Bullying Prevention: Can Students Make Kindness Cool?

Issue: If you or your child have ever been a victim of bullying then you know how horrible one can feel. There are many emotions and fears associated with bullying, and no one should have to be subjected to it. Bullying can have a lasting effect not only in one’s present life but their future as well. Bullying is very prominent in schools today, and there has been an increase in school shootings, which is the extreme reaction to being bullied. Children need to consider each other’s feelings before they decide to bully or pick on each other.

Schools are the most well-known settings for bullying. This is the place where students learn and socialize for most of the day. A school is a place meant to feel safe, not afraid. However, studies have shown us this is not the case. More and more students are reluctant to come to school. Why? Their peers may criticize them and abuse of them both verbally and physically. Bullying is more serious than most think. Many people just think it’s a simple hoax that was taken too far but this simple joke can lead to indelible emotional and physical scar that could hunt students for life eventually lowering their self-esteems and even ruining their lives. Schools and teachers have failed tremendously at stopping this.

According to the article, Meet the New Sheriff by Suzanne McCabe, “One out of every five students are bullied or are bullies themselves.” This one piece of ground-breaking evidence is enough to destroy our society, and our children’s lives forever. Bullying is a highly discussed topic that American children face every day and it’s near impossible to stop. There are also topics within bullying, like how students become bullies, or how to stop bullying, also which is worse being a bystander or being a bully. And you can’t deny that bullies are almost like mad serial killers, they go around and they don’t stop even if they get into trouble. There are so many topics on bullying that you can’t even count them all. “Everyone has been bullied for

3.2 million students from 6th to 10th grade are victims of bullying every year. 90% of 4-8th graders say they have been bullied. 1 in 10 students drop out of school because of bullying. Approximately 160,000 students skip school every day because of bullying. (Cohn and Canter, Ph.D.) These facts just inforce the reality that bullying is prevent throughout America and is causing damage to the education experience of American children.

This social issue has been in the spotlight for quite some time now and is the leading cause for students to miss school, become less social, cause self harm and even in some cases death. Bullying and harassment are commonly seen for the most part amongst teenagers who face issues at school, not only does this happen here in the United States, but in schools universally. ¨17% of American students report being bullied 2 to 3 times a month or more within a school semester¨ (Valerie). Although this is mostly seen among teens it can also happen between children and even adults. Bullying can occur everyday throughout Madera High School and no one would be able to acknowledge or stand up for the victim. Vice Principals at MHS have said that more

The purpose of this study is to identify the most prevalent forms of bullying on a high school campus and identify which strategies are most effective to prevent or respond to bullying. The study will also identify the most effective strategies to improve student achievement and attendance for those students who have experienced bullying. Students must feel safe to learn. Students who are bullied have a propensity to avoid the bullies; therefore, they choose not to attend school. Poor attendance often will result in poor grades and even dropping out of school.

That the need to fit in by participating doesn’t make them a bad person, that statement is of little consequence to the victims or their families. Excuses made by parents, bystanders, and the community no longer hold up in a legal setting. Hearing anti-bullying messages from the different adults in their lives can reinforce the message for kids that bullying is unacceptable. More than half of bullying situations (57%) stop when a peer intervenes on behalf of the student being bullied (Hawkins, Pepler, & Craig, 2001. Prevention is

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.

Nowadays, schools and private assemblies are working together to talk to students and parents to minimize the instances of bullying by persistently educating them on the effects of bullying and actual instances that have happened around the world. The world is evolving rapidly each and every day through research and there still seem to be many questions unanswered but through each experience of bullying there are new questions

According to “Stop bullying. Gov” 70.6% of young people say they have seen bullying in their schools, and when bystanders intervene, bullying stops within 57% of the time.

Bullying in the United States has become epidemic, but some schools are resistant to instill anti-bullying programs, because they fear the program will be ineffective. The article, Creating An Anti-Bullying Culture In Secondary Schools: Characterists to Consider When Constructing Appropriate Anti-Bullying Programs, researchers Joseph R. Jones, and Sharon Murphy Augustine address the issue of bullying head on. Research indicates that students who are from a low socioeconomic background, students who are racially diverse, students who have a learning disability, and student’s sexual orientation has the largest effect on bullying rates in the United States (Jones &Augustine, pp. 74-76). In a recent survey, twenty five percent of students reported that they are bullied on a daily basis and that cyber bullying is at an all time high (Jones &Augustine, p. 74). Due to the increased rates of bullying, there is an increase on teen suicide and school shootings. (Jones

Thesis statement: 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.

With all schools talking about bullying and the media regularly reporting on latest research, it could seem like we're in a bullying epidemic. But, it's not all bad - the incidence 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.

About twenty-eight percent of student’s ages 12-18 reported being bullied at school during the school year according to the Indicators of School Crime and Safety report, by the Bureau of Justice statistics. Across thirty-nine states survey, 7.2 percent of students admit to not attending school because they do not feel safe. The importance of bullying can’t be undermined. Teachers and parents must understand the importance of looking and listening for signs and behaviors of bullying. This will help tackle the issue before it gets serious and someone gets hurt.