Bullying And Peer-Victimized Youth

Bullying is defined as “verbal, physical, or psychological abuse or teasing accompanied by real or perceived imbalance of power” and is usually targets what children perceive as different (Olweus, 1993). Bullying is prevalent across the nation. It has devastating effects on students each day. Bullying is a problem for all students, regardless of race, gender or class. The National Education Association reports that 160,000 children are absent intentionally from school each day because they fear being bullied whether it is an attack or just intimidation by other students. This accounts for 15% of all school absenteeism (Hunter, 2012). Dan Olweus (1993) from the National School Safety Center tells us that bullying includes three parts: (1)

Bullying in schools in America is extremely common. Most experts attribute this to children having been exposed to violence in society. Being a victim of bullying has serious long-term consequences. Introvert and recluse children who are victims of bullying are apt to be immersed in depression and poor self-esteem. Some of these victims are more likely to either

“New bullying statistics for 2010 revealed about one in seven students in grades kindergarten through 12th grade is either a bully or has been a victim of bullying” (“Bullying Statistics 2010”). How does a person detect whether someone is being bullied? “A person is bullied when he or she is exposed, repeatedly over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other persons, and he or she has difficulty defending himself or herself” (Olweus). Bullying takes place more in middle school because they are trying to fulfill a strong need for power, fit-in with their peers, and satisfy their pain. “Fear of being excluded by peers leads to by-standing, if the teen is aware of a bullying situation and decides to stay away or not get

Over 3.2 million students are victims of bullying each year. Approximately 160,000 teens skip school every day because of bullying. 17% of American students report being bullied 2 to 3 times a month or more within a school semester. Bully victims are between 2 to 9 times more likely to consider suicide than non-victims. Bullying and depression are often related. Depression affects both bullies and their victims. Victims of cyberbullying may be at an even higher risk of depression. The link between bullying and depression can also extend to other problems, like: low self esteem, anxiety, high rates of school absence, physical illness. If you see bullying going on tell a teacher or help make the bullying stop, because you don’t want to have the person being bullied have suicidal thoughts, depression, or kill

Bullying is no longer a phenomenon for just teens, preteens and parents. An article in Psychology Today defines bullying as a “distinctive pattern of deliberately harming and humiliating others.” It is now a major concern for seniors and their families. The fastest growing segment of the population is people over 84! Many of them use senior centers or live in senior communities. Bullying among seniors in these situations has been an issue for some time but unfortunately is on the rise. Close to 20% of seniors who use or are in facilities face some type of bullying, harassment, social manipulation, controlling behaviors or ostracism by their peers.

The second article by Wang, Nansel, & Iannotti (2011) was a health brief devised to exam four types of bullying, the frequency of bullying, and their association with levels of depression among students in 6th through 10th grade. The researchers also compared the degrees of depression in connection to bullies, victims, and those considered bully-victims. The team concentrated on physical, verbal, relational and cyber bullying constructed from items in the (2005) Health Behavior in School Aged Children Survey.

Bullying has changed and become a more frequent trend over the years. Adolescents get bullied through social media and in person. In some cases there are not many people who speak out and help the person being bullied. While there might be some peers who hesitate to speak up, “[i]f no one speaks out against the bully, the bystanders interpret the lack of response as an acceptance of the behavior” (Finkelstein). When no one stands up for the victim, silence is an encouragement for the bullying to continue. Students don’t realize how speaking up for someone can make a great difference, even if it’s only one person. While children are mostly aware of what bullying is, they don’t completely understand it “[b]ullying can take many forms, including

In the article Predicting bullying and victimization among early adolescents: Associations with disruptive behavior disorders it discusses how bullying has recently been studied by researchers to understand the causes and effects in classroom for students in elementary and middle school. The article discusses

This usually begins in elementary school, but is often overlooked by officials because it is not viewed as a serious problem, but more as a natural matter. Bullying in elementary school consists of one kid picking on the other child's flaws or anything they think makes that child weird or different. When bullying starts to get more intense at this age level, physical bullying occurs, which involves one child hitting or punching the other. Once children enter middle school, the conditions of bullying increase tremendously. Middle school is the most intense level of bullying preteens and young adults have to face throughout their school years. In middle school, children are trying to find there way and making friends plays a crucial role. It is very easy for a bully to attack an individual and break down their self-esteem which can make it very difficult for the person being bullied to socialize. Physical bullying during middle school consists of the bully shoving kids, tripping or hitting them as they walk past them along with elementary bullying habits.When using verbal bullying, the bully tends to use words they know will make their victims self conscious about themselves. Elementary school and Middle school is when bullying is at its prime. Towards the end of the middle school,

Middle school students experience an onset of changes. The transition from elementary school, the start or puberty, and peer socialization can have adverse psychological effects on students. Due to the ongoing changes there is a typical trajectory of bullying and peer victimization from a developmental perspective is an increase and peak, during middle school years and a decrease during high school years (Klein, Cornell, & Konold, 2012). According to a recent survey published by the American Psychological Association, 38.6% of middle school students reported peer victimization,

First, this social issue affects adolescences on a micro level, as it involves the individual and their mental, emotional, social, and behavioral implications. As a result of bullying, it may negatively impact the person’s sense of happiness and quality of life (https://www.onlinemswprograms.com/faqs/micro-vs-mezzo-vs-macro-social-work.html). Bullying can occur at any point within a school setting or affiliated event. An adolescent’s classmates, peers and teachers can partake in bullying behavior. There could be multiple notions as to why an adolescent may be bullied. During this developmental stage of a person’s life, the individual is changing either physically, developmentally or socially while transitioning from childhood into adulthood.

According to the Cleveland research that was conducted during the 1980’s, teachers reported bullying to be a common occurrence. The children involved in the survey were divided into five categories which are anxious bullies, bullies, provocative victims, victims, and bullies and victims. The psychological effects of bullying can be detrimental and have an emotional effect on children who are anxious bullies, provocative victims, and bully/victims. Even though the percentages are low in each category, the numbers are still high since the goal is to prevent bullying.

Bullying can be hard to define, because research has shown that it comes in many forms which makes it difficult to find one set of characteristics that will describe a bully. Conclusively, studies have defined bullying as a set of repeated aggressive behavior that is intended to harm someone, which usually involves an imbalance of power between the victim and the perpetrator (Morgan, 2012, p. 174). Studies have shown that there are two distinct types of bullying, which is a direct form of verbal and physical aggression, and indirect, which often results in name calling, rumors and exclusion (Aluedse, 2006, p. 38). This form of peer victimization can have devastating effects on a child 's academic work and their physical and psychological well being (Limber, 2003, p. 23). In terms of gender, boys are more likely to be involved in physical bullying (direct) as for girls are more likely to be involved in indirect bullying (Wang et al, 2009, p. 371). Previous research indicates, that parents and friends are two important factors of social interaction associated with bullying and victimization among adolescences. Bullying is quite common among middle school children, because it is during this time that children go through puberty and hormonal changes. During this time students are looking to be accepted and fit into a specific group; however, when there is a lack of acceptance and esteem due to victimization, this can cause children to isolate themselves from those around them

The first problem with students who get bullied is that not every school takes it seriously and does not take much action. According to Graham there are 30-80% of students are victims of bullies (136). There are some teachers in schools that do not take bullying that seriously because teachers believe that it’s just kids being kids because that’s what they do. When a student is a victim of a bully and they bring it to a teacher’s attention they are normally told to just let it go and don’t let it bother them because they bully is just playing around that it’s not a big deal. The teacher’s also think that the bully doesn’t mean what they say or do. Meyer-Adams states that bullying is not as overt as weapons offenses and fatal shootings, bullying occurs with greater frequency and may have more profound and lasting effects on students (211). This is a problem because it makes students feel like being bullied isn’t a priority to teachers so there for students try to take it into their own hands and end up getting in trouble once they do. Jenkins states, Among middle school students, bullying behavior was significantly correlated with impairments in three areas of executive functioning:

Bullying has become a relevant and serious problem over the past decade, especially among children between the ages of 4 and 16. Bullying is defined as unwanted, aggressive behaviors such as threats, spreading rumors, or attacking someone physically or emotionally. Additionally, in recent years cyber-bullying, which is considered bullying on the Internet, has increased. Not only can bullying cause detrimental problems in the future for the victim but, research shows that the bully him/herself may also experience lasting issues. It is evident that bullying occurs most frequently during school, as a result school have focused on finding ways to prevent and treat bullying and victims of bullying (Santrock, 2014). Furthermore, bullying is an important issue to recognize in schools. Students who are victims of bullying tend to feel unsafe, anxious and threatened during the school day. As a result, these students are unable to focus on the lessons and material being taught by their teachers. Additionally, parents trust their child’s school and want their child learning in a safe environment, where they can develop academically and socially. According to a government reports, New Jersey has the highest rate of bullying, surpassing the national average (njbullying.org). Ultimately, New Jersey has taken the necessary steps to help prevent bullying in the future; New Jersey’s governor Chris Christie recently signed an act, which further specified school expectations when