An Evaluation of Means of Combatting Bullying in the UK School - Essay Example

An evaluation of means of combatting bulling in the UK school. Bullying is described as the use of physical, verbal, or psychological pressure inflicted on someone to cause him/her pain and agony. This pain or distress does not need to be physical always, rather psychological effects of bullying often turn out to be more serious and long-term. Still, it is unfortunate that psychological effects are often not registered as potently as physical effects. Also, conventionally, the definition of bullying is limited to the use of physical and verbal forces. Independent of the type of force used, bullying is considered by all as a severe form of threatening. Due to gravity of this matter which permeates both personal and social life of a victim, a large body of research has generated which evaluates means of combatting bullying. There is a broad range of techniques present to fight bullying because this is a very serious issue in Church of England schools where homophobic stereotyping is a common routine. Students in these schools have to suffer great humiliation at hands of a large number of insensitive students who are given no guidance or warning by teachers or administration. Homophobic behaviour is a persistent issue in the UK schools, but bullying is a big issue and touches myriad other levels also. This essay seeks to explore how many types of techniques or means are identified by research literature to restrain bullying. These means will also be evaluated to identify the extent to which they can be considered reliable. Strict action taken by the person who has the highest position in an institution is one definite way to control bullying. Many times students are tortured because the highest administration remains indifferent to sensitivity of the situation. They either do not care or are too preoccupied with other things which they consider more important. However, it is a very good action taken by Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who has very recently launched a very comprehensive advice. This advice is sent to all Church of England schools where many victims of abuse are studying. In this advice he said that all kind of stereotyping should stop immediately, otherwise very strict action will be taken by administration. There should be an absolute end to the pattern adopted by the UK schools of turning a convenient blind eye1 to the issues which have huge repercussions. He took strict notice of this bullying and claimed in his address that “the Bible or religious texts should not be used to justify homophobic behaviour”2. Hopefully, now that the Archbishop has taken strict notice against bullying going on in his schools, this negative behaviour will stop. This is a very effective measure because orders issues by the top officials can make bullies realize that they are no longer free to insult whoever they please because there is a check on them. If a Church school is based on the belief that every child or student is loved by God, then no kind of bullying, discrimination or stereotyping should be targeted on one human being by another human being also. Research reports that the UK schools are the worst of all schools in the entire Europe in context of bullying. This is a matter of great notoriety for the entire UK that more students are victims of bullying here than in all European countries’ schools put together. It is claimed that “bullying in secondary schools is worse in the UK than the rest of Europe”3. Bullying emanates from differences in language, race, religion, and colour. The UK has earned a reputation for racism due to extreme levels of bullying found in its schools. Bullying is endemic here and affects masses of students very negatively. However, the report mentions that due to greater awareness, many school administrators are now working together with victims of abuse to discover more effective means to stop bullying. Working in collaboration with victims and attaching importance to their experiences is a very good way to engineer smart strategies. This way the issue of bullying will be seen from the eyes of victims which will help to discover the true depth of this issue. Only young victims know the real severity of situation. This is why research surveys carried out in the UK schools based on standardized questionnaires can help to identify “the depth in knowledge pupils have about the nature and characteristics of racist bullying.4” Conducting awareness programs at schools on weekly basis and making it compulsory for every single student to attend those programs can be a good way of helping students understand differences and welcoming them. Such means can make for “a better school experience for everyone”5. However, despite positive news, there are also many sources which claim that certain UK schools are “too politically correct to punish his tormentors”6. It must be certainly an agony for many parents to know that their children are being bullied for some reason and still, no corrective measures are taken by their schools. Such schools’ administrators have certainly not benefited from a large body of research focused to suggest means of combatting bullying. For example, they can hold parent-teacher meetings on weekly basis solely for betterment of victims. Only parents of victims should be called and their concerns should be actively registered. Just knowing that their concerns are heard can relieve some of the burden encountered by victims and their parents. Actually, parents of bullies should also be called and meetings should be held with them too. This can help to make victims, bullies, and their families closer together and understand each other’s differences. Homes can be those places where bullying or stereotyping is promoted. This is why meeting with parents is also important to let them know of consequences of bullying and what extreme results could be faced by their children if found guilty of bullying. This will effectively induce parents to condition their children in such a way that will discourage them from bullying and associate with other bullies at school. Advising victims to stop taking abuse of bullies so personally is a very wrong strategy used by painfully ignorant teachers. It should be understood that this is not a mean to combat bullying, but a way to promote more bullying7. Research suggests that adult involvement is very important to combat bullying. Actually, in addition to adults directly related to students, other people in the community should also be involved. This involvement on such a large level is an effective means to control bullying. Advising students to not take abuse personally is a way to suppress bullying like someone deliberately pushes a wrapper under a carpet instead of picking it up and throwing it in the trash can where it belongs. There should be a bully free program implemented in every school8. Actually, there should be two types of these programs. One should be system-wide and other should be based in the school. Then, there should be program teams and establishing such teams will show how committed a school is to erasing bullying from its system. Each team chair should be capable of providing very strong leadership because if his/her leadership is not strong, then no changes will be seen and bullies will stay as fearless as ever. This team chair should also be responsible for working with “the school officials to identify the team members.9” Parent and student representation, despite inconveniencies, should be made essentially practical by team members. Team members should be very carefully selected because many times adults who are bullies themselves volunteer to be on the team to protect the negative trend and keep it alive. After identifying high-risk locations in schools for bullying, it is advised to implement a coherent “supervision plan and schedule, as well as a reporting and information exchange system.10” Concluding, the above discussion suggests bullying is a widespread issue in the UK schools. It can be due to homophobia and differences related to language, race, colour, and religion. Bullying can have extremely devastating effects on academic performance of victims. This is why both students’ and parents’ involvement is necessary to stop bullying. Regular meetings of victims and their parents with bullying free program team members should be held to identify what locations in schools are at high risk for bullying and how bullies can be discouraged. Strict notice should be taken by the top most administrators in every school and they should get personally involved to discourage such negative practices. All such means can help to combat bullying in the UK schools where this is a very big issue currently and masses of students are victims of abuse. Read More