Bullying: When Does Harmless Teasing Cross the Line?
A Study on Bullying
Leslie Babcock
National American University
Technical Communication
May 2, 2012
Letter of Transmittal
Date: May 2, 2012
To: From:
Dr. Mauer Leslie Babcock
328 W. Grand Avenue 1400 East Kay
Haysville, KS 67060 Haysville, Ks 67060
USD 261 Superintendents
Dear Dr. Mauer:
Enclosed you will find the results of the questionnaire distributed last month, and my recommendations on the topic; Bullying: When Harmless Teasing Crosses the Line. I have learned a lot about bullying in your school district from the parents, students, administrators and staff. I am convinced that the information that has been gathered will help you
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It is going to give ways for parents and school staff to communicate with one another on the topic of bullying, and ways to resolve it. This paper is also going to touch on possible reasons that a bully does what they do, and show ways and suggestions to give help to both sides. This paper will also include the obligations parents and staff have to students to stop bullying, suggestions for programs to help stop bullying, and how society has to work together to put an end to this ever growing, tragic situation.
Bullying: When Does Harmless Teasing Cross the Line?
A Study on Bullying
There are many types of bullying that students experience today. Most bullying is experienced by students in grade 6-8 (graph A, appendix A). Of The students experiencing bullying, most are female (graph A, appendix A). These students are experiencing physical bullying, verbal bullying, relational bullying, reactive bullying and Cyberbullying. 63% of the male students surveyed said they that experience physical bullying above all other types listed, while 50% of female participants said they experience relational bullying (graph B, appendix A).
Physical bullying is the easiest form of bullying to detect. It includes, but is not limited to, hitting, kicking, punching and slapping. Relational bullying is not easily identified by school staff or parents. Relational bullying includes damaging of the bullied students relationship
Each type of bullying has its own twist. Verbal bullying consists of name calling, insults and teasing it starts out by generally mentioning but then grow and grow and grow until the stunning words are targeting one specific person. Physical bullying consists of hitting, kicking, pinching, tripping and pushing it can cause both short and long-term damage. Social bullying consists of lying, spreading rumors and
The three main types of bullying are physical, verbal, and emotional. Physical bullying, according to the website typesofbullying.org, “In most instances, the aggressor is physically larger that the victim or may be within a group” (The Different Types of Bullying, 2013). Psychical bullying may involve the bully spiting, shoving, kicking, hitting, or punching the one being bullied (The Different Types of Bullying, 2013). Verbal bullying is where the bully only uses words to harm his victim (The Different Types of Bullying, 2013). The bully will taunt or tease his/her victim; and they will focus on the appearance of the one they are bullying (The Different Types of Bullying, 2013). Emotional bullying occurs when the bully is aggressive on an emotional level toward their victim (The Different Types of Bullying, 2013). This
Traditional bullying can happen face-to-face (Hinduja, Patchin, “Traditional and Nontraditional” 730). Physical bullying includes behavior such as hitting, punching, slapping, kicking, and pushing others. Psychological bullying includes verbal name-calling, teasing, swearing, insulting, embarrassing others, and such (Kowalski, Limber, Agatson 18; Shariff, “Cyber-Bullying” 11). This type of bullying can be easier to detect when teachers and other school officials can hear, see, and recognize those involved in the incident. Most of the time this is done on school grounds (Hinduja, Patchin, “Bullying” 121).
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)
Even though bullying affects everyone, boys tend to bully more, and often towards other boys; also, younger children that bully typically do this through physical aggression a nd verbal abuse. Other more elaborate types of bullying such as cyberbullying, spreading rumors, and m any others are less gender assigned. In this sense, girls tend to be both the bull ied and the bullies just as much as the boys. It is extremely possible to be a victim of bullying beca use of one's racial status. It is difficult to distinguish which group of people are more
Bullying involves repeated acts of anger and violent behavior. A child who grows into this infamous term known as a “bully”, result into preying on and threatening a victim who is weaker physically, mentally and emotionally. There are four common types of bullying. It is important for parents to understand which type of bullying is concerning their child so they can understand what is happening to them and what actions should be taken to help their child. The first type of bullying is physical bullying that includes; hitting, kicking, tripping, pinching, pushing, or damaging property. The second type of bullying is verbal bullying that includes; name-calling, insults, intimidation, homophobic/racist remarks, or verbal abuse. The third type of bullying is social and emotional bullying. This is also called “relational bullying.” This type of bullying includes behavioral actions designed to harm a child’s reputation or cause humiliation. For example, lying, spreading rumors, negative facial gestures, playing cruel jokes to embarrass a child, etc.
Bullying is bound to happen anywhere at any time but occurs mostly within school limits. Kathleen Winkler defines bulling in her book, Bullying, as “...any kind of ongoing physical or verbal mistreatment, done with the intent to harm, where there is an imbalance of power between bully and victim” (Winkler 14). Bullying has an extremely important impact on one’s everyday life and can affect their life negatively getting to the point where they can no longer take the blow. To try and prevent bullying from taking place in schools, one needs to know how bullying effects a person, what the role of each person involved in the situation is, and have knowledge of specific methods on how to prevent it. Bullying in schools is a serious problem and a handful of school do their part to prevent it; others, not as much, which means there is room for improvements.
Bullying is an undesirable form of aggression that is mostly seen in kids of school ages in which one of the parties is less powerful. The aggressive behavior is normally repeated over a period of time. It has the power to have devastating, lasting problems. The purpose of this article is to provide a coherent analysis of the most recent research on bullying and to address the issues that still exist even when school-based programs have been implemented in schools since the 1980s.
Bullying has engrained in American society since the country’s founding. Bred from a capitalistic economy and competitive social hierarchy, bullying has remained a relevant issue through the years. School age children are learning skills and lessons from their teachers as well as through peer interactions. Although schools are great tools that children benefit from, there are some bad experiences, such as bullying, that may negatively affect and remain with these children for the rest of their lives. Some
Bullying in the K-12 system in America is a serious societal issue. Bullying is commonly discussed and argued in our society, and it can be seen on the news and in the media very frequently. The problem with bullying is that it has been around for a long time, yet it is still not being fixed. Schools cannot continue this way because it damages young children and causes issues throughout the life course. As scholars have found, bullying leads to lower academic performance and low self-esteem, which shows the need for change. In a survey of about 50 peers, 43% agree that bullying is an issue, and 35% strongly agree with the statement. This means that more than 75% of respondents agree that bullying is an issue in our country. All teachers,
This book prompt discussion on bullying and what you can do if you see it, experience it, or why people do it.
You probably think bullying is only hitting, kicking, and punching, but there are six different types. There are: physical, verbal, hidden, sexual, cyber bullying, and relational aggression. The first one is the most common, physical. It includes hitting, kicking, tripping, pinching, and damaging someone 's property. This one is easy to figure out if a kid is being bullied. Another type is verbal, and it is an emotional type of bullying. This one attacks self-confidence, and/or self-esteem. It includes name calling, insults, teasing, intimidation, homophobic remarks, racial remarks, and verbal abuse. The third type is hidden, this one is the hardest to detect. Sometimes the victim doesn 't know that they are being bullied. This type of bullying is supposed to harm someone 's reputation and/or cause humiliation. To make it hidden it includes lying, spreading rumors, nasty facial or physical gestures, mean looks, playing cruel jokes, rudely mimicking someone, encouraging others to socially exclude someone, and
There are many types of bullying which is highly dependent on the nature of bullying. for example, the physical bullying may incorporate such behavior as hitting, pinching, kicking and any form of physical abuse considers physical bullying. The verbal bullying which incorporate spreading rumors, gossiping, insulting and teasing. Next which is the emotional bullying and this includes isolating and excluding other from the group. Finally, the cyber bullying which is another form of a violence practiced when online communication (Rai,2012). In addition, further elaboration for Physical bullying which happens when the bully practices physical aggression to force, threaten, or damage the sufferer. This is typically the easiest shape of
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.
It is only in the recent years that attention has turned toward the widespread problem of bullying, especially in schools, and that bullying is identified as a serious problem that merits intervention and research (Coy). Therefore, relatively little effort has been made to overcome or address the problem, which still remains a widespread social vice. This paper purports to illustrate how, despite efforts made to rectify the situation, bullying still remains rampant, and is getting worse.