Causes of and Solutions to Bullying
Introduction
Bullying is a purposeful attempt by an individual to control others through verbal, physical, or emotional abuse. Although the practice has been in the American society for long, the recent statistics, especially in learning institutions and workplaces, are worrying. About 27.8 percent of school-going children are affected by bullying each year, with approximately 160,000 of them staying at home every day. They experience poor school adjustment, depression, and sleep difficulties. Moreover, bullied students are more likely to have academic problems, abuse drugs, and commit suicide. They are also twice as likely to experience health problems such as stomach- and headaches (PACER Center, n.d.). Beyond schools, bullying is rampant in workplaces, with harassed employees wasting between 10 to 52 percent of their time at work trying to defend themselves and handle the stressful environment. The practice also affects the health of workers, leading to high level of absenteeism and decreased productivity (Carter & Vandersteen, 2014). This paper discusses the causes of bullying, arguing that self-centeredness is the primary cause, and suggests ways through which this problem can be resolved.
Causes of Bullying
Some children develop the bullying habit due to lack of ideal role models in the family environment, which makes them unable to regulate their emotions and solve problems. Usually, kids try to emulate their parents’ behaviors.
Although, if the children of this generation are taught the right way, not to bully, their future children will not have that characteristic passed down to them when they are enrolled in school. Parents might argue that their children do not bully, that the other child, or children, is just trying to make their child look bad. In this case, the parents, if it is an outside of school issue, should sit with however many children are involved in the bullying and talk with them to get to the bottom of the issue.
Bullying has become more of an issue that is threatening our younger generation today. Bullying is becoming more of a vicious act in public schools throughout the United States (Coloroso, 2003; Felix & McMahon, 2006). There are many adverse effects that are caused by this disgraceful act. The average school-age child is silently or overtly tormented on a daily basis. Many of these students who experience bullying feel that they have no one to talk to, or that they have no where to go. The motives that the bullies take can cause harmful and even devastating results. In today’s society, bullying provokes emotional, social, and cognitive distress in the
With males all of the things described from the female perspective can also occur. A lot of it has to do with the physical aspect of
Bullying is arguably one of the most common vices in our contemporary society that affects individuals across different settings in the society. Most people associate bullying with schools and teenagers, but the practice cuts across almost all institutions in the modern-day American society. People get bullied at workplaces and even in public institutions when seeking for public services. Bullying entails the use of perceived superior power by an individual to intimidate, threaten, or harm another person (Peguero, 2012). Many children and even employees fall victim to bullying and often suffer a lot of psychological effects that are characterized by fear, hatred, depression, and deeply-rooted anger. The advancements in technology, especially the social media platforms, have introduced new dimensions to bullying and has even made it harder for the government and the society to address this issue. Many sociologists observe that bullying is an inbred issue that is deeply rooted in the society. It is a practice that is perpetrated by the society through the existing cultures, systems, institutions, traditions, and norms that encourage alienation and stereotyping that are commonly associated with bullying. Bullying is often analyzed from the structural functionalist perspective of sociology. Prominent sociologists like Talcott Parsons pointed out that the structural functionalist perspective creates a relationship between the existing social structures in the society and the
Even before my child went to preschool I was concerned about issues surrounding bullying. My husband and I are gay and we had concerns around how our daughter might be affected by having same-sex parents. On top of that, we are a multiracial family; I am Filipino, my husband is white, and our daughter is a dark-skinned African-American. Adoption adds another layer to the politics of our family identity. When we walk onto a school campus we are not the heterosexist norm and are a very visible and different kind of family. Although we see ourselves exactly like any other family – trying to make it to school on time, making sure our daughter takes on her responsibility to get her homework folder into her backpack, organizing play dates, keeping
More than one in five students between the ages of 12 through 18 have reported being bullied. In college, 15% of students reported being bullied and 22% students reported being cyber bullied. In the workplace over 60 million workers in the United states have claimed been affected by workplace bullying. Bullying is something that everyone is susceptible to experiencing in their life whether its in a school setting or at a work one. Bullying is such a widespread problem in all levels of life yet we do seemingly nothing about it. First we must identify what bullying is. According to stopbullying.gov which is managed by the United States Department of Health and Human Services “ … current definition acknowledges two modes and four types by which
A number of studies that have been conducted concluded with the fact that school bullying has become a global concern regardless of cultural differences. In light of this fact, there have been few studies that have examined individual factors that affect bullying. The current study that will be discussed attempts to determine the cause of bullying by using three main criminological theories, which are general theory of crime, differential association theory, and general strain theory. Concentration will be placed on the conclusive data found from the use of general strain theory.
Bullying is an abuse that hurts someone, either emotionally or physically. 3-4 year old children repeat some actions again and again intentionally to hurt someone and irritate other people through those actions or hit someone again and again for the same purpose (McIntyre & Franks, n.d.). In 3-4 year olds, bullying is considered intentional. There are three to four kinds of bullying in early childhood we can identify (physical, verbal, and cyberbullying). There are also some steps through which parents can over-come bullying because if parents don 't stop bullying during early childhood, bullying will increase with the growth of that child (Storey & Slaby, 2013). There are too many problems with bullying, such as stereotyping, which is one of the major issue that will occur if parents do not control their children in early childhood. Children can also develop dysfunctional relationships later in life as a result. For example, a child in her early childhood, whose name is Rena, is constantly being bullied by her cousin, Chris. He bites her arms and pulls her hair because she plays with his toys. Rena may carry her hate towards him from now till the time she grows up and by then she will only see negativity in Chris and would hate him forever. That is if her parents don 't change her perception of Chris while she 's still in the early years of childhood. That 's bullying and that 's only one problem with it. There are so many other issues like this at the age of 3-4.
For several decades, bullying has spread significantly. It has been present all over the world for as long as people can remember. And when technology was released, it created new ways for people to communicate, which made bullying become even worse than before. Adults, teenagers, and children that are all the same are being bullied. Bullying can take form in many different ways, as well as it can affect the victim, and people are also able to stop the behavior.
Bullying is considered to be aggressive behavior that is repeated or has the potential to be repeated, over a period of time. The actions of bullying can include spreading rumors, making threats, verbally or physically attacking someone, or purposely isolating someone from a group. As children attempt to make sense of traumatic events, new behavioral problems can stem from re-experienced occurrences. Some children affected may disassociate themselves from the situations and absorb themselves in behaviors that generate negative attention. Many bullies themselves have experienced difficulties within their own lifestyles. Bullying can stem from existing problems or challenges from home such as divorced parents, violent episodes inside the home, foster care, drug abuse or sexual abuse. Unfortunately, sometimes leading to catastrophic or disastrous outcomes.
Bullying can escalate to violence, discrimination, threats, and threatening actions. These things are illegal, and employees are protected by law from these acts in the workplace. This paper is focused on bullying alone and not the escalating actions bullying can lead to. Bullying is harmful, unproductive, and not good for anybody, but it is a part of life that will never go away. Many people in today’s society will experience some form of bullying in the workplace. Not everyone you meet will be nice to you, like you, care about your feelings and self-esteem, or want you to succeed. Harsh, mean words can only affect you if you allow them to do so. Do not allow yourself to be put down by the negative comments of other
Liu and Graves (2011) explain that bullying behavior can be linked to certain themes in childhood upbringing. For example, bullies tend to feel unsupported by their parents and teachers (Liu and
Common cause of bullying stated that “although bullies seem confident and sure of themselves, they are usually insecure and feel inferior to others. They treat their peers like dirt as a way to make themselves feel better. In order to keep the feeling of power and prestige, the perpetrator has to continue the behavior. When one victim is no longer in reach, the bully simply zones in on another target. When the underlying causes of bullying are not addressed, it becomes a vicious cycle” (2013). Bullying is a behavior that people learned from school or home. There are varieties of reason why people choose to bully. It may be they come from dysfunctional families, needs to be in control or seeks attention. Bullies who come from dysfunctional families lack affection. They may be mistreated and abuse. They may often witness their parents or family member being aggressive toward others; as a result; they have an
Bullying is an emotional and physically draining issue that is prominent throughout the world today. School bullying has been recognized as a major problem in many countries, and almost anyone you come across has a story they can tell about it. Bullying can conceive a hard lifestyle for someone who is victimized and can threaten a person’s opportunities in life in the near future. The social climate of a school is a replica of the world outside. All fifty states have passed school anti-bullying legislation, but each state addresses bullying differently. It is equally important that where people advance a large portion of their mortality, their understanding how the world works and how their sense of responsibility goes towards the society they live in. There is more to bullying than you can comprehend, there is a cycle, challenges in preventing it and long term affects that come from it.
Bullying is defined as “unwanted, aggressive behavior among people that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Both persons who are bullied and who bully others may have serious, lasting problems.” In this day and age, there are so many places advertising a no bullying sentiment or trying to get people to donate money or read about how to stop the bullying that goes on in high school. These websites and foundations are all good and dandy but they don’t do anything. They really have no effect on the teens who are actually getting bullied or doing the bullying. Teens will really do what they want in regards as to how they act towards their peers regardless of