Who is Responsible for Preventing Bullying in Schools?

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Most adults when reflecting on their school days, may evoke imagery of the taller than average, out of form classmate, chuckling along the hallways carelessly. Like an alligator ready to prance on his prey, he seeks students that appear smaller and weaker to tease and forcefully take their possessions. The appropriate term to describe the student who performed these menacing acts is a bully. However, present day bullies may be more than an individual or group that most students dread to encounter in the hallway and playground. Unfortunately, bullying occurs on a broader and more infectious level. With the advancement in technology, bullying in school has extended from the usual classroom episodes of intimidation to derogatory comments by means of text messaging and social media. In 2011, the U.S. Department of Education, Web Tables reports, “the 2008-2009 school year 7,066,000 students 8 through 18 reported that they were bullied at school (5), this number reflects an alarming 28 percent of 25,217,000 students.

Bullying has become a major issue in school, particularly among adolescents. In an effort to provide effective solutions to stop bullying in schools, many point fingers at schoolteachers and administrators. However, while a community effort is essential, curbing and preventing bullying is largely the responsibility of the family. A child’s behavior is generally a reflection of his home life.

Before making an initiative to prevent bullying, it is important to define what bullying is and what causes a child to bully others. Olweus the founder of Olweus Bullying Prevention program and the author of Bullying at school: What We Know and What We Can Do, define bullying on his website from a victims perspective. ...

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...ying in school. Children rely on their parents to teach them by example how to live and how to respond to situations. It is the parent’s responsibility to teach children accountability.

Works Cited

Devoe, Jill, and Christina Murphy. "Student Reports of Bullying and Cyber-Bullying: Results From the 2009 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey." Web Tables. U.S. Department of Education -National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Aug. 2011. Web. 7 Nov. 2011.

Olweus, Dan. Bullying at School: What We Know and What We Can Do. Blackwell Publishing, 1993. Print.

Rigby, Ken. New Perspectives on Bullying. Jessica Kingsley , 2002. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 21 Nov. 2011.

Olweus, Dan. "What is Bullying?." Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. N.p., 6 Mar. 2011. Web. 14 Nov. 2011.

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