Evaluation Summary
Middle school students face challenges, which often are ignored by teachers and parents alike. Primarily this could be due to physical developmental changes in their environment. Evident changes occur in height, weight and body chemistry along with rapid sexual development. These intense metabolic changes can easily disrupt normal daily activities producing fatigue and inertia. The following pages of document outlines a case study of a middle school aged boy and how he is challenged by bullies his age in the classroom environment.
Introduction
Many children cannot cope with the changes encountered during middle childhood life and may develop a low self-esteem when they see their peers mastering these years. Simultaneously, they become very conscious of themselves. Their achievements in the social world could then be a reflection of how they are perceived by adults and peers (Berger, 2011, p. 6)
Ten year old Mark’s experience is a typical tragedy facing middle school age children who have failed to develop strong self-esteem. This disadvantage makes him susceptible to his peers bullying. Nurturing his false pride he hides these attacks from his teachers and parents who may think that he is inadequate contributing to his poor self-image. Importantly, a contributory factor to his dilemma is the smaller body mass he contains than peers his age. Therefore, he is physically defenseless.
Issues described in the scenario pertaining to the domains
Physical
Issues pertaining to middle childhood development as it relates to Mark can be identified within the specific domains of physical, emotional, social and cognitive. It was mentioned in the scenario that the bullies were Mark’s age, but twice his size. Middle childhood physical development has a distinct body weight range, which could be inhibited by socio- economic factors associated with malnutrition or under nutrition.
It would appear that constant bullying retarded the normal growth of an already small statured child. It might not have been that the bullies were healthier and Mark unhealthy, but genetics also play a major role in demonstrating physical growth in middle childhood. Leanne Charlesworth (2007) and counterparts contend that issues such as ‘poor dental hygiene or mild visual impairment can affect other domains in middle childhood development. These are associated with development cognitive, emotional, or social well-being (Charlesworth, 2007)
They further pointed out that in the United States, asthma and obesity have become major concerns in middle childhood development, which can hinder physical growth and development. The scenario did not offer details as to why the bullies were twice Mark’s size nor how it was that Mark was much smaller. However, likely predisposing factors indicative of the disparity in sizes are inherent in the examples offered.
Emotional
There is no doubt from the scenario that Mark has serious emotional problems. However, Kluemper, (2008) posits that children during this middle age developmental stage assert advanced coping skills. He continues to advance that emotional and social intelligence are inextricably linked. Consequently, the child invents strategies to cope with difficult situations they encounter in their day to day interactions. He continues to embrace the philosophy that social and emotional intelligence are key aspects of moral reasoning and conduct in middle childhood (Kluemper, 2008).
Mark tries to guard against his opponents, but they track him down and are physically abusive every day. His emotional intelligence does not inform him that making any reports to his teacher or parents would ensure his safety. Again he is torn between reporting and having more harm done to him. Moral reasoning does not inform him that that is the best way out anyway.
Social
The social context in which this scenario takes place is the school. There is interplay between expectations at school in the classroom and from parents. Social domain considerations emerge from the child developing a cultural. There seems to be no struggle for mark to establish a cultural identity. Rather he finds himself in the out group due to this physical stature.
Therefore, while he is not threatened by racial prejudice neither ethic differences a problem fitting in with the bullying boys’ typology exists. Social psychologists posit that children such as Mark have a difficulty blending contradictory values, standards and traditions (Macionis & Gerber, 2011). In the absence of more details regarding culture and ethnicity of all the boys including Mark, the assumption could be that this was Mark’s initial challenge why he was constantly attacked by these bullies.
Cognitive
Middle childhood realizes continued advancement in thought processing and articulation. Mark’s attainment at school was not mentioned to assess his academic performance in comparison with the bullying opponents. However, thought articulation consistent with his age according to the scenario was finding a reasonable excuse for being late at school every day.
Evaluation Summary
Mark, obviously based on the resources gathered pertaining to the domains is undergoing a challenged middle school childhood. For his cognitive development he must attend school. Emotional intelligence is not exactly clear on how to safely manage the situation. He is afraid to tell his parents and teachers due to threats from his opponents. Clearly, he has a difficulty blending contradictory values, standards and traditions (Macionis & Gerber, 2011).
Conclusion
Yiping Sherer and Amanda Nickerson (2010) conducted studies to show where preventative measures can be taken to protect vulnerable students like Mark from bullies in the school environment. They sampled 213 school psychologists regarding ant-bullying strategies adapted in their schools. They discovered that talking with bullies, following through with reports bullying incidents, adopting disciplinary measures, and enforcing adult supervision were the three most beneficial interventions (Sherer & Nickerson, 2012).
Therefore, in my opinion Mark should have made complaints to his teacher and parents. Middle school age children ought to be encouraged to expose their fears and have them addressed as a healthy emotional intelligence practice.
References
Berger, K. (2011).The Developing Person: Through the Life Span (8th Edition). Worth
Publishers
Charlesworth, L. Wood, J., & Viggiani, P (2008). Middle Childhood. University of North
Carolina
Kluemper, D.H. (2008) Trait emotional intelligence: The impact of core-self evaluations and
social desirability. Personality and Individual Differences, 44(6), 1402-1412.
Macionis, J., & Gerber, M. (2011). Sociology. ( 7th Edition). Toronto, Ontario: Pearson
Sherer., & Nickerson, A. (2010).Anti-bullying Practices in American Schools: Perspectives of
