Effects of Bullying
Introduction
Bullying is a common practice in our community and schools. This practice has a lot of negative impact to the students and their rights to learn in a secure and safe environment with no fear of being bullied. Bulling in schools has sometimes become a trend in which students think that it is a right of passage to each incoming student and they believe that bullying is helps the new students build a character. This concept has made long-term academic emotional, physical and academic effects the bully and the victim.
There are various side effects experienced by students who have at one time or repeatedly exposed to bullying (Olweus, 1996). The main goal of the person bullying other is to dominate and gain power over others. Bullying is categorized into three types. There is verbal bullying, through calling of names, making threats, malicious teasing and taunting. The second form of bullying is the physical bullying in which the bully kicks, pushes, destroys the property of others, hits and even steals from others. Finally, there is psychological bullying which include social relationships manipulation, intimidation, spreading rumors, excluded fro ones peer group and extortion (Cohn and Canter, 2003).
Bullying facts
There are two main components of bullying .first is the psychological or physical intimidation which repeatedly occurs to show power. Fighting, teasing, taunting can not be said to be bullying when two people of the same psychological and physical strength but instead when a person is above another in both physical and psychological strength engage in behaviors which are hurtful to others then the person can be called a bully. Due to the less psychological and physical attributed of the victim’, he or she is unable to defend himself (U.S Department of Justice, 2004).
In our society today, bullying is one of the most common types of violence towards other people. Among student in elementary level grade 6-10, the done studies have shown that about 30% of these students engage in bullying which include the number of both of bully/perpetrator and the victim (Harris and Willoughby, 2003). Out of the 30% of the students engaged in bullying, 13 /% of them according to the National Institute of Child Heath and Human Development (NICHD) say they engage in bulling other students. 6% say that they bully and are also victims of bullying.11% of the 30 % indicate that they get bullied (Fight Crime: invest in kids, 2003). In every one week 8% of students are victims of bullying.
Verbal bullying is the most common form of bullying which usually happens in the higher elementary grades. The other forms are harassments, social isolation and comments about a person’s physical appearance in a look down upon manner. (Shellard, 2006). In the high and middle school level the frequent forms of bullying area social exclusion, and teasing. There is also threats, physical violence, racial harassments sexual harassments, destruction of property and public humiliation. Bullying is mostly associated with physical harassment in the elementary grades; it is also accompanied by social exclusion and intimidation. Places with little adult supervisors are where bullying occurs. These are places like the locker rooms, bus stops, cafeteria, hallways and restrooms but even times in the classroom (Shellard, 2002). Boys are more likely to being bullies or victim despite both girls and boys likelihood to engage in bullying.
Schools have also reported a lot of cases on ethnic bullying and bulling on immigrant students (Jimerson, pp 231). The various forms of bullying taking place in schools which have to be stopped because it leads to serious problems to students, in all ways. Effects of Bullying in School. Teachers should also know that racial, immigrant and ethnic position of a classroom of the whole school plays a crucial role in determining the various types of bullying taking place in schools.
Effects of bullying
Bulling whether based on physical or psychological strength or based along racial lines has a great impact to a student’s life. The effects of bullying to child always last for a long term period. They may even stiff suffer from the consequences of bulling when they are in adulthood. Bullying can cause serious body injury which sometimes may be fatal. Children who have been bullied are more likely to be anxious, lonely, depressed, have low self esteem, have headaches and migraine and can even thinks of committing suicide (Limber, 2002).
Bullies are normally those who think of themselves as being superior to other students. They practice name calling, hurtful teasing and intimidation against those who do not have the powers tom d defend themselves. The bullies blame others for being different from them and even weaker than them. To assert dominance the bullies aim is to fight bothers because their characteristics can be defined as being a highly aggressive to their peers and even adults. The bullies have no empathy and see that through violence, thy re able to dominate others. Through inflicting suffering to others and having the desire to be dominate, they gain their satisfaction. (Olweus, 2005. Even students who are never aggressive or violent by nature may decide to bully others due to per pressure and for them to be accepted into the group of their peers (Shellard, 2002)
The main cause of students bullying one another starts from home where parents do not supervise their children behaviors. Students may also learn to bully others due to lack of intervention from teachers. Studies have shown that for a child to be a bully, he is most likely to come from home where there is the use of physical punishment and they are encouraged to physically strike back for the to handle their own problems. Such homes also lack parental warmth and involvement of the parents to what is taking place around the life of their children (Cohn and Canter, 2003, -pp 56).
Bullies suffer negative consequences when they ar out of school. In most schools bullies are expelled or suspended and have very bad recommendations after leaving schools. This makes them even lack jobs. Instead they end up adopting worse behavior like vandalism, stealing shoplifting and abused of drugs and alcohol (Office of Juvenile Justice and delinquency, 2007). Bullies sometimes have weapons, and have the physical ability to fight others. This makes the school environment to be very unsafe for students who might end up refusing to come back to the school.
According to the research carried out to establish the characteristics of the students being bullied, it has indicated that physical appearance such as obesity and wearing spectacles are not the main aspects of the bullied students. Instead those students who have fallen victims of bullying are those below the average physical size which hinders them from having the strength to resist. By nature the victims feel insecure, are passive, anxious, quite, cautious and much quit. They are easel eye dominated because they physically appear to be weak (Shellard, 2003, pp 90). Such students show others that can never retaliate when bullied either verbally or physically. The bullies see them to be passive and insecure and as a result the bullies see them to be emotionally and physically weak making them to be attacked. Such students according to the vara0ious researches have indicated that they come from homes and families which have over protective parents or anyone close to them leading them to fail how to develop their own personal coping skills to handle the challenges they face( Cohen and Cnater, 2003, pp78).
Bullying of such students makes them not be isolated and have no any friend close to them they instead find adults to be closer to them(Olweus, 2001, pp 67).Victims, bystanders and the bullies usually suffer the consequences of bullying. The students fail to have a sense of a safe and secure environment for learning making them to avoid being in school or are preoccupied by fears. ( Shelalrd, & Turnere 2004). The victims also show signs of depreciation, low concentration in class and signs of loneliness. They have difficulty social zing with their peers. Victims have the fear of going to school because they don not want to be humiliated and staying in a place where there is no security. The students who have been humiliated even by verbal abuse have low self esteem which might make them to be highly depressed and suffer from other mental problems( Shellard, 2002). In conclusion bullying has a lot of negative effects even to the bystanders . They are also highly likely to have fear, anxiety, anger , low grades and posttraumatic stress. It is important for the school, administrators to have plans of preventing bulling by ensuring the bullies are punished for their behaviors accordingly.
Reference
American Medical Association. Retrieved August 12, 2005, from http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/39/youthbullying.pdf
Nansel, T. R., Overpeck, M. D., Haynie, D. L., Ruan, W. J., & Scheidt, P. C. (2003). Relationships between bullying and violence among US youth. Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine, 157, 348-353.
Cohn A and Canter, A(2003) Bullying, facts for school, and parents. Retrieved from
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Fight rime: Invest in Kids(2003) Bullying prevention is crime prevention.
Shellard. E(2002) Recognizing and preventing bullying, Arlinghton , education research service
Us Department of Justice( 2010) Bullying schools . Community oriented policing services, Problem oriented guided for police .
Nansel, T. R., Overpeck, M., Pilla, R. S., Ruan, J., Simons-Morton, B., & Scheidt, P. (2001). Bullying Behaviors among US Youth: Prevalence and
Association with Psychosocial Adjustment. Journal of the American Medical Association, 285, 2094-2100.
Olweus, D. (2002, ). Bullying among children and youth. Keynote address presented at the National Technical Assistance Meeting, Safe and
Drug-Free Schools Program, U. S. Department of Education, Washington, DC.
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