The aim of this paper is to present you with the thoughts and reflections upon an issue of great importance which has been troubling the educational community during the last years. This is the problem of bullying. Bullying has been generating increasing concern as far as the effects on students, the ways to control it and the potential ways to prevent it from happening or at least limitate its being spread, are concerned. The thoughts and reflections expressed in this paper have been drawn upon existing research findings as portrayed in the academic journals which are cited in the citation page.
The paper will look into what research findings seem to consider that bullying is, how it is expressed, what its main effects are and how it could be better controlled.
Apart from these two main subcategories in which students appear to be separated as active members of their school community, there is another sub categorization which ought to attract more people’s attention. There is a group of students who either popular or not, they seem to be carrying their inner fears and agonies as members of a social group miniature like the one of the school community and as a result they try to find ways to get out of their personal dead end. These according to research are the main traits and reasons why some students are specifically turned into the violent ones. These are the students who bully the others. They are the ones who take the role of showing off their strength by intimidating others.
It is in such a way that bullying starts being expressed within the school environment. The other students who are characterized by a mainly low profile as far as their social role and activity is concerned, seem to be the ones who fall victim of bullying. The students who are victimized are the students who either lack confidence or seem to be holding such a low profile and well-meant behavior and attitude towards others that they seem easy to be intimidated. According to Luise, Robe , Shyamala (2010) indicate that in New Zealand ‘Overall 47% of the sample, 45% of the girls and 50% of the boys, had been bullied “sometimes or often” during the current school year, a non-significant difference (p = 0.11).’
The effects of violence are the normal and usual effects of violence characterized by an even more intense effect of longer time since in the case of bullying the directly affected victims are children. Children are not easy to get over traumatic experiences of being bullied, of having experienced violence. As portrayed in the journal article by Billiteri ‘Preventing Bullying, Do anti-harassment laws violate students’ rights?’ (Billiteri, CQ Researcher, 2010) there seems to be a kind of permanent effects on children who have been victimized by bullying. The case of Ellie Holmes who nowadays at the age of 49 witnesses ‘‘They called me ‘wee-no’ and picked on me for my homemade plaid dress and cat –eye glasses with rhinestones’’ (Billiteri, CQ Researcher, 2010) proves that most people who have been victims of bullying have not managed to put it completely aside. There are adults nowadays who having dealt and reflected on their personal experience of being bullied seem to believe that ‘‘People in power didn’t do enough to stop it’’. (Billiteri, CQ Researcher, 2010). This is the most problematic trait of the phenomenon of bullying. Most of the victims of bullying seem to agree on the fact that not appropriate action towards fighting against it had been taken on behalf of their school’s authorities. Therefore it is obvious that immediate action is concerned. Greenya (2005) indicates that ‘Several other anti-bullying programs are expected to show good results as soon as evaluations are concluded, including the Aggressors, Victims, and Bystanders program, which the U.S. Department of Education has chosen as a “Promising Program” for its Safe and Drug Free Schools program. It has been shown to significantly reduce “bystander support for aggression.”
Unfortunately, although the main reasons which can generate or provoke violence are supposed to have been found or at least seen, it still seems very difficult, even impossible for bullying to be eliminated.
The major problem is that healthy dialogue and collaboration of all parts involved is necessary. Besides, technology has made bullying even more advanced. Nowadays, bullying is not only physical but it is also technologically advanced. As a result bullying can be textual and Internet has unfortunately spread bullying in various paths of being imposed on people. According to research findings there is textual bullying, teasing, physical, spreading rumors, leaving a person in the margin and impose on others rejecting his presence and personality.
The educational community needs much more than simple discussions on the admittance to the problem. The admittance to bullying has been done. It is time action was taken so that bullying can be prevented or at least limited.
Works cited
Billiteri, Thomas, Preventing Bullying, Do anti-harassment laws violate students’ rights?, CQ Researcher, Volume 20, Issue 43, (2010)
Greenya John, Bullying, Are Schools doing enough to stop the problem? , CQ Researcher, Volume 15, Issue 5, (2005)
Joseph, Simplicio Suck it up, Walk it Off, Be a Man: A Controversial look at Bullying in today’s Schools, Volume 133, Issue 3, p.345-349, (2013)
Marsh Louise, McGee Rob, Raja Nada Shyamala, Williams Sheila: Brief Report: Text Bullying and traditional bullying among New Zealand secondary students, Journal of Adolescence, Volume 33, Issue 1, (February 2010)
