Bullying Starts When Equality Ends

Bullying, often labeled as just a part of growing up, is a major problem in America’s schools today. Although it is such a hot topic in our country right now, it is also a long ignored problem that only seems to worsen. The complication with bullying is that no one quite understands it, and it is not taken seriously. The definition of bullying is an overbearing person who habitually badgers and intimidates smaller or weaker people. In more simple terms, bullying is not a onetime incident; it is repetitive and happens among individuals when there is an imbalance of power. Statistically, every one in six children are bullied, and this cannot continue to take place. Every child has the right to feel safe and have the pursuit of being happy in which bullying completely takes those rights away.

Have you ever been a target of an individual’s cruelty and hatred? It does not necessarily have to be physical, but more like being verbally degraded or publicly humiliated. The effects bullying can have on its victims is something that may last throughout their lives, or something that may end their life(Braithwaite, Hyde, Pope, 2010).We all are well aware of childhood bullying but as evidence shows bullying does not stop on the

Schools are sometimes described as sorting machines which categorize students based on their skills and interests. This process can perpetuate inequalities.

Students experience many negative effects from bullying which effect their mental, emotional, and physical health as well as their social well being and academic performance. (Berger, 2007). Diversity and bullying are often linked. Learning to respect diversity means that we as a school district and community must eliminate bullying (San Antonio & Salfass, 2007). Much research has been done on student perceptions of bullying but few have examined the issue from the perspective of school counselors.

Bullying is defined as the prolonged malicious act of harming peers by abusing their own--or an existing imbalance of--power, and has become one of the most common sources of trauma among adolescents. One report shows that one of three children were victims of bullying during some point in their life, and that 10-14% of all adolescents were victims of chronic bullying for at least six months prior to participating in the survey. Children who were victims of bullying are also found to be at a higher risk of diagnoses for anxiety disorders and depression during young and middle adulthood. These victims are reported to be more likely to have lower levels of general/physical health, and lower educational acquirements than young and middle-aged adults who were not bullied (Wolke & Lereya, 2015). Because bullying is such a prominent problem, citizens, policymakers, and social scientists alike, should feel or have some social and moral obligation to address, and hopefully avert bullying. The state of bullying, and how it is enacted, is constantly changing and adapting to social frameworks. Because bullies can adapt to social changes and regulations, we, as a society, should be equally adaptive in how we perceive, address, prevent, and punish bullying.

Consequently, some students may have bad environments in which they are raised and would cause bullying but that is not as likely now and days compared to before we had IDEA. The world and our schools are so diverse now that children have adapted to accepting each other and that’s the way it should be. It is also healthier for all students to grow up in a social and diverse environment, children who have been in solitude may have a harder time later on in life and more than likely will not be able to adequately communicate with other people. Children are more accepting than most people in this world they do not see differences in color or disabilities.

Some people don 't believe that bullying is such a big issue in the world, they think it 's just ‘boys acting like boys’ or ‘girls being girls’. However, when a bully is around they are the ones that draw the line and decide what is fun and what is a gesture that is “intentionally hostile.” A bully is a bully because they get what they want which gives them power; power which enables them to only see the good it brings them and not others.

A large problem in schools is the fact that they are unaware of the racial segregation that is happening before their very eyes. This is becoming a large social issue in classrooms today. Teachers and faculty are blind to the

Also, people need to learn the difference between bullying, a friendly joke, and a harsh argument to prove a point. In the article “Get Serious” by Marissa Barbaro, the author notes, “Bullies usually target people they consider to be different from themselves, based on such things as appearance, status, behavior, or religion. Bullying often leads to other forms of prejudice, including racism and gender bias.” (730).

Over the past couple of decades, schools all across the nation have noticed a significant rise in the amount of bullying taking place among their students. “Two decades ago, bullying was often seen as a rare occurrence, where small groups of parents sought protection for their children with the school district”, stated by Vikki Healy Ortiz, writer of the article “New inclusive approach helps schools fight bullying”. However, the same cannot be said for our society in today’s world. Our modern world has advanced tremendously over the past few decades and there are even more opportunities for children to be susceptible to feeling isolated from others because they are simply unique. In today’s society, children have the potential to bully each other outside of the classroom as well.

In the United States, there is a long history of unequal treatment among ethnic minority groups, particularly for African Americans. Unfortunately, this injustice also appears in education. Sociologists have affirmed the importance of education in shaping the economic and social prospects of individuals. As all communities in the United States have been diversified, it becomes crucial to recognize and properly deal with diversity within the classroom. All students should be guaranteed to have equal opportunities for quality education at school. However, racism is still prevalent in many schools today (Beswick, 4, 1990, Pennino, 2007). Racism now has different forms, like the individual instructions student can get from their teachers, and the acceptance of students among their classmates. These can have negative and lasting effects on students even when they leave school. Students must not experience any type of stereotyping, ethnic prejudice or racial violence in schools. Asante (2003) said: "Racism in education can not be overcome by the expression of goodwill, it must be constantly confronted in all conscious ways" (p.223).

Bullying is a problem that is on the rise in society; however, many individuals have a distorted view of what bullying entails. Usually when someone thinks of bullying, they assume that it is a standard part of a child’s life. This view, on the contrary, is erroneous. Bullying is actually abnormal behavior, many times, leaving victims with a dismantled self identity. Since some people do not understand the consequences of bullying, the actions of the bully often go unnoticed and are perceived as “kids being kids”. The issue of bullying goes deeper than that nevertheless. Despite the erroneous views that many individuals hold towards bullying, it is still a distortion of normal behavior in children.

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

When I Think About Bullying I get a quote from Martin Luther King, "I have a dream that my four little children would one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the Content of their character. " So sometimes I wonder why still in the middle of the twenty-first century in a country where supposedly there is equality of human rights and this is confirmed by the ideals of the founders of this great nation as well as laws against racial bullying in which we still sadly see Lamentable cases like suicides, shootings for that cause. I think that this problem could be controlled more putting more emphasis in the education and information giving conferences, activities where parents, peers and school staff are involved and thus to raise awareness that in spite of the Racial differences can be achieved a lot and as martin Luther king says "we all come in different ships, but we are in the same boat now." Bullying is one of the more critical and growing crises that schools are facing in present days but society doesn't see their effects until students go into physical and emotional traumas that leads to the person whose is subject to commit suicidal, shooting, etc.

I concur that as educators and as future counselors, we must ensure that all are students are safe from teasing, bullying, and valued. We should empower all our students, regardless of their race, the number of privileges, or lack thereof . Educators should not pull out the privilege list and check off the privileges each student has or does not have as they walk into our classrooms. I believe this makes things worse not better. By putting one group against the other is not the answer. The answer is to positively build up every student, advocate for them as needed, and help them discover their strengths and talents. We all have positive attributes regardless of race or level of privileges. It is up to us as educators and most importantly