College Essay on Bullying 615 words
College Essay on Bullying 615 words

College Essay on Bullying 615 words

Available Only on StudyHippo
Topics:
  • Pages: 5 (1362 words)
  • Published: September 6, 2016
  • Type: Essay
View Entire Sample
Text preview

Bullying can be found in every school in the country. It is all too often part of the way young people interact in our society.

Every school must recognize its extent and impact and take steps to stop it happening. When bullying is ignored or downplayed, pupils will suffer ongoing torment and harassment. Most children who are bullied always commit suicide. Bullying can cause lifelong damage to victims. (A school's failure to deal with bullying endangers the safety of all its pupils by allowing a hostile environment to interfere with learning.

There is clear, unambiguous evidence that school action can dramatically reduce the incidence of bullying. Schools not only have a moral obligation to reduce bullying, their charter agreement between the school's trustees and the Minister of Education specifically directs the school to "provide a safe physical and

...

emotional environment (Holmquuist).School is the center of adolescent life. The adolescent learns more than reading, writing, and arithmetic in the school environment.

He or she also learns socialization skills that shape their view of themselves as well as relationships with others. Teen's face problems in school today that previous generations had not been forced to deal with one such problem is school violence. In the educational system today it is necessary, if not vital, to understand the pervasiveness of bullying. In the article by Laura M Crothers and Edward M Levinson entitled, "Assessment of bullying???, a review of methods and instruments, the authors discuss the issue of bullying as well as means and methods to assess bullying (Cabral).

Bullying can range from subtle behaviors such as social isolation of an individual, manipulation of friends

View entire sample
Join StudyHippo to see entire essay

or emotional pain, on up to the more overt behaviors such as name-calling, verbal assault and physical assault. Basically, bullying is described by the authors of the article as "the process of establishing and maintaining social dominance through overt aggression and doing so in ways that victims are unable to deflect because of their lack of skills??? (Banks).Bullying is generally cruel, malicious, or humiliating behavior towards an individual or even a group of various aged people. It???s demeaning and can cause untold stress, anger and suffering to those on the receiving end, which in some cases can lead to suicide. Bullying may occur in both verbal and physical forms. Bullying that does not involve hitting and kicking can be just as damaging as actual full out fighting.

Some of the ways verbal bullying occurs are by, name calling, making fun of someone because they are different for example; handicapped or Down syndrome children are often tormented because their appearance is unlike that of most of society. Also threatening, making people feel uncomfortable and left out. Also they is cyber bullying where one has the capacity to taunt and terrorize the victims without hand held devices but through cyber, sms, emails etc. using electronic devices.

Increasingly, bullying among teens is not limited to school grounds. Cyber bullying involves sending harassing emails or text messages, even just revealing personal information about a victim without their consent in an attempt to embarrass them. People can use social networking websites to bully others like: MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, Tagged, etc. Most victims who are bullied normally committee suicide (Foxman).Approximately 12, 8-10 year old children commit suicide every year

because they are victims of bullying.

Whereas1.3 million children a year bully others. What is bullying? As defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, one who hurts or intimidates others. This assault may occur in two principle forms, verbal or physical. There are specific reasons why bullying happens and specific solutions that could help save as many as 12 lives a year. The statics based on studies conducted from 2004-2010 in bullying state that from 2004 -2005: 40.

6 and 36.7% respectively, from 2007 and 2009: 18.8-28.7% with an increase of 9.

9 show that in May of 2007, 18% of students were being bullied and 20.8% in Feb 2010. The percentage had increased. Because cyber bullying has not been publicized or reported enough.

Most victims of cyber bullying suffer in silence and they do not report their cases (Bully Facts ; Statistics).In 2006, a thirteen-year-old Missouri girl named Megan Meier struck up an online relationship with a sixteen-year old boy named Josh who lived in a nearby town. The two communicated through the social network site MySpace for several weeks, and though they never met in person, Meier bonded strongly to Josh. When Josh posted that he no longer wanted to be her friend and suggested that the world would be better off without her, Megan hanged herself. Several weeks later, a shocking truth was revealed: not only did ???Josh??? not exist, but he was created by Lori Drew, the mother of one of Meier???s former friends.

Drew lived just four houses down the street from the Meier???s, and allegedly sought revenge against Megan, who no longer wanted to be friends with Drew???s daughter. Although Drew was

convicted of computer fraud and abuse in 2008, the verdict was overturned in 2009. At the time, most jurisdictions in the U.S. were not covered by cyber bullying laws, and Drew???s actions though harshly criticized by nearly everyone were not regarded as illegal.

As a direct result of Megan Meier???s suicide, Missouri legislators unanimously passed a bill, known as ???Megan???s Law,??? that outlaws use of the Internet for purposes of harassment (Cabral).Sometimes, victims of bullying seek revenge by lashing out at others. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, ages eighteen and seventeen, entered Columbine High School on 20 April 1999 with several weapons and opened fire, killing thirteen before turning the guns on themselves (Phelan). Based on journals and videos the two left behind, many experts have speculated that the boys, who were not an accepted part of any of the school???s social groups, were victims of bullying who acted out against others as a way of striking back at society.

Charles Andrew Williams, who killed two students and wounded thirteen more during a 2001 shooting spree at Santana High School in Santee, California, said afterward that he was tired of being bullied by other students (Foxman). As media reports of bullying and its tragic aftermath became all too common, lawmakers and activists have worked to reduce bullying in schools and stiffen penalties against bullies.Another incident happened at Tottenville High School students gathered after class at a makeshift memorial for Felicia Garcia, 15, who leapt to her death at the Huguenot train station on Staten Island a few weeks ago. Felicia jumped over the train because she was tired of being bullied.

She

was, tormented by football players on Tottenville???s undefeated team. Some said she was teased because she had piercings and lived in foster care. Others said players had spread sexual boasts about her over the weekend, after Tottenville???s 16-8 victory over Port Richmond High School. She never really reached out for help; she was a really tough person. Though she had reported the taunts to an administrator, who arranged mediation sessions between her and the boys she said were harassing her.

Police are now investigating her death bullying that violates criminal law can be prosecuted criminally, but not as bullying (Yee).Bullying is a serious problem that can dramatically affect the ability of students to progress academically and socially. A comprehensive intervention plan that involves all students, parents, and school staff is required to ensure that all students can learn in a safe and fear-free environment. Students who engage in bullying behaviors seem to have a need to feel powerful and in control. They appear to derive satisfaction from inflicting injury and suffering on others, seem to have little empathy for their victims, and often defend their actions by saying that their victims provoked them in some way.

Studies indicate that bullies often come from homes where physical punishment is used, where the children are taught to strike back physically as a way to handle problems, and where parental involvement and warmth are frequently lacking. Students who regularly display bullying behaviors are generally defiant or oppositional toward adults, antisocial, and apt to break school rules. In contrast to prevailing myths, bullies appear to have little anxiety and to possess strong self-esteem (Holmquuist).

Get an explanation on any task
Get unstuck with the help of our AI assistant in seconds
New