U.S Secondary Schools are Unsafe and Unwelcoming for LGBTQ Youth
To expect greatness in any field of life, it all starts from a place of quality education and that's what America has constantly strived for. School is the place where everyone is given equal opportunity to learn and shape himself or herself into contributing members of society. At the same time each individual’s academic success defines what it means to have a good life. Unfortunately, schools face lots of problems trying to do the right thing. Among major challenges that schools face, bullying has a strong attribution to the poor academic experience among student victims. Today, students still risk being bullied everyday. This paper studies bullying in secondary school with
It is important to define the term bullying accurately because that term alone can be adversarial. With that being said it can mean intimidation, aggression, hostile behaviors, and pestering the weak. Bullying takes place in schools, work, and in your own home. It can pretty much happen anywhere. Bullying in my terms is anything that can make a person feel weak minded, and has to submit.
Bullying at school is a big problem that is found in all the schools in the United States and across the world. Since the late 1990s there have been several fatal school shootings committed by victims of bullying that have brought bullying major media attention. This has resulted in an increase of awareness about the harmful effects on the kids being bullied as well as the bullies themselves. This has brought a large amount of local, state, and nationwide programs designed to try to prevent bullying or to at least try to contain the problem. “In an effort to adequately address the problem, many schools are taking a proactive approach through prevention and intervention, but how do we know if and when such intervention is effective? First and foremost, we must have an accurate understanding of the dynamic and complex phenomenon of bullying across development and as it spans the multiple levels of the social ecology” (Casper, Meter, & Card, 2015, par 2). Many psychologists, sociologists, and school administrators have been publishing research on school bullying. Bullying is a significant threat to many children because it causes psychological problems not only for those who get bullied but also those who do the bullying. Even though bullying is a significant problem the are few solutions that can help prevent or significantly reducing bullying like reporting bullying, know the characteristics, and passing laws.
Bullying is progressively seen as a enormous problem in the United States and around the world and unfortunately for many, numerous research has started to prove that its consequences are real and can have long lasting impact for both victim and those who love them. Throughout or society Homosexuality is deemed unfavorable in religious and cultural circles of people in the United States. Thus providing those to be outcast and making them even more of targets for the hostility of others. Bullying it its own right has consequences that are far reaching especially for those in the LGBT community.
According to the CDC, suicide is the third leading cause of death in youth between the ages of 10 and 24. It results in approximately 4,400 deaths each year (Get the Facts). Most teens are bullied because of looks, body shape, and race. These things cause many issues, including; suicide, self harm, and even depression. Teenage bullying is a very common issue in the US. There are many types of bullying, including; cyber, physical, verbal, and so many more. It can cause so many issues and affect many people.
The findings were consistent and showed that a high level of bullying was consistently linked with lower grades. The students who received the most bullied rates performed noticeably poorer academically than their peers, regardless of whether the data relied on self-assessments, peer nomination, teacher evaluation or GPA. Although the results clearly suggest that bullying impacts educational outcomes, many educational establishments do not focus on social emotional issues of students to improve achievement scores. Ignoring such issues, may hold back educational progress. It is important to teach students how to balance education and emotions for them to progress, this is the reason why many urban schools employ psychologists these days. In
Thankfully, it has been shown that anti-bullying policies are helpful in preventing suicide and have protective effects on the mental health of gay and lesbian youths. (Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine, 2013, p. 1) However, this is a reactionary response. To stop the bullying before it starts would be a protective, proactive response. The ability to identify the underlying motives of bullying would be helpful, however it’s easier said than done. It’s common knowledge that children who are bullied are most likely to bully, have low self-esteem and may have problems at home but there are other, subtler factors this writer believes should be explored. Attitudes about bullying matter. If the children think bullying is okay because everybody does it and adults agree it’s part of growing up, then it becomes acceptable. If there are negative attitudes in homes about the LGBTQ community, it’s sure to spill over at school, as adults have a significant impact on the developing belief systems of kids. Heterosexuals are the dominant group and categorized as normal making anything else abnormal in the eyes of many. It is attitudes such as these which must be
Nearly a quarter of all students ages 6-19 are bullied or harassed at school as a result of their beliefs, race, nationality, sexual orientation, and more (“Bullying”). When examining bullying of LGBT youth, it is crucial to consider direct bullying and biased comments made by students. The most noticeable remarks used in schools is when the word “gay” is used in a negative way, usually to mean that something is “stupid” or “dumb.” About 70% of LGBT students state they have often heard these types of remarks. Direct victimization in schools happens more regularly among LGBT youth than among heterosexual peers. In a school climate survey of LGBT youth, students were asked about experiences of verbal harassment, physical harassment, and
Universities across the country, as the FBI is likely trying to get bag men to roll, are doing what they do best. No, silly. Not educating kids about the pitfalls that come with enrolling in college early. It is playing the victim in a scandal that is actually about adults poaching teenagers by way of cash.
“Parents are way overprotective these days; getting picked on by tougher kids and hassling weaker ones is just a part growing up. It is how they learn to deal with the real world.” A statement heard by many people from adults. Unfortunately, this statement is incorrect. Throughout the course of years the US Department of Justice and Education indicate that more than eighty percent (80%) of public elementary and secondary schools report experiencing at least one violent incident ranging from bullying and physical fights to rape and assault with a weapon. (ProQuest Staff) This shows there is a need for change in society. A parent guardian as well as a student would want to be
When people think of bullying they think of the big guy picking on the little guy, but in most cases the victim is a bully themselves. Bullying will not go away all together, but determining if the situation is actually bullying or not, and standing up to the bully is a great start to decrease bullying in schools today. Drama sometimes is difficult to differ from bullying, and it is important to understand the difference. (1b: SV, and SV.) Bystanders need to become involved to start the end of bullying. Also, respect is needed to start to lessen bullying in schools today.
Throughout and right after going through elementary school, middle school, and high school yours truly had thought that under no circumstances was I bullied in school. Nevertheless, observing back at it now I can probably point out a few times in elementary and middle school that were without doubt attempts at bully me. We will discuss how bullying in schools lead to lower academic achievements and the promise it shows. We will be discussing which ways do schools handle bullying.
Bullying is a common problem in our society that will soon take over the world. Many students are being bullied at school because of their race, religion, looks, intelligence, creativity, and much more that we don’t even know about. According to an online research, “America is suffering from a bullying epidemic. Bullies appear everywhere, from playgrounds to hallways, in public restaurants and even online” (Bullying Statistics). Because of bullying, students don’t get enough time on the things that they do or try to focus on. “Over 3.2 million students are victims of bullying each year. Approximately 160,000 teens skip school every day because of bullying” (I Beat Bullying). Many students are faced with this problem at school because they are the good students, which means they get good grades, and they are good at what they do. There are so many examples to include, but because of these two reasons that I included above, most students get bullied more than ever. Students are more likely to get bullied from others at school because of being a good, intelligent student. When you see students working hard, that means they try their best and work with passion when others just want to finish and go. Students get bullied at school all the time for different reasons. Bullying is a common problem in junior high that affects many students in schools to learn or to become a better person in life.
Schools should start addressing the issue of bullying in school because the bullying is happening on school grounds therefore it is the school’s responsibility to address this issue, the parents most times do not do anything to stop the bullying their kids are doing to others and the bullying going on has caused the victims that get depressed and not want to come to school and school is supposed to be a safe learning environment.
Safety for all members of a school community is a requirement for an effective learning environment. School bullying negatively impacts all factors of a school environment. If students have increased anxiety, fear, depression, or physical marks, attendance can suffer therefore affecting academic performance. If a teacher is facing similar mental or physical implications, the teachers may be less willing to stick to a curriculum and let disruptive children/bullies take control of the classroom. “Children who have a better sense of belonging in their school environment experience better psychosocial development” (Hauser-Cram, Nugent, Theis, & Travers, 2014). Although bullying is hardly a new phenomenon, technology has allowed for different avenues to cause harm at any location and at any time. In 1995, Crick and Grotpeter decided to examine if females exhibit unique forms of aggression, forms that have been overlooked in past research. Previous research indicated that boys exhibit significantly higher levels of aggression than girls exhibit. The overall lack of aggressiveness in girl’s peer relationships may be attributed to the previous understanding of aggression. The shortage of research on girls' aggression may exist partly because of the complexity and subtleness of the behaviors involved. The defining characteristics of aggressive girls becomes much harder to study as compared to overt aggression which is characteristically male dominated. For example, messages over text
Miamifield is your typical suburban school district. Located in southwestern Ohio, the school has boasted good academic reports in the past few years. The success of an academically elite has carried this rating as the school has seen a decline in the average student’s educational success. In Miamifield, violence especially in the form of bullying of members of the LGBTQ community has been a rising issue within the school district. This paper discusses this issue of bully in the LGBTQ community as well as bullying in general. Steps to make a safer place for all students, including the LGBTQ, that supports students’ interests. As it stands now, the current method of bullying-related discipline may not be as effective as needed.