How to Prevent Bullying - Essay Example

Bullying Introduction According to Sprung et al, bullying is the use of coercion, threat, or force to intimi abuse, or aggressively impose domination over others whilst making it hard and stressful for them to cope, especially when the aggressor is around (8-9). The behavior of bullying tends to be very habitual and repetitive in that the bully will go through different stages of life always showing the bullying tendency towards others. Sullivan stated that bullies always tend to impose domination over others because of an assumption on physical and social imbalance whereby they perceive the self to more physically powerful or socially capable than others (55-58). In order to gain domination over others, bullies use coercion or physical assault, threats or verbal forms of harassment of which they normally direct towards identified ‘soft’ targets whom are likely to offer less resistance to the bullies. According to Lemus, bullies rationalize and justify their behaviors based on their differences with the victims on appearance, gender, class, behavior, religion, race, sexuality, or abilities (23-25). In the writings by Sullivan, he stated that bullying is normally classified into four key categories that include cyber bullying, physical bullying, verbal bullying, and emotional bullying, and when the bullies operate in a group it is termed as mobbing (68-71). According to Hadikin and O’Driscoll, cases of bullying are more rampant at schools where majority of those who are physically strong, have unique capabilities, or come from a financially well-off background, tend to look down upon others whom they perceive as weak targets (78-82). In addition, cases of bullying also exists within the workplace, where in most cases those who are in senior positions tend to show tendency of bullying toward those who are in junior positions. Bullying within schools and at workplaces is termed as peer abuse. This present informative essay is divided into a three part series that begins with the causes of bullying, the effects of bullying, and anti-bullying practices that should be implemented largely in schools. Causes of bullying In the studies conducted by Lemus, he stated that bullying is caused by social factors that alter the behavior and attitudes of the bullies who pick on bad behavior of intimidating and harassing other people (32-34). Primarily, Sprung et al. stated that most bullies normally come from dysfunctional homes where they are exposed to violent punishments or regular violence within the household and even uncaring attitudes from their parents and other siblings (12-15). Therefore, they do not know how well to relate with each other apart from interacting with them through uncaring attitudes and even violent acts either verbally or physically, which creates a cycle of abuse from their homes to the school. Hadikin and O’Driscoll argued that individuals from abusive homes also tend to have abusive behaviors because they consider it to be right or a normal way of interacting with each other (77-83). Therefore, when they are at school, social set-ups, or the workplace they easily intimidate as well as harass others. Secondly, within dysfunctional homes, the kids are normally exposed to violent movies or television programs, and even violent video games without any regulation or strict supervision from their parents/ guardians. If the kids tend to enjoy the violent scenes then they will most certainly prefer to interact with others in uncouth manner without considering their feelings (Lemus, 45-48). Thirdly, Sprung et al. stated that children from dysfunctional homes do not get adequate attention back at their homes because either their parents do not care or they are always never around. Therefore, they will try to get attention or to be noticed from other quarters even if it means through negative means such as bullying others (24-27). In this regard, Hadikin and O’Driscoll stated that through bullying, the bullies are able to be noticed and even feared by others, and they are also able to attract a few people who become loyal followers (56-63). Therefore, through bullying, the bullies are able to accomplish their desire of attention or being noticed. Hadikin and O’Driscoll added that in other homesteads, the children are not able to be themselves or they do not have an immediate control over their lives, and therefore, they will engage in bullying behaviors such as manipulating others through taunts and threats in order to satisfy their desire of control (64). Hadikin and O’Driscoll wrote that the desire of attention and control can drive a person to join a gang, which equally seeks for control and even attention by intimidating, harassing, and attacking others. Therefore, through gang membership, a person can easily become a bully (92-98). Effects of bullying Whilst trying to feel the void in their lives, bullies tend to create a void in their victims’ lives since they interfere with their self-esteem, feeling of self-worth, and personal security. One of the main effects of bullying on the victims is depression and anxiety since the bullies negatively affect their lives. Secondly, the victims tend to have an increased feeling of loneliness and sadness since the bullies always tear their emotions and self-confidence. Swearer stated that in extreme cases, the victims tend to shy away from activities that they used to enjoy because of fear of colliding with the bully. Secondly, they might exhibit a change in their eating as well as sleeping pattern, and these effects might persist even in the adulthood life of the victims (121-125). According to Hadikin and O’Driscoll, in school set-ups, the victims of bullying normally record a decline in their academic achievement since they are more likely to miss school in entirety or certain classes where they can collide with the bullies (38-42). Swearer stated that numerous research studies have shown that a significant number of young people who have been exposed to bullying tend to commit suicide because of the effects of bullying, which pushes them to a severe state of depression (105-112). Sprung et al, in their writings listed some of the effects of bullying on the bully themselves, and key among them is the fact that bullies can continue with their bad behaviors into their adult life, which will interfere with their social life and even their career because of poor relations with workmates (28-29). Secondly, Sprung et al. stated that bullies normally have a tendency of abusing alcohol and other drugs early in their teens, and they may proceed with the behavior up to their adulthood (31-33). Thirdly, bullies frequently get into fights with other people and they may even engage in vandalism of properties. Fourthly, because of their erratic behaviors, the bullies normally engage in early sexual activities, which might expose them to various kinds of sexually transmitted diseases. In addition, a big number of the bullies drop out of school because of their unruly behaviors and even because of dismal performance since they cannot maintain regular attendance at class. Lastly, Sprung et al. stated that the most detrimental effect of bullying on the bullies themselves is the fact that they might end up being convicted at an early age or when they are adults because of the violent acts (45-48). Anti bullying The societies as well as relevant stakeholders have acknowledged the fact that bullying especially within schools is a critical issue that needs to be resolved because of the negative consequences it has on the victims as well as the bullies themselves. In this regard, it is noted that there have been spirited efforts to introduce anti-bullying campaigns in all schools within the country, which discourage against bullying and encourage the victims to report the case of bullying to the relevant authorities (Sprung et al. 123-125). Equally, schools have implemented tough policy measures that seek to punish the bullies and in case bullying becomes persistent, the bullies are expelled from the school in order to enable the victim(s) to have peace and learn within an ample environment (Sprung et al. 126-128). Works Cited Hadikin, Ruth. and O’Driscoll, Muriel. The Bullying Culture: Cause, Effect, Harm Reduction. Books for Midwives, 2000 Print Lemus, E. Bullying 101: The Facts About Bullying. Amazon Digital Services, Inc. 2013 Sprung, Barbara. Froschi, Merle. and Hint, Blythne. The Anti-bullying and Teasing Book for Preschool Classrooms. Boston, MA. Gryphon House, 2005 Print Sullivan, Keith. The Anti-Bullying Handbook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. 2010 Print Swearer, Susan. Espelage, Dorothy. and Napolitano, Scott. Bullying Prevention and Intervention: Realistic Strategies for Schools. New York, U.S: The Guilford Press. 2009 Print Read More