Anti-Bullying Programs

“The great majority of school shootings are perpetrated by victims of bullying.” states Izzy Kalman (qtd in Kalman) I believe that school violence can be stemmed from bullying. The violence is often caused by the victims of bullying or the bullies themselves. I was bullied as a child and I remember how humiliated I would feel some days. Over time, that humiliation turned into anger, and in turn I wanted to hurt those that had hurt me. I never did hurt anyone, but that isn’t always the case. Bullying is a problem that is not taken seriously enough and can lead to school shootings and suicide.

The concept of bullying in the school system has been linked to many homicides and

In “Phoebe Prince: Should School Bullying Be a Crime?”, an article written by journalist Jessica Bennet addresses school bullying, the outcomes and the consequences that bullies deserve or not. Above all, this article aims the spotlight on bullying, a 15-year-old who took her own life due to harassment, torment, rumors, physical threats all leading it to being bullied by well-known good students. In any case, the process of being bullied has never been taken into consideration nor importance in the school system or by society in general. “It’s even gotten better over the past decade says Dan Olweus, a leading bullying expert”. However, bullying just does not disappear, it is still an issue that humankind does not have any diligence to the cause

Have you ever been a target of an individual’s cruelty and hatred? It does not necessarily have to be physical, but more like being verbally degraded or publicly humiliated. The effects bullying can have on its victims is something that may last throughout their lives, or something that may end their life(Braithwaite, Hyde, Pope, 2010).We all are well aware of childhood bullying but as evidence shows bullying does not stop on the

Yet the notion that bullying may have caused the massacre at Columbine High School is a chilling one, as it lessens the blame of the attack on the perpetrators themselves and further increases it on the students who actually bullied them as well as on the school officials who did nothing to discourage it. Elysa R. Safran writes in the Journal of Emotional Abuse:

In a high school in Colorado two senior students Dylan Keloid and Eric Harris made an extensive plan to attack and kill students and teachers. Through their actions 12 people were killed and 24 were injured. In the end both students committed suicide. After this shooting much thought was but into why it happened, and how to prevent it from happening again. Idea such as movies and video games were brought into the forefront of discussion (Ross 2014). Bullying was also in question but many pushed it aside saying that the bully’s had graduated the year before (Ross 2014). These people who did not believe that bullying was a part of the cause did not take into consideration the mental effect bullying has nor the amount of bullying that goes unknown to others (Ross 2014). Students told authorities that the two boys had been harassed by many students and athletes throughout high school (Ross 2014). Authorities also found out that the school was notorious for turning a blind eye to bullying (Ross 2014). Though there were many other influences in the decision the boys made bullying was a major contributor to their mental health and view of the

Source: McNamee, Abigail, and Mia Mercurio. "School-Wide Intervention in the Childhood Bullying Triangle." Childhood Education 5(2008):370. eLibrary. Web. 02 Feb. 2016.

In 12 of 15 school shootings in the 90’s, the shooters had a history of being bullied (Effects of Bullying). Depression, anxiety, dismal and basic biological needs are a result of bullying. According to 11 Facts About Bullying, over 3.2 million students are victims of bullying each year and approximately 160,000 teens skip school every day because of bullying. Bullying can lead to self harm, isolation, and loss of interests. The factors that contribute to the behavior of bullies is their home life, the way they think, and external events around them.

After looking over the social and economic costs of antibullying-programs, it is clear that the United States Congress should amend the Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities Act to include anti-bullying programs. These prevention programs would lead to less cases of mental illness and lower unemployment rates. It is proven that bullying victims are at an increased risk of anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts (Impact of childhood bullying, 2014). By amending the SDFSCA to include anti-bullying programs it would allow for more schools to receive federal grants to implement anti-bullying programs. This would allow for more schools to enter the market which ultimately increase the number of programs being implemented. Given that there

With all the supplies the schools need to stop bullying, anti-bullying programs are getting overpriced. So a lot of schools do not have anti-bullying programs because they can’t afford it. “But solutions can be costly. After the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights went into effect, 88 percent of school business administrators who responded to the School Boards Association survey said their districts were spending more money because of the rules”( Amanda Oglesby). After the Anti-Bullying Bill Of Rights was passed schools in New Jersey were forced to have anti-bullying programs but they spend a lot of money on it. This makes it seem that anti-bullying programs are not there to stop bullying but to have the money

Back in the past many have focused on drug and alcohol use in school students along with students carrying weapons to schools, and 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. Kids today come home and kill themselves or never want to go back to school because of BULLYING. “Studies show that 25-35% of teens encountered some type of bullying in their lifetime (Nansel et al,).” Bullying is a form of violent behavior that happens not only in the schools but everywhere. Kids everywhere have been exposed to bullying in school for generations and ages . Although bullying has always been a factor the consequences for

Experience of being a victim of bullying can finally damage the mental health of students and motivate them to commit school violence. "According to statistics in two-thirds of cases of the recent school shootings, the attackers had previously been bullied" (Sampson, 2009, p.1). For most children learning process itself may already be a daily struggle and being a target for bullying at the same time can become "the straw that broke the camel's back", after which they consider suicide as the only possible solution. "A study in Britain found that at least half of suicides among young people are related to bullying" (Detlor, 2010). So, due to the fact that problem of bullying negatively affects students' learning ability, their health and the entire school climate society should take definite and urgent measures to solve it.

Not only are bullied children anxious, depressed, and underachieving during the months and years of their torment, but even years later, they have lower self-esteem as well as painful memories. 7 The picture is somewhat different, but often more ominous, for bullies. Contrary to the public perception that bullies are actually insecure and lonely, at the peak of their bullying they usually have friends who abet, fear, and admire them, and they seem brashly unapologetic about the pain they have inflicted, as they often claim, "all in fun." But their popularity and school success fade over the years, and especially if they are boys, they run a high risk of ending up in prison. In one longitudinal study done by Olweus, by age 24, two-thirds of the boys who had been bullies in the second grade were convicted of at least one felony, and one- third of those who had been bullies in the sixth through the ninth grades were already convicted of three or more crimes, often violent ones. International research likewise finds that children who are allowed to regularly victimize other children are at high risk of becoming violent offenders as adolescents and adults. 8 Unfortunately, bullying during middle childhood seems to be universal: it occurs in every nation that has been studied, is as much a problem in small

School bullying and bullying as a whole has become a growing concern. The need for more intervention is more recognized, as incidents of bullying and inappropriate acts towards others occur in places outside of the classroom. This literature takes a closer look at bullying in schools. Olwesus (2013) states “the field of bullying research is to some extent plagued by problems, disagreements, and unresolved issues” (p.752). Whether if anyone will agree on the root of bullying, the fact remains that bullying has to be examined at its very core to remedy the matter before it becomes a bigger concern. There is a dire need for intervention based programs to be set in place to address the fact the act of bullying has lasting effects on the bully and the victim. When intervention programs are put into place to address bullying, the act of bullying decreases due to the gained understanding of the effects.

This section will be review the testing the credibility of several studies as they relate to bullying and school based shootings. One study will depict how bullying persists in groups and another will demonstrate the frequency of bullying, whether it occurs more in the home or in a school related setting. It is through evidence we will examine the presence of bullying and the impact it has on the student body.