Peer Pressure and Bullying - Essay Example

Peer Pressure and Bullying Introduction There is little doubt that bullying is a problem in today’s world. It seems like not a month goes by that there is not a story in the news about a bullied student who takes revenge upon other students in a violent way. Likewise, peer pressure is also an issue in schools from time immemorial. Peer groups are very important to students - peer groups are the way that the students construct their social identity, and, once students try to break away and gain some independence from their parents, the peers become even more important to them. Peer pressure works by coercing the student into behaviors that he or she might not otherwise engage in, and the implicit message is that the student must engage in this behavior or else they might be shunned from the group. Bullying is associated with peer pressure. The bully takes courage from peers, and this increases the bullying. Moreover, the peers have an implicit agreement not to stop the bullying and not to intervene, and this, too, increases bullying. The students in these social groups engage in rituals, and the rituals might include kicking or punching the bullied victim, and the peer groups do not intervene in this, which also makes the bullying stronger. The peer groups also construct the difference in the victim, which is an important part of bullying. The implicit message to these students is that they cannot intervene, because, if they do, they might be shunned. This essay will examine the nature of bullying and the harm it can cause, and will also examine peer pressure and how it is associated with bullying. Bullying Bullying can result from peer pressure, and Naito & Gielen (2005) look at bullying in Japanese schools. Bullying may have devastating effects, including suicide of the victim. For instance, there was a case of a 13 year old boy in Japan who was the subject of a mock funeral, which was designed to show that he was a failure of a human being. The “funeral” for this young boy consisted of burning incense, displaying his photograph and flowers, and a condolence card that was signed by other students and four of his teachers. The victim of this episode of bullying actually had a real funeral, as he hanged himself (Naito & Gielen, 2005). Naito & Gielen (2005) refer to this type of bullying as Ijime – this means that physical violence is not involved, but the psychological violence that is involved is just as devastating, if not more so, than physical violence. They also studied the determinants of bullying, or, in other words, looked at why bullies became bullies. They found that the school bullies who were studied are oriented towards rule breaking and deviant acts. Moreover, social norms which are too ambiguous to be followed are often the social norms which are most often broken, as the bully is able to interpret ambiguous social rules to suit his own agenda. The bully may see some forms of bullying as being ambiguous and harmless, thinking that they are only joking or teasing, ignoring the serious implications of their actions. Bullying is also accepted because other students around the student being bullied thinks that the situation is fun, which encourages bystanders and audience discounting the feelings of the victim. They also found that classes with frequent bullying are made up of bullies, bullied students, an audience and bystanders – audience consists of students who are amused by the bullying, and bystanders are those who either don't know the victim or pretend not to know the victim. Naito & Gielen (2005) also state that bullying happens more often in classes where there is a perception of a poor moral atmosphere. The victims of bullying are more often than other students to be the ones who are conformists to power and are more likely to conform to school values and norms. The bullies are more likely to want independence from power and have a generally negative attitude towards school values. Bullying is an especially crucial area of school violence to address because, as Krauss (2005) notes, school violence is on the wane, but bullying is continually on the rise. And bullying is also crucial to address, as bullying might lead to more violence, such as school shootings – Fast (2008) notes that bullying is at the heart of many of the school rampages that have taken many lives over the years. Bullying is marked by six factors which define harmful abuse, according to Fried & Fried (1996): intent to harm, intensity and duration, power of the abuser, vulnerability of the victim, lack of support, and consequences (pp. 9-10). Peer Pressure According to Dissanayake (2012), peer pressure refers to “the influence exerted by a peer group to encourage a person to change his or her attitudes, values or behavior in order to conform to the group” (Dissanayake, 02). Peer pressure, according to Dielman (1987), is an issue that can result in negative issues, such as adolescent drinking (Dielman, 208). Michell and West (1996) looked at peer pressure with regards to smoking. Peer pressure works to increase smoking in that the peers coerce one another to smoke by bullying, teasing or rejecting the person from the desired group. Espalage (2002) notes that peer groups are very important, beginning in adolescence, as students increasingly start to rely upon their peers to discuss problems, feelings, fears and doubts, and there is an increasing pressure to attain social status within their peer group (Espalage, 2). The stratification of peer groups begins in adolescence, and it is during this time that the issues of popularity and acceptance begins to attain importance. Cowie (2002) states that peers are a way that students construct their social world, and these peer groups contribute to children’s social and personal education, and can enhance the quality of life in schools and communities. Therefore, since peer groups are so important to students, peer pressure becomes something that every student has to face. Peer pressure is therefore associated with bullying. As Espalage (2002) notes, there is a pressure to gain peer acceptance and status, and that this pressure is what increases teasing and bullying, and that peer group members maintain and reinforce bullying. Peers are involved in up to 85% of bullying episode, according to one study cited by Espalage. Moreover, in peer processes in bullying, how students behave, and their roles in the bullying is related to their social status in their classrooms (Espalage, 3). Hamarus & Kaikkonen (320) studied how peer pressure is linked to bullying. One way is through constructing difference in the bullied student. They first note that bullying is focused upon the difference of the bullied student – the student is different from the other students in some way. Perhaps the student is perceived to be gay or has a speech impediment or something else that makes the student different. Peer groups construct the difference in the student, because the bully starts by teasing the bullied student – and the bully is able to find out who will join in, how the other students feel about the bullying, and how the bullied student reacts around the other peers. Furthermore, the peer groups turns to peer pressure to bully, as the peer groups bond by telling stories and laughing with friends – this gives the peer group their power and is an important form of sociality, and this creates a desire for uniformity within the peer group. The bully teases the student, and this results in the collective humiliating the bullied student, and there is a “common agreement” between the peers that protects the bully, and this makes it difficult for a single student to interfere with the bullying (Hamarus & Kaikkonen, 340). Peer pressure also is implicated in bullying in that another aspect of bullying is ritual, and the presence of an audience is essential in the rituals which are connected to bullying, and the peers cause social turmoil for the bullied student. Included in these rituals are repeated kickings and beating, and, if nobody intervenes in these rituals, then these rituals escalate (Hamarus & Kaikkonen, 341). In other words, how peer pressure is related to bullying, according to this study, is that the peers in these peer groups are pressured not to intervene and help the student, and this is what gives the bully an audience and also gives the bully the needed social cues to continue and escalate the bullying. Conclusion It is important that bullying end, or at least abate in schools. There is a great deal of harm that can be caused by bullying – suicide and homicide are among the gravest dangers that can result from bullying, but, even if the student does not resort to these ultimate acts, there is still lasting damage. In looking at how bullying can be abated, one must look to the reality of peer groups and peer pressure. Many if not most students are not courageous enough to stand up for the bully because of peer pressure not to intervene. Peer pressure is a powerful factor in teenage and adolescent lives – the peer group is everything to these kids, and being shunned from the group is something that every child seeks to avoid. The implicit message is that they cannot make waves, because if they do, they will be shunned or perhaps would be the next target of the bully. So, the bully gets stronger, because nobody will intervene to help the child. Because of the reality of peer pressure, and the reality that peer pressure can lead to an escalation of bullying, the message that schools have in the anti-bullying programs must focus upon this aspect. The schools should construct programs that address peer pressure in such a way that it makes the students feel that it is ok to speak up for a classmate, and that the student might actually become more accepted, not less, for doing so. There are other messages that might get this point across as well. What is clear is that peer pressure and the focus on the peer group is what should be at the heart of anti-bullying measures. References Cowie, Helen, et al. "Knowledge, use of and attitudes towards peer support: a 2-year follow-up to the Prince's Trust survey." Journal of Adolescence 25.5 (2002): 453-467. Dielman, T. E., et al. "Susceptibility to peer pressure, self-esteem, and health locus of control as correlates of adolescent substance abuse." Health Education & Behavior 14.2 (1987): 207-221. Espelage, Dorothy L. "ED471912 2002-11-00 Bullying in Early Adolescence: The Role of the Peer Group. ERIC Digest." (2002). Hamarus, Paivi, and Pauli Kaikkonen. "School bullying as a creator of pupil peer pressure." Educational Research 50.4 (2008): 333-345. Dissanayake, D. S., et al. "Peer pressure and bullying among school going adolescents in the district of Kandy." Journal of the College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka 17.1 (2012): 2-8. Fast, J. Ceremonial Violence: A Psychological Explanation of School Shootings. New York: The Overlook Press, 2008 Fried, S. & Fried, P. Bullies and Victims: Helping Your Child Through the Schoolyard Battlefield. New York: M. Evans & Company, Inc., 1996. Krauss, H. “Conceptualizing Violence.” In Denmark, F., Krauss, H., Wesner, R., Midlarsky, E. & Gielen, U. (2005) Violence in Schools: Cross-National and Cross-Cultural Perspectives. New York: Springer, 2005 Michell, L., and P. West. "Peer pressure to smoke: the meaning depends on the method." Health education research 11.1 (1996): 39-49. Naito, T. & Gielen, U. “Bullying and Ijime in Japanese Schools.” In Denmark, F., Krauss, H., Wesner, R., Midlarsky, E. & Gielen, U. (2005) Violence in Schools: Cross-National and Cross-Cultural Perspectives. New York: Springer, 2005 Read More