“Mary, get out of bed. You’re going to be late for school!” Mary’s mom stepped into her daughter’s darkened bedroom, hearing the sounds of muffled crying from the bed. “What’s wrong, honey? Are you sick?” She gently pulled back the covers. “Mom, I don’t want to go to school. I hate it! Everyone hates me,” Mary wailed. After talking to her distraught daughter, Mary’s mom realized what was happening. Other kids in Mary’s class were ignoring her, throwing little bits of paper into her hair during class and calling her “lice-head,” and created a Facebook page called “We Hate Mary Smith.” School bullying like what Mary encountered happens daily. It involves “unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance,” resulting in severe and enduring problems (“Bullying Definition”). Parents and educators need to understand the causes and consequences of bullying in order to find ways to prevent incidents.
Bullying has many different causes. For instance, children who are frustrated with or resentful about academics and peers that are more successful than themselves may take their feelings out on their schoolmates. Abuse at home, an absence of parent-teacher communication, a lack of empathy for others, the influence of other children, inattentive teachers or coaches, and lack of good role models can all contribute to an atmosphere where bullying can happen.
Bullying affects both the students who are bullied and the bullies themselves with both short term and long term results. Short term effects on bullied children may include embarrassment, physical injury, depression, anxiety, insomnia, illness, anger, falling grades, thoughts of dropping out of school, and even suicide (Sampson 2012). Long term effects on bullied children may include feelings of fear or insecurity, low self-esteem, an inability to trust others, extreme sensitivity, a desire to get revenge, social withdrawal, or they may even start bullying others (Sampson 2012). For bullies, allowing their behavior to go unchecked may result in an inability to develop useful social skills, a tendency to become an adult bully, and they may tend to have children who are bullies.
Because bullying occurs disproportionately in schools, it is important for educators to understand the causes and consequences of bullying so policies and procedures preventing it can be developed and enforced. In developing these policies, schools should hold forums or conferences devoted to the problems of bullying where administrators, teachers, parents, and students can attend to discuss bullying, its consequences, and solutions to the problem. These forums or conferences should include an assessment of the current situation concerning bullying, including how often and what kind of bullying occurs, peer and adult response to bullying, where bullying happens, staff feelings and attitudes about bullying, ways in which the school and community supports or helps prevent bullying, and students’ perceptions of safety (“Assess”).
Once a school community has established how, where, and why bullying is occurring, rules and policies can be established to prevent bullying. Some ideas are to create a school mission statement, construct a code of conduct, and enacting a student bill of rights (“Set Policies”). A mission statement will educate faculty, staff, and students about how their personal actions help the school accomplish shared goals. A code of conduct establishes standards of positive behavior; state laws may also stipulate what needs to be included in the code of conduct. The student bill of rights should be a short document letting students know they have the right to “learn in a safe and friendly place, be treated with respect, and receive the help and support of caring adults” (“Set Policies”). This allows students, parents, teachers, administrators, and staff ways they can communicate productively about problems and enact solutions.
In addition, schools should ensure that parents are aware of what is happening to their children in schools. Schools should increase adult supervision on playgrounds and other areas prone to bullying. The school should also improve communication between teachers, students, parents, and administrators. Parent-teacher conferences, phone calls, assemblies for students, role-play situations in classes, and increased extracurricular are a few examples of how to increase everyone’s awareness and empathy about school bullying problems.
Increased awareness about bullying and its consequences through communication between all parties involved in schools can make a big difference by allowing schools to teach children the best skills in avoiding misunderstandings, handling conflicts, and to not resort to bullying. Schools’ policies need to be accompanied by action and not just words. Schools must create a safe environment where students understand from the first day that aggression, bullying, and any form of violence is unacceptable.
Works Cited
“Assess Bullying.” U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (n.d.). Web. 23 April 2012.
“Bullying Definition.” U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (n.d.). Web. 23 April 2012. < http://www.stopbullying.gov/what-is-bullying/definition/index.html>.
“Prevention at School.” U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (n.d.). Web. 23 April 2012.
Sampson, Rana. “Bullying in Schools.” Center for Problem-Oriented Policing (2002). Web. 27 March 2012.
“Set Policies & Rules.” U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (n.d.). Web. 23 April 2012.
