What Educators Need To Know About Bullying Behaviors.
Bullying can be defined as the use of force against another individual or to abusively treat another and coerce them with the intention of publicly humiliating them. Bullying can occur in many forms. It can be verbal, emotional or physical where a bully, usually bigger, engages the victim in a physical confrontation. There are many categories of bullying such as cyber bullying, workplace bullying and school bullying. This paper aims at discussing school bullying and what educators need to know about the various bully behavior that are witnessed in the school set up.
Discussion
Bullying in schools is not a new phenomenon; the act has been in the schools for time immemorial. However not much had been done about it until recently when the number of bullying cases began to rocket and incidences of suicide as a result of constant bullying came into the limelight. The rising trend of school bullying in the form of intimidation, violence taunts and threats has had parents, teachers and the entire education fraternity concerned. Schools have begun to increase awareness on the fight against bullying. Bullying is vile in many areas in the school set up. For instance it is evident in the school playing ground, in the class as well as the eating area (McGrath, 2006).
Educators should be in apposition to distinguish between the myths and misperceptions of bullying from the facts. One of the mostly widely held myths is that bullies are mainly the students that have been rejected by their peers and have a low self esteem. The perception that bullies think lowly of themselves is a misconception, studies done have indicated that most bullies have a large following in their school and class. They also have many friends and are very popular across the students’ fraternity. So contrary to popular belief the bullies have a very high esteem. However the educators should be keen to identify any underlying factors that encourage the bully to torment other students. For instance it could be that the bully was also a bully at one time and his actions are a kind of vengeance, the bully could also be facing some kind of difficulty or abuse at home and as a result he/she is expressing his/her anger through school bullying (Sampson, 2009).
Another misconception that the society has with reference to bullying is that it is a normal part of growing up. This misconception is the number one reason why bullying remained untamed for years in the schools. School management should enlighten the students on the vices associated with bullying and make all students realize that bullying is wrong and that it is not part of the ordinary childhood growing. The misconception that bullying builds character is what makes victims remain mum when they are bullied in school (Conn, 2004).
The ultimate consequence is that the victim will be disliked, taunted by the rest of the school. Instead of making the victim more resilient, he/she will become more vulnerable to instances of bullying by other students. Continuous exposure to bullying has been noted to result to children committing suicide, for example in the case of Josh Belluardo in Georgia USA and Damilola Taylor in South London.
The educators should also realize that the misconception that once one is a victim of bullying he/she will always be a victim. Schools, in their attempts to create awareness on the vice of bullying and encourage the students to stop that act, they should also be in apposition to informal the students that being a victim of bullying does not brand one to always be a victim. Some victims have been known to keep their suffering to themselves and they tend not to report the matter to the school authority until it is too late (McGrath, 2006).
Studies conducted indicate that only a third of bullied victims have a chance of remaining bully victims throughout their school term. Educators should encourage the students and more specifically the bully victims to step out of their shyness cocoons so as to minimize the risk of being vulnerable to bulling. However the educators should be keen to note that bullying is still rampant among students that have recently moved to a new school or have puberty development that is too earlier than the rest of his/her peers or puberty development that is delayed as compared to his/her peers. However bullying due to these reasons is temporary as the victims outgrow the problem (Cloud, 2010).
There also is a misconception that boys more often than not engage in physical bullying than the girls. Girls on the other hand are less physical and mostly apply relational bullying. Relational bullying refers to social ostracism where the bully attempts to distance the victim form the rest of the school peers. This psychological form of bullying where the victim feels that he/she is not accepted in the school. Usually the bully tries to tarnish the reputation of the victim. Both physical and relational bullying can happen across the genders. Educators should therefore be keen to note bullying by use of psychology as it is not easy to detect as compared to physical bullying where the victim might be injured or have tattered clothes (McGrath, 2006).
Educators should also embrace zero tolerance to bullying so as to minimize the instances of bullying in schools. A school that is relaxed on punishing acts of bullying has high levels of bullying behaviors as compared to schools that have applied strict measures in relation to bullying behavior. If the school management takes stringent measures in curbing bulling in the school such as suspension and expelling of bullies, then the incidences of bullying will significantly reduce. Educators should send a stern message to the students that incidences of bullying will not be tolerated. If bullies are left to rule the school, they will become uncontrollable and will not abide to any rules and instructions that will be handed down to them in relation to curbing bullying behaviors. Before implementing a punitive strategy, the school management and administration must first determine the scope and effect of implementing the action and whether the punishment effectively passes the intended message to the rest of the students (Rigby, 2003).
Educators should also be informed that bullying does not only involve two people i.e. the bully and the victim. The first step to curb the bullying behaviors among the school going children is to determine which groups of students are involved in the bullying act either actively or passively. Passive participants to bullying refer to the witnesses. Every bullying incident has witnesses. Most students witness bullying behaviors but are afraid to intervene for fear of being the next victims. The management of the school should create a sort of communication lee way for witnesses to report school bullies. In severe cases where injuries are inflicted on the victims the witnesses should feel safe to come forward and report the bully involved. Punitive measures should then be undertaken to curb the bullying behaviors (Cloud, 2010).
Educators should also push for the inclusion of positive behavior lessons in the schools’ national curriculum. From the moment that children join school it should be instilled in them that bullying behavior is a vice that is discouraged and wrong in the school. Students should also be taught on proper behavior skills with reference to how the students should relate with each other. The national curriculum should also be inclusive of financial skills, motivational and success skill so that the students grow up with key skills towards achieving a successful life and career. A student instilled with this skill will not engage in bullying behavior as he/she will be busy learning skills that will brighten his/her future (Graham, 2010).
Conclusion
For the problem of bullying to be reduced and gradually eradicated form the schools. The educators should focus more on the policies that the schools have with reference to school bullying. School should encourage an inclusion environment rather than exclusion where students group themselves into groups on the basis of financial and social status. Some groupings are based on race and this encourages discrimination and subsequent bullying. Aspects of dignity, equality and respect should be instilled to all the students as they join the schools. Witnesses of bullying behavior should also be encouraged to report the matter and their anonymity maintained.
Reference
Conn, K. (2004). Bullying and harassment: a legal guide for educators. ASCD, 2004
Cloud, J. (2010).when bullying turns deadly; can it be stopped? retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2024210,00.html on 4th May 2011
Graham, S. (2010). What educators need to know about bullying behaviors. Retrieved from http://www.kappanmagazine.org/content/92/1/66.short on 4th May 2011
McGrath, M. (2006). School bullying: tools for avoiding harm and liability. Corwin Press
Rigby, K. (2003). Stop the Bullying: A Handbook for Schools. Aust Council for Ed Research
Sampson, R. (2009) bullying in schools. Retrieved from http://www.popcenter.org/problems/pdfs/Bullying_in_Schools.pdf on 4th May 2011
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