Bullying in Schools

Bullying is a deliberate hostility that terrorizes others by being aggressive to them or using coercion. It is not until the recent past that bullying was identified as an underrated problem that has dominated the learning institutions. It is marked by harmful behavior, which might recur in an association where there is inequity of power. A bully gains authority due to his age, social status, race, religion, school performance or even gender and pursue to dominate others and may bully them based on similar aspects. Mostly, bullies are motivated by resentment and envy (Jimerson 231). Bullies are associated with narcissism and arrogance as well as low self-esteem. They may also do so to mask their shame or in a desire to elevate their self-esteem. It occurs mostly in school and it could be physical, emotional or verbal where a certain group of students seeks loyalty from bystanders by harassing other students. They may engage in taunting and teasing prior to getting physical to their victims (Smith 305). This often complicates the lives of the victims and even makes it hard for their learning.

Forms of Bullying

At times, high school bullying may also be facilitated by teachers and may take the form of humiliation, abuse, exclusion or being against anti-bullying strategies. Bullying comprise of getting physical, being socially excluded or verbal insults. Mostly, boys engage in physical attacks as well as being aggressive while girls engage in indirect bullying which may take a form of social exclusion or verbal insults such as gossips (Public Safety Canada 1). Physical bullying takes contact with the victim as punching, kicking and shoving. Emotional bullying aims to destroy the psyche of the victim and may include gossips, provocation, and exclusion. Verbal bullying entails use of slanderous language, which distresses the victim and may include profanity, naming, tormenting and harassing the victims. It could also include hate speech that targets one’s race, sexual orientation, gender, religion, physical appearances among others. Nowadays, students use technology to bully their fellows through in cyber bullying. They could do this by use of social networking sites or uploading their false information on the website. To determine if a child is being a target of bullying, some signs include anxiety, depression, and loss of interest with learning. This might be indicated by avoiding school through complaining of fake illnesses. These children develop a low self-esteem and are intimidated to go to school, experiences sleeping problems, gets easily irritated, lose concentration, start bedwetting and have problems in doing schoolwork. The programs designed to prevent bullying pursues student’s cooperation and aims to train staff on how to intervene and resolve disputes (Public Safety Canada 1).

Association with delinquency and crime

Bullying has been linked with delinquent behavior. From a research study, forty percent of boys that are bullies are associated with delinquency in comparison with five percent of boys that have never been bullies. On the other hand, thirty one percent girls who are bullies shows delinquency in comparison with three percent who are never bullies.. Elsewhere, a distinct research reflects that children bullies have a thirty seven percent higher likelihood to engage in crime in adulthood as compared to non-bullies. Likewise, children bullies have a higher likelihood of suffering psychological problems linked with aggression, depression an d externalizing acts (Public Safety Canada 1).

The impact of bullying might be manifested severely on the victims. It has been indicated that boys as victims have a five times higher likelihood of acquiring depression, while girls reflects close to three times higher chances of having depression than the boys and girls classmates. Besides, victims of bullying in both genders have been associated with suicidal thoughts. These affects persist for some time as research shows that the victims are associated with depression and a low self-image when they are about twenty three years of age even when the harassment is withdrawn in adulthood (Public Safety Canada 1).

Bullying in childhood has been linked with later antisocial behavior during adolescence or even adulthood. The bullies could be adolescents who engage in sexual harassment, become delinquent or engage in gangs and violence. In adulthood, the bullies may be associated with workplace harassments and abuse within their marriages. This therefore, shows a great need to prevent school bullying to curb future criminal acts (Public Safety Canada 1).

Risk Factors

Depression as well as personality disorders have been associated with bullying. Bullies have been identified as being angered quickly, linked with addiction or have acquired aggressive behavior. They therefore, show hostility towards others in a desire to improve their self-image. Bullies might have a defective childhood where aggressive behavior is learnt and not challenged. They might also have been victims of abuse at home and from this they are linked with incarcerations and domestic violence in adulthood (Smith 4). Bullying can be associated with continuing negative attitudes as well as aggression. The risk factors may also include truancy, disrespecting authority and aggression. Bullies might also have difficulties in classwork as well as being uncompassionate with other pupils. Moreover, gender differences act as a risk factor since girls bullies may reflect domestic abuse and in boys, it might be connected to delinquent peers influence (Public Safety Canada 2). As a result, girls bullies are indirect and their harm is concealed and hard to detect while for boys bullies, their acts are physical and can be seen openly. Bullies might be associated with harboring resentment and become frustrated as a result of difficulties e.g. with learning. The child might have been exposed to poor role models from parents where they learn aggressive behaviors (Jimerson 38). Besides, they might have been abused at home or neglected. Peer influence is a critical factor on modeling a child’s behavior and if a child hangs out with the wrong people, he or she might learn aggressive behaviors and direct them towards the fellow students. Conduct disorder has also been identified with bullying, which acts as a precursor to psychopathic and antisocial behaviors related with bullying (Smith et al. 125).

Statistics

In Canada, research shows that close to six percent of students at the age of twelve and nineteen report being weekly bullies. Additionally, eight percent report being victims of weekly bullying while a single percentage report being victimized and become weekly bullies. There is also a reflection that several boys as compared to girls are victims while most boys identified their male peers with aggression. In a different study, Toronto youth shows that sixteen percent of the students in their seventh and ninth grade had become victims of bullying for over twelve occasions previously. In a separate research done in the US, Canada and Europe, over ten to fifteen percent of the students at the age of eleven to fifteen reported engaging in weekly physical bullying. This behavior is especially associated with sixth to eighth grade but declines afterwards. From the research, boys had two times higher chances of frequent bullying as compared to girls but both sexes showed similar victimization rates. Twenty five to thirty percent of the students admitted of monthly physical bullying where more boys were monthly victims as compared to girls. Verbal bullying showed a ten to fifteen percent on weekly basis where twice the number of students were victimized rather than becoming verbal bullies. For social bullying, these students are hard to identify since their harmful motives are concealed and hard to detect. In a Canadian research, forty one percent of the students in their forth to seventh grade admitted to being monthly victims and/or bullies. Seven percent of the students admitted to being sufferers of weekly social bullying while two percent said that they socially bullied their fellows weekly. Girls have a more likelihood of being social bullies and being victims of the same as compared to boys (Public Safety Canada 2).

Prevention

Model programs have been structured to curb the behavior in schools. One such program is Bully-Proofing Your School (BPYS), which was established in 1994 in the District of Colorado, Cherry Creek School. It aims to award a systematic approach for every school member to participate in curbing and prevention of bullying (Public Safety Canada 2). BPYS identifies and changes environmental aspects that facilitate the acts in school. It inspires students to ensure safety for all within the school compounds. The programs entails assessing the problem, specially trains the staff, initiating school-wide policies, drafting strategic plans to deal with the behavior and enhancing the school learning environment. The program has ensured reduction of bullying within the Canadian schools and has increased awareness of safety for the school students. Other such programs include Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, Together We Light the Way (TWLTW) and The Fourth R Curriculum (Smith et al. 55).

Conclusion

Bullying as an antisocial behavior that has slowly crept in learning institutions has recently been publicized. Parents and teachers are more aware of its existence and have tried by all means to prevent it from happening. However, it has not been easy since bullying might take several forms some of which cannot be easily identified. It is therefore essential for parents to monitor their children’s progress and facilitate an open line of communication in order to intervene and help them in case they have any problem at school. Most significantly, if a parent identifies their child as a bully, they should remain calm and talk to them while trying to identify and resolve their insecurities. Besides, the government and other agencies should partner to draft programs and policies that will ensure eradication and prevention of bullying in schools.

Works Cited

Jimerson, Shane. Handbook of Bullying In Schools: An International Perspective. New York: Taylor & Francis, 2010. Print.

Public Safety Canada. (2010). Bullying Prevention: Nature and Extent of Bullying in Canada. National Crime Prevention Centre (NCPC). Retrieved on June 27, 2011 from http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/res/cp/res/_fl/2008-BP-01-eng.pdf

Smith, Peter. The Nature of School Bullying: A Cross-National Perspective. New York: Routledge, 1999. Print.

Smith, Peter., Pepler, Debra & Rigby, Ken. Bullying In Schools: How Successful Can Interventions Be? Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Print.