Background: Many reports show over the last decade, studies demonstrate that a bully culture dominates our schools. In a 2005 national survey, 65 percent of teens reported having been verbally or physically
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.
The first study in this section was conducted by Cornell, Gregory, Huang, and Fan (2013). The participants of the study include ninth-grade students and teachers. Students provided reports of bullying victimization, and both students and teachers reported their perceptions of the prevalence of teasing and bullying at school, using the Prevalence of Teasing and Bullying (PTB) scale (Bandyopadhyay, Cornell, & Konold, 2009). Measures of peer victimization were obtained from 25 ninth-grade students and 10 ninth-grade teachers from Virginia public high schools. The study revealed that bullying, as perceived by both students and teachers, was predictive of dropout rates four years later (Cornell et al., 2013). The results of the study provided evidence that peer victimization in high school is an important factor in high school academic performance. The results of the study also contributed to knowledge about predicting dropout rates of high school students who have been exposed to bullying (Cornell et al.,
Bullying has been recognized as a risk factor in improvement and personal growth of children and adulthood. It is a form of hostile conduct in which an individual engages to cause another individual harm or distress (Kirves, & Sajaniemi, 2012).. Therefore, it is vital to be able to detect signs of bullying in order to stop further consequences, such as self-harm, and suicide. Children who have experienced bullying become hopeless, anxious, have low self-efficacy, and have recurrent negative thoughts (Kirves, & Sajaniemi, 2012). Research in bullying has also concluded that children who bully other children are more prone to become anti-social and engage in criminal activity (Kirves, & Sajaniemi, 2012).
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
“Nationwide, one out of four students from the ages twelve to eighteen have been bullied. That is twenty five percent to the teenage/young adult population and these numbers are continuously to rise every day” (Wassdorp, Bradshaw, and Leaf 116, 149-156). Bullying is the action of repeated harmful acts or harassing another in various forms. Many situations fall under one or even multiple of these categories: physical, verbal, indirect, and cyber. What this does is strips the victim down from their identity and leaves them to pity themselves for being the way they are. Bullying is an issue in this nation because it tears apart the teenage/young adult population, and it is causing an increase in risk of suicide among these groups. Bullying is
Seals and Young (2003) studied the prevalence of bullying and its relationship to grade-level, gender, ethnicity, self-esteem, and depression. Participants in their study consisted of 454 seventh- and eighth-graders in five school districts in the Northern Delta area. These students were primarily African American (79%) and Caucasian (18%). Researchers gave these students three questionnaires to assess exposure to and effects of bullying/victimization: the Peer Relations Questionnaire, which assessed bully, victim, and prosocial behaviors; the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale; and the Children’s Depression Inventory. This study found that 24% of respondents reported being directly involved in bullying activities, of which 10% reported doing the bullying, and 13% reported being victims of bullying. The results also suggested that males were significantly more involved in bullying than females, and were twice as likely to be identified as a bully. Both genders, however,
In such a diverse society that encompasses of wide variety of socioeconomic statuses, ages, genders, sexual orientations, races, ethnicities, and education levels, bullying is unfortunately becoming more and more common. According to the American Psychological Association, on the most basic operational level, “Bullying is a form of aggressive behavior in which someone intentionally and repeatedly causes another person injury or discomfort. Bullying can take the form of physical contact, words or more subtle actions” (Stop Office Bullying, p. 1). The root of bullying can usually be traced back to a power imbalance, often with the superior discriminating based
Bullying is a pervasive problem among children and adolescents, and may take various forms including physical (e.g., hitting), verbal (e.g., name-calling), relational (e.g., social isolation), or occurring in cyber space. Previous studies have consistently shown that depression is associated with exposure to bullying. Bully-victims, a group of individuals who are both bullies and victims, are a distinct group at highest risk for psychosocial problems.
The issue of bullying became a concern in the United States after researchers found that many school shootings were a result of students wanting to get revenge for being a victim of bullying. It first appeared that they were loners or individuals who set out to hurt others for their own satisfaction, but they were actually finally standing up for themselves. Bullying can cause students to lose their identity and feel useless. Students who are victims of bullying become depressed and may suffer from psychological issues. Many students that are being bullied suffer from low levels of self-esteem, anger for not standing up for themselves, or hopelessness. The behavior of bullying can destroy another
In terms of self-nominations and peer-nominations of bullying, 35% of participants were found to be victims, 11% were found to be bullies, and 5% were found to be bullies and victims. Bullying appeared to occur very frequently during the two weeks prior to the survey with frequent observations of physical bullying as well as verbal bullying, relational bullying, and attacks on others’ property. Also, the frequency of bullying failed to significantly change after the implementation of Bullyproof. Furthermore, most students reported attitudes against bullying during the pretest. While 80% of participants either agreed or strongly agreed that helping victims of bullying is necessary, 28% agreed or strongly agreed that victims essentially bring bullying on themselves. Less than half of students in the sample agreed/strongly agreed that they could impact bullying in their classroom. In addition, results showed a general rise in perceived power and anti-bullying attitudes. The most significant increase took place among female participants and fifth graders. Also, the program evaluation results showed that, on a scale of 0-30, the effectiveness averaged 18.99 with a standard deviation of
Bullying is on the rise in the U.S.; therefore, more researchers are attentive to the effects of bullying. There are extreme cases wherein victims have resorted to drastic measures. Bullying is a widespread plight, which is having both emotional and tragic effects; therefore, bullies should be harshly prosecuted and imprisoned. In arguing that bullies need a harsher punishment, this research paper will closely examine the types of bullying and statistics, detail two teen suicide cases, and provide the state law.
Middle school students experience an onset of changes. The transition from elementary school, the start or puberty, and peer socialization can have adverse psychological effects on students. Due to the ongoing changes there is a typical trajectory of bullying and peer victimization from a developmental perspective is an increase and peak, during middle school years and a decrease during high school years (Klein, Cornell, & Konold, 2012). According to a recent survey published by the American Psychological Association, 38.6% of middle school students reported peer victimization,
Bullying can be hard to define, because research has shown that it comes in many forms which makes it difficult to find one set of characteristics that will describe a bully. Conclusively, studies have defined bullying as a set of repeated aggressive behavior that is intended to harm someone, which usually involves an imbalance of power between the victim and the perpetrator (Morgan, 2012, p. 174). Studies have shown that there are two distinct types of bullying, which is a direct form of verbal and physical aggression, and indirect, which often results in name calling, rumors and exclusion (Aluedse, 2006, p. 38). This form of peer victimization can have devastating effects on a child 's academic work and their physical and psychological well being (Limber, 2003, p. 23). In terms of gender, boys are more likely to be involved in physical bullying (direct) as for girls are more likely to be involved in indirect bullying (Wang et al, 2009, p. 371). Previous research indicates, that parents and friends are two important factors of social interaction associated with bullying and victimization among adolescences. Bullying is quite common among middle school children, because it is during this time that children go through puberty and hormonal changes. During this time students are looking to be accepted and fit into a specific group; however, when there is a lack of acceptance and esteem due to victimization, this can cause children to isolate themselves from those around them