Summary
Children would essentially become bullies because of the situations that face them. Some children find themselves in a position of superiority and get the chance to lead others. This opportunity enables them to initiate various activities thus enhancing their ability to lead and focus on issues. Such children, if left with a lot of control and independence will likely become bullies for they learn to control situations early in life. However, other children may not be allowed to control situations or develop self-initiative. This may arise in cases where the child is continuously backed at, discouraged or excessively patronised. This child would probably develop a guilty conscience and would be afraid of taking charge of any activity in the near future.
The victims of bullies characteristically possess certain traits that often make them identifiable. Often, they stand out in the crowd and a bully can easily pick his or her victim. These victims often are physically weak or overweight or have certain handicaps. These features conspire to make them social misfits and it would be normal to note that their friend lists are short. In addition, these victims easily get irritated, get defensive and do not have pro-social skills. Often, they would be passive even in cases where all are active and engaged. They usually need a further push to participate and feel at home in social situations. These features often betray them and expose them to the bullies.
Proposed interventions to address bullying at home and in school
Bullying can be reduced if not entirely eliminated. Parents and responsible parties need to bring their children up with a blend of good manners and control. While children should learn how to control and lead, such should not make the child assume the superior know it all attitude. In addition, schools need to come up with comprehensive and clear policies that would be punitive to the bullies. Ideally, it is only such policies that would compel parents into nurturing their children with proper social skills. The role of bystanders in facilitating bullying needs to be reduced effectively. The schools could implement that by adopting into their lessons, the teaching of anti-bullying skills to children. In addition to anti-bullying skills, teachers ought to equip their children with social skills that would facilitate their interaction with each other and keep the bullying rate to the minimum. It should be appreciated that addressing bullying needs the collective participation of parents, teachers and children. Parents should step up their role and ensure that their children keep the right company and only use the internet for constructive purposes. For these reasons, the regulatory and control role of parents should be implemented with perfection. On the other hand, teachers must demonstrate their abilities to handle extra and co-curricular matters by effectively guiding their pupils through their earlier days of learning. Finally, bystanders could be roped into the programs to contain bullying by equipping potential bystanders with the skills to intervene as third parties and rescue the victims from the wrath of the bullies. Bullies often like attention. Therefore, bystanders should not provide bullies with an audience in order to discourage them.
References
Berk, L. E. (2010). Infants, Children, and Adolescents. New York: Prentice Hall PTR.
Fekkes, M., Pijpers, M., & Vanhorick, P. (2005). Bullying: who does what, when and where? Involvement of children, teachers and parents in bullying behavior. Health Education Research, 20(1), 81-91.
Juvonen, J., Graham, S., & Schuster, M. A. (2008). Bullying Among Young Adolescents: The Strong, the Weak, and the Troubled. Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, 1-14.
