In example #2 of the bullying cases in which the female middle school student committed suicide after being harassed by her peers over a “sexting” photo, the school demonstrated significant incompetence in both government anti-bullying protocols as well as legal, moral, and ethical imperatives based on bullying research in the field of school psychology. This is shown by the exclusive focus on the student’s sexting photo and not on the later acts of bullying and their psychological implications in an environment populated by young people at a critical stage of cognitive and social development. Although the federal trial court dismissed the parent’s lawsuit based on “the school not being in a custodial relationship with the student at the time of the suicide,” this ruling represents a superficial understanding of the psychological impact of bullying in a school context and the school’s ethical and moral responsibility to develop a comprehensive plan to create an anti-bullying culture among faculty, students, and parents that extends beyond the school year. In the following, I will discuss in detail the specific areas of incompetence demonstrated by the school and how and why this incompetence weakens its moral, ethical, and legal foundation. By focusing primarily on the inappropriate photo sent by the female student as opposed to the bullying she incurred, the school failed to support the student and address the larger and more serious issue of
TORTS laws offer compensation to individuals harmed by the unreasonable actions of others. TORTS claims are based on the legal premise that a person(s) is liable for the consequences of their conduct if it results in injury to others. In education-related cases, the most common TORT is negligence. Recently, several cases have occurred whereby negligence and bullying are interconnected with students suing their schools for failing to enforce anti-bullying policies and causing injury to their well being. A current case includes Maya Williams suing her former high school for negligence in regards to the enforcement of their anti-bullying policy. By looking into a precedent case, elements of negligence, and how bullying affects a student, we
My topic of research will be on bullying and what affects it has on a person being bullied. To start out, bullying is justified as using supreme strength or influence to intimidate someone, usually to have another person do what you want them to do (Wikipedia, 2016).
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
Most kids say that they don’t see bullying around school. In just Minnesota alone there is talk about bullying and how to prevent it. Sen. Franken states, “Nine out of 10 LGBT kids are harassed or bullied in school. One-third report having skipped school in the last month because they felt unsafe” (Shah 14). Kids should not feel unsafe to go to school. School is supposed to be a safe place to go and if someone needs help there are supposed to be people there to guide them. Franken adds, “But the sad fact is that our federal laws are failing” (Shah 14). Laws have been made to try to stop bullying, but bullying continues to exist. This shows how out of control bullying is becoming.
A young boy was once sitting on his computer when he saw an email from one of his peers. He opened the email, and soon enough realized he was being bullied. However, the young boy let the cyber-bullying get out of control. His parents told the school about it, but there was nothing they could do. The boy had to go to a new school where he wouldn’t be bullied. There are many problems like this that get out of hand, so much that the school can do nothing to help. Many people blame the school for not helping, when there is nothing they can do about it. Therefore, schools do not have the responsibility to respond to and protect students from the challenge of cyber-bullying, even if it’s off campus.
The common thought has been bullying is a normal reaction to school. Studies show that bullying is the result of underlying issues. Traditional bullying was a common thug trying to make a place for themselves, whereas now it has gone to new heights, it now includes physical trauma and even death. We find that bullying affects the bully as well as the victim. The victims tend to have more problems in school with attendance and achievements within the academic world. This is not just about the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students, it involves all students that don’t fit societies idea of normal then the person gets bullied. The amount of attention given to this issue is a direct result of this escalation in events within the school system from grade schools to universities. The most pressing problem with getting the bullying policies changed is the conservative communities that school boards serve and convincing them that these policies need to be
An average bullying session lasts about 37 seconds; an adult intervenes in the problem about one in twenty-five times (Bullying Facts). Bullying is seen as aggressive and unwanted behavior between two or more people (Aspa). Most people who are not involved in the actions going on do not really know it’s happening. Most parents do not even know when their child, or children, are being bullied (Bullying Facts). Bullying can be prevented if the right consequences take place. Parents and schools have the rules about bullying prevention, but these do not prevent the bullying from continuing their ways. People who bully often should receive bigger consequences because eventually the problem could escalate and the bully will continue their
Bullying and cyber-bullying have increased tremendously in past six years. With the increased popularity of Facebook, bullies are finding a new way of tormenting victims. Suicide is the third leading cause of death in teens, with bullying being one of the leading causes. Legal standings on who is accountable have not been clear and when cases are brought forth the infrequent use of laws holding parents and schools responsible is glaring. It is time to make bigger strides on holding parents and school officials responsible for the bullying that occurs within the community. Civil suits are filed at an alarming rate but criminal charges are not considered in some bullying cases. Children are not being led by example but left to think their
Teasing and playing around are all part of growing up; however, what happens when it happens over and over. The Hernando County Code of Conduct defines bullying as:
Bullying and in its many various ways effects everyone in a lot of ways. A lot of the people are being humiliated and hurt. Victims of bullying commit suicide because people that are being bullied think bullying will not stop. Bullying is a big problem in many countries, it is a problem that everyone can experience at anytime and anywhere. Bullying can be the number one problem everyone experiences in daily basis.
Due to the imminent hazards of a victim committing suicide due to a bully, a code of conduct shall be put into place to counter these hazards. All schools should have a strict code of conduct when faced with situations relating to bullying. Lives of victims are at stake and all precautions shall be considered when trying to resolve these issues. If a incident was ever reported, but the school was unable to do anything and the victim committed suicide, I would blame the schools as they did not intervene when they were given the chance too. They also had knowledge about the situation and were fully aware, yet they did not
Google’s online dictionary defines bullying as using superior strength or influence to intimidate (someone), typically to force him or her to do what one wants. Many define bullying as physically, mentally, emotionally, and psychologically degrading another living being.
Bullying is defined as unwanted or aggressive behavior that causes someone to feel afraid or intimidated. This behavior could be something physical, verbal, or something done electronically or through social media. If someone feels threatened by someone’s actions or words, it could be considered bullying, even if that was not the intent.There are many types of bullying, how to recognize bullying, how to report bullying, what to do if you see incidents of bullying, and what resources are available to persons who have been bullied.
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