united as one.
Bullying has become a major problem facing the United States today. The American Psychological Association reports that roughly 40% to 80% of children are involved in bullying on some level during their time in school. (APA, 2014) The magnitude of the problem can be observed in the statistics. In the United States, a total of 4,080,879 children between the ages of five and 18 have been the victims of bullying compared to 3,892,199 who have reported that they have engaged in bullying someone else. Additionally, 851,755 said that they have been both the victim and the bully. That's a whopping 8,824,833 people in the United States that have been involved in bullying behavior on one level or another. (High, B., 2000 Census)
Bullying incidents need to be monitored and stopped when they are happening. Schools need to do more to prevent bullying issues and stop them for good. Most children are too afraid to say anything to
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...
Bullying is a relevant issue in schools today, and the solution remains unknown. However, if you’re a bystander, it’s possible to reduce bullying significantly by speaking up. 88% of the time, bullying takes place in front of other kids. However, it’s been reported that of these bystanders, only 20% intervene. Often times when kids see bullying take place, they know it’s wrong, but keep to themselves.
Parents and teachers do not fully understand the severity of social victimization by the bully in elementary education. The issue has been linked to poor academic performance, student’s committing suicide and even school shootings. The short term and long term effects on these young victims are countless. Parents and institutions must understand that quick and one-size-fits-all fixes will not address this issue completely. Education of this issue must be full spectrum, working from the bottom of the pyramid (the student), to the middle (the parent/teacher), to the pinnacle (the leaders in charge of running and developing the education systems).
Bullying has been around for decades and yet it is still a reoccurring problem, and it is only getting worse. The National Center for Educational Statistics, in 2009, said nearly 1 in 3 students between the ages of 12 and 18 reported being bullied in school. Eight years earlier, only 14 percent of that population said they had experienced bullying(Ollove,2014). There are two types of bullying the direct form and indirect form, in the direct form the victim receives physical harm example kicking pushing shoving. In the indirect form the victim receives emotional or mental harm by name-calling, rejection, gossip, threats, or insults(Green,2007). It doesn’t matter which way the victim was bullied it still causes
Bullying has been a part of schooling for as long as children have been congregating. To some it seems like a natural, though uncomfortable, part of life and school experience, while to others it can mean terrifying experiences which spoiled and characterized otherwise happy years in school. Dan Olweus, a pioneer in bully behavior research documented that 2.7 million children are affected as victims, and that 2.1 children act as bullies (Fried, 1997, as cited in Aluedse, 2006). With bullying cited as the reason for violent, gun-related crime in the past few years, school districts as well as national governments have put anti-bullying policies in place. Bullying is a complicated phenomenon, involving more than one child demanding lunch money from a smaller child. It is a worldwide epidemic hitting schools everywhere. Virtually everyone has seen or experienced bullying. With technological advances, bullying is even hitting the internet. Parents, teachers, students and governments agencies alike are attempting to put a stop to bullying practices.
Neimen, Samantha, Brandon Robers, and Simon Robers. “Bullying: A State of Affairs.” Journal of Law & Education (n.d.):n. pag. Print.
In the year 2012, there were at least 2.7 million kids being bullied. Out of the 2.7 million kids that were being bullied, 2.1 million of the kids were in the process of being bullied and 282,000 were being attacked. There are many types of bullying that occurs. But the main source of bullying tends to be cyber bullying. In today’s society people do not understand how bad bullying affects the economy. Not only does it affect the economy it also affects the future of the children today. The reason why it affects the economy is because bullying causes kids to skip and miss school. Which will make the future of America’s working force less intelligent. Bullying takes a big effect on today’s education system and where it is going. Bullying has to be taken over so that we have no worries about any thoughts of suicide, missing school, acting different, and not being yourself (Teencentral.net 11).
In a CNN study by Chuck Hadad he states “That bullying is pervasive even though the schools have anti-bullying programs from kindergarten through 12th grade, assemblies throughout the year, and a peer-to-peer program where older students talk to younger students about the dangers of bullying” (Hadad). Robert Faris, a sociologist found that bullies and victims are generally the same person. Whe...
Bullying is a repeated harmful act that continues to affect millions of students every year. There is no stereotypical person that is a target for bullying; anyone can be its victim. There may not always be any signs of physical harm during these attacks, but our children always suffer emotional harm. Educating students, teachers and parents seems to be the only valid solution to this problem. There are many organizations that can educate the schools on this subject but for it to work people must care. Maybe one day, when enough people realize that this problem will not go away with out their help, we can eliminate bullying from our schools. In a perfect world there would be no bullying, but if you could ask Rachel Scott she would tell you we do not live in a perfect world, only a hopeful one.
Shootings and physical violence are only part of the problem in schools. More than twenty percent of students have encountered bullying whi...
In any case, the entire administration within every school should be well-informed about bullying. In some schools, those who make up the ad...
As a society, we often underestimate the damages that bullying cause on children, not just America but all over, and the ones who suffer are the victims themselves. Victims are damaged with the stigma that they are weak, yet somehow have to fend for themselves against something that they have little to no control over. Whether it is for funding, a reputation or any other reason schools sweep their bullying problem under the rug or turn a blind eye, however they have more potential to end this growing issue. To the schools that think bullying is not their problem, they should know that according to heyugly.org, an anti-bullying campaign, “Approximately, 160,000 children a day stay home from school in fear of being bullied.”They also point out
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.