On any given school day, 30% of American teenagers are classified as perpetrators, sufferers, or bystanders of bullying, and 3.2 million kids are on the receiving end of bullying each year (Greenya). Some kids today wake up early during the school week anticipating another day of school. To them, it’s like a home away from home that provides a safe environment to learn, interact with peers, grow up, develop a sense of self, and make impressions of how they want to be perceived in the world. Of course, there are also occasional moments of complete anxiety: a week of final exams, a nerve-wracking class presentation, or doing well in a composition class. However, for the other kids, anxiety is an everyday problem. For them, the weekend can’t arrive fast enough, and normal weekday mornings are instead filled with feelings of nausea, gloom, and dread. Some may even have thoughts of ending their life. Every day, hundreds of thousands of people’s lives are affected by this brutal form of abuse. In fact, there is an estimated “160,000 children who skip school every day to avoid bullying” (Greenya). What was once regarded as the typical raucous behaviors of childhood, bullying today is a national school occurrence that has grabbed the attention of parents, teachers, administrators, police, and even state and federal legislators. Bullying has become a serious and widespread problem.
The crisis of bullying has grown dramatically in the past years. Bullying surrounds everyone, from daily harassing insults that are thrown around in the hallways, to bruising from shoves or punches, and even to lethal bullets. Never before have there been large amounts of horrendous cases of bullying with fatal results – the growing prevalence i...
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Though, some may not understand how bullying can be dangerous and extremely hurtful, not only physically, but mentally; it is best to properly explain that bullying is actually defined as “intentional aggressive behavior characterized by an imbalance of strength or power” (Fields). KidsHealth, in 2004, with the help of children revealing that they are one of these bullies, provided a survey showing that “40 percent of children in between the ages of nine to thirteen are one of these bullies” (Turley).
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)
Over the last decade, bullying has really been a worldwide issue. Bullying is affecting children all over the world and has grown into a huge epidemic. According to the National Education Association, “160,000 kids stay home from school each day to ...
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.
DeLeHunt, Michael. "Bullying: What to Do About It; Myths and Facts About a Problem That Can Occur Anywhere, Any Time." Florida Times Union, 4 Sept. 2013. eLibrary. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.
Bullying is a growing concern in a society where status and exercising power over another human being are increasingly important in developing one’s social circles. Dan Olweus (Norwegian researcher and founder of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program) defines it as an “aggressive behaviour that is intentional and that involves an imbalance of power. Most often, it is repeated over time” (Violencepreventionworks.org). School victimization is an especially delicate matter that has only really been in the public eye for the past half century, as more and more researchers and psychologists pointed out its short- and long-term negative effects on targeted individuals. It has since been widely investigated and numerous programs have been developed in an effort to address and prevent the many forms of bullying that exist today. The negative effects of such an abusive behaviour are various and can greatly differ from individual to individual. However, there are three main consequences that can be associated with school bullying, which are: school avoidance, depression/anxiety and even suicidal attempts.
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
In the past many have focused on drug and alcohol use in school aged students along with students carrying weapons to schools, it seemed as if no one was recognizing the significance of school bullying. For victims of bullying, they go to school every day facing harassment, taunting, and humiliation. Studies show that 25-35% of teens encountered some type of bullying in their lifetime (Nansel et al, 2001). Bullying is a form of violent behavior that happens not only in the schools but everywhere. Kids have been exposed to bullying in school for generations. Even though bullying has always been a factor the consequences for the victims have become more severe and sometimes fatal. The violent behavior within school disrupts the learning process and creates a negative atmosphere for the students, staff and everyone involved. There has to be an answer and a solution for what we as educators and members of a community can do to minimize and stop bullying.
More than 160,000 students miss school every day, due to fear of attack or intimidation by other students, in other words getting bullied. Many of these students prefer to not say a thing. Ever wondered what it feels like? Majority of people know this occurs everywhere but just ignore it; not only that, some victims like to stay quiet due to fear. Based on case studies and statistics, there’s evidence to suggest that bullying can cause negative effects socially, emotionally, and physiologically on children.
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
Bullying is a devastating issue that threatens the well-being of today’s youth. Those who are most likely at risk are those who; have a learning or physical disability i.g., autism or ADHD, are underweight or overweight, are gay/lesbian/transgendered, or speak a different language. Of course, there are no specific guidelines of who will become victims of bullying. Children who are bullied experience lower self-esteem, greater loneliness, greater anxiety, and more depression in addition to the already stressful adolescent years. The longer the bullying occurs the more profound the symptoms can become. As a low-level, subtle form of violence, bullying creates an unsafe school environment and can lead to more serious types of violence among students (Whitted & Dupper, 2005).
Bullying has always been present within the United States. Although the issue has been around for a long time, it continues to grow and become more of problem. It is said that about 160,000 children within the United States are refusing to go to school because of bullying. Another statistic is that within American schools alone, there are an estimated 2.1 billion bullies and 2.7 billion victims (Dan Olewus, MBNBD). The numbers presented here are outrageous and although there are organizations to stop bullying, obviously there needs to be a new set of solutions. Any type of bullying presents problems to children, “Suicide, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, trouble with the law, poor performance in school and work, and lack of involvement in socially accepted activities are some of the difficulties resulting from bullying (Austin, Reynolds, Barnes, Shirley). Of course, there is more than just a single type of bullying. Feeding ground for bullies can range anywhere from text-message or cyberbullying to physical bullying in schools. Also, bullies can begin to strike at a young age and could also be; teenage, middle-age, or even the elderly. Even though there are these many versions of problematic bullies, the largest bullying problems take place within the school setting: a place that is supposed to be safe for children rather than harmful. Although it seems impossible to completely get rid of bullying, these are a few suggested solutions; making the school informed on bullying issues, schools implementing rules on bullying, and having students positively use electronics to stop bullying.
Educators attempt to provide safe, nurturing environments where students can thrive. Any disturbance to this climate can have negative affects on students’ educational performances. Bullying is one such disruption. Unfortunately, physical and verbal abuse are nothing new in the school setting, however, the rise of technology in our country has created a new setting for bullies to target their victims. Cyberbulling, or the use of any number of technological means to harm or harass another, has become an increasingly prevalent occurrence, specifically among school-aged children (Campfield, 2006).
Octavia E. Butler once said, “Not everyone has been a bully or the victim of bullies, but everyone has seen bullying and seeing it, has responded to it by joining in or objecting by laughing or keeping silent, by feeling disgusted or interested.” It has been reported that one in every seven students from grades kindergarten through twelfth have been a bully or have gotten bullied (Lett, 2011). Bullying has been a continuing issue for a long period of time. Everything changes over time, including bullying. 71% of students report incidents or bullying as a problem at their school (Lett, 2011). Bullying is a large controversy in modern society, however, knowing the definition of each type, the relationship status, a generalization, and the
“Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” These words have been repeated countless times, but they are not accurate. In truth, words can kill. Bullying has become a highlighted problem within our society, and bullying in the school systems is even more prominent. According to the news, there are countless cases of bullying, many of which do not have happy endings. The rates of suicide due to bullying are currently higher than they have ever been before. Suicide is the third top causes of death in young people within the United States, averaging at 4,400 deaths a year, with over 50% of these deaths as a result of some sort of bullying. Studies also show that there are 100 suicide attempts for every one successful suicide performed (“Bullying and Suicide”). These numbers are disturbingly high. Bullying is affecting more kids in ways that some adults may never understand. The fact that words and actions can lead to cutting and suicides is still a distant concept to some and needs to be brought to immediate attention. Laws are now being put into place to prevent these tragedies, but what is really being done to prevent them within the schools or even within the students’ homes? There is a lot of finger pointing when it comes to this topic. But we all want to know what the cause is behind this nationwide crisis and who is responsible for it.