Dear (Editor)
I am writing in regards to the current issue about our education. There have been some cases of bullying in schools, which I believe a problem that must be addressed. I would like to propose an initiative that I believe, will help student’s educators, parents, and institutions understand why this is worth paying attention to. Although the state government has already created guidelines on how to prevent bullying in schools, I believe that it is my part as a member of the community, to present what I think would contribute to the success of anti-bullying campaign in our state. This letter aims to establish a stronger collaboration of the stakeholders toward creating a better educational system that is free from any forms of bullying against our students. Although the educational system in our state creates future competitive individuals, I still believe that bullying must be stopped in a form of new initiative. This will strengthen the institution’s ability to improve the behaviors of the students and even help the parents when it comes to using the appropriate parenting style to their children.
The effects of bullying to students
According to the Arizona Department of Education (n.d.), a student is a victim of bullying when he is exposed to negative actions on the part of other students, which is being done repeatedly. This issue in our education does not only happen in our state, which means that no matter where the student is, there is a chance that he or she may be a victim of such negative actions. In fact, bullying can be done through multiple ways, such as personal and even through social media sites. Although the social media may not be originally part of the school’s responsibility, I believe that there must be an appropriate action that will prevent students from being a victim of bullying.
Bullying creates various negative effects to the students. It is a big problem that can make the victims scared, sick, hurt, embarrassed, lonely, and sad (Kids Health, n.d.). These outcomes are mostly psychological in nature, which directly affect the child’s ability to perform in schools. Although it is a problem that happens in many schools, not all of the victims are open about it. Thus, some of the victims opt to hide their feeling from their teachers or parents to avoid further embarrassment and to show their independence. Based on my observation, this issue on education is not a direct responsibility of the educational system itself. It works the other way around, to which the issue affects how the system should work.
An underlying issue that I am also concerned about are the influences that force bullies to act such behavior to the extent that other victims choose to commit suicide because of unwanted effects. On the other hand, both victims and bullies must be involved in addressing this problem. Additionally, the problem can create various effects both to the bullies and their victims. According to the study, the victims of bullying can develop mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression (Stop Bullying, n.d.). In addition, these individuals are prone to eating and sleeping patterns issues. There is also a reduced interest in school activities, which may affect their overall performance. Bullying in schools also affects the student’s academic achievement in relation to GPA as well as the standardized testing scores. These victims may also decide to drop out of their current school (Stop Bullying, n.d.). On the other hand, students who bully others is also another concern. There is a possibility that these children may be involved in more violent actions when they reached adulthood. Based on the study, bullies are more likely to abuse alcohol or drugs during their adolescence stage, engage in an early sexual activity, possible criminal convictions as adults, and even become abusive against their partners when they grow up (Stop Bullying, n.d.). As we see the causes and effects of this problem in our schools, it is presumably correct that collective actions must be done in order to prevent the harmful effects of bullying. It is a problem that influences more than just the academic aspect of the student and the institutions. Therefore, I would appreciate if you can consider the plans that would help our educational system a bullying-free system.
Proposed solution to different forms of school bullying
According to Malian (2012), cyberbullying is a form of bullying in school using electronic means, such as the internet or social media. Moreover, bullying can be in a form of verbal abuse, physical abuse, covert, and alienation. Regardless of the type of bullying, most of them create psychological effects that negatively influence the students’ academic performance. The existing laws must be strengthen to prevent bullying in our schools. In relation to the current legislation, there are already 49 states that enacted their own respective bullying laws, which require schools to create policies that will address this issue, but most of these laws focus on electronic forms of bullying or what we call the cyber bullying (Hinduja & Patchin, 2015). On the other hand, some of these laws criminalize bullying in schools because some of the provisions already fall under the existing laws against harassment or assault. These laws are ideal to address the existing bullying incidents and how to deal with them. However, I believe that to further achieve better outcomes, bullying in schools must be prevented before it happens. With that, I humbly seek for your support in developing an approach that will allow a good collaboration of schools, parents, educators, and even the students themselves. Then again, I am proposing some possible approaches on how we can all deal with this problem that affects the ability of our students.
Primarily, schools have the responsibility in ensuring that bullying will not happen within their campus. They must have enough authority to prevent any actions that would lead to bullying. Based on the case Bethel School District No. 403 et al. v. Fraser (1986), the Supreme Court gave a ruling that schools has the right to prohibit any forms of speech that will undermine the institution’s educational mission (Buczkowski, n.d.). This is because, schools paly essential roles when it comes to preparing their students to become part of a larger society. Therefore, it represents that bullying or any forms of physical and verbal harassments must be stopped by the school administration. On the other hand, parents must also be accountable for their child’s actions. As guardians, they have the full responsibility in relation to the behavioral development of their child. However, the child’s behavior at home can be different at school, which makes the teachers responsible for students’ academic and behavioral development. Since each of the stakeholders have their own responsibilities in terms of preventing bullying in schools, I believe that it is better to have a policy that will increase the collaboration of parents, educators, school administrations, and the government to address this issue more effectively. I believe that this plan can be an initiative under our existing state law.
Conclusion
Our educational system aims for the best in providing education to our children. As previously mentioned a strong educational system can be inadequate if a problem, such as bullying, constantly happens in our schools. Based on the gathered information and from my observation, a collaboration between the stakeholders is a better approach to address the problem. I am hoping that it can be considered through initiative because I believe that a good educational system is able to handle issues such as bullying in schools.
Sincerely,
References
Arizona Department of Education. (n.d.). Bullying Prevention. Retrieved from http://www.azed.gov/prevention-programs/resources-for-bullying-prevention/
Buczkowski, M. E. (n.d.). Bullying and the Responsibility of Schools - McAndrews Law Firm. Retrieved from http://mcandrewslaw.com/publications-and-presentations/articles/bullying-and-the-responsibility-of-schools/
Hinduja, S., & Patchin, J. W. (2015). Cyberbullying Legislation and Case Law Implications for School Policy and Practice. Cyberbullying Research Center.
Kids Health. (n.d.). Dealing With Bullies. Retrieved from http://kidshealth.org/en/kids/bullies.html
Malian, I. M. (2012). Bully versus Bullied: A Qualitative Study of Students with Disabilities in Inclusive Settings. Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education, 2(10). Retrieved from http://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1146&context=ejie
Stop Bullying. (n.d.). Effects of Bullying | StopBullying.gov. Retrieved from http://www.stopbullying.gov/at-risk/effects/
