Causes and Possible Solutions of Bullying in Details - Essay Example

Bullying and The definitions, the word of bullying vary, but the most appropriate definitionrefers to it as the repeated intention to hurt someone either physically or emotionally (Gov.UK, 2014). The issue of bullying has been a pervasive problem worldwide. The issue has worsened in the recent years with statistics released in 2010 indicating that over 2.7 million students are affected by bullying cases each year (Bullying Statistics, 2013). Statistics from Bullying Statistics (2013) also indicate that over 2 million students participate in bullying other students. The number of suicide and dropout cases in schools is also on the rise with reports citing bullying as the main cause (Daniels, 2012). However, bullying has not been constrained to the learning environment since the problem has also spread to workplaces and cyber bullying. This essay will cover the causes and possible solutions of bullying in details. The causes of bullying vary depending on the age, environment, and the background upbringing of an individual. This implies that the reasons that would influence one to be a bully in the workplace differ from the reasons that influence bullying at school. However, the most cited reason for bullying is personal inadequacy (Booth, Robson & Welham, 2004). In order to fight the inner feeling of emptiness, a bully usually harasses people of weak physical nature in order to achieve high self-esteem. Since the causes of bullying differ depending on the environment, the essay will examine the sources of bullying both in school and at the workplace, separately. Since students are raised in different backgrounds, psychologists have stated that the family background of a child can influence his/her character in their lifetime (Booth, Robson & Welham, 2004). The environment in which a child is brought up will affect how he/she relates with others as well as himself/herself. The best performing students in academics are usually brought up in stable religious families. Therefore, the parent-child relationship influences the child’s personality. Strained parental relationship has been identified as one of the main causes of bullying (Hurley, 2012). Most bullies lack a warm, affectionate, and caring bondage with their parents. Most of these parents subject their children to high academic expectations, which exert pressure on the students. In order to cope up with the pressure, the students turn to weak students and bully them. Moreover, children whose parents are illiterate, or drug addicts are more likely to become bullies due to poor parental love or lack of academic motivation (Monks and Coyne, 2011). Poor academic performance has been highly associated with the behavior of bullying (Booth, Robson & Welham, 2004). Students who perform poorly in studies often feel inadequate for being unable to meet the required academic standards. Such students develop indiscipline behaviors in school as a substitute for academics. The undisciplined students end up harassing other students in order to relieve off themselves the feeling of academic failure. Most of these bullies also harass the high achieving students as an act of revenge for not been able to match with them academically. According to Monks and Coyne (2011), rejection by peers may result in bully or victim status in preschool, school, and working contexts. Social isolation due to rejection by peers has been cited as an explanation of why a student can become a target for other aggressive students. Peer rejection also correlates with aggressive behavior although this trend occurs mainly in junior levels other than high schools (Monks and Coyne, 2011). Students often form groups during the interactions among themselves. Students who share similar characteristics or behavior tend to form groups in order to relate with each other while locking out students who have different personalities. This leads to rejection of some individuals where either bullies or victims of bullying emerge from these groups. Cases of bullying in the workplace are also rife. Workers in different sectors face harassments from either their fellow workmates or their supervisors. Bullying in a working environment has a negative impact on both the company as well as the employees. Bullying may increase turnover rates, reduce work productivity due to depression among employees, and cause suicides in severe scenarios. Einarsen (1999) states that there are three causes of bullying in the workplace: competition for a similar job position, jealous, and an employee (the bully) being uncertain about his/her personality. Competition for the same job position often results into grudges between employees. An employee with an egocentric personality often feels that he/she deserves the job position, which may provoke him/her to verbally, or physically harass other employees in order to intimidate them. Moreover, an employee can become envious of the prosperity of another employee at work. Such employees become envious because of workmate’s job promotion or recognition due to his/her high-job performance. This may result in the employee bullying the prosperous workmates. Low self-esteem of an employee can also cause the employee to taunt others in order to raise their self-esteem (Einarsen, 1999). Due to the negative effects of bullying such as psychological depression, drop out cases in schools, turnover incidences in workplaces, and low self-esteem among workers; there is need to provide solutions to counter this aggressive behavior. Most of the causes of bullying behavior are psychological in nature; therefore, setting up counseling sessions to address the aggressive behavior is a recommended. Bullies tend to exhibit aggressive character due to low self-esteem thus counselors can provide correct psychological approaches to deal with their esteem issues. Bullies can attend self-motivation classes in order to learn how they can tackle personal issues without causing harm to others. Students are able to relate and form groups with students who share similar personalities because of identifying the different social classes in schools. Social classes can be illustrated through the mode of dressing or the meal cafeterias that different students choose. Therefore, school administrators should implement new policies such as students wearing standard school uniform to equalize the diversity of social classes. Incidences of bullying will diminish since isolation due to peer rejection will decline. The same principle can be implemented in work places to advocate for equality regardless of one’s social status. Schools as well as workplaces can also introduce motivation sessions to curb bullying. Poor performing students and unmotivated employees usually turn to harass others in order to fill the void of underachievement. Therefore, motivation classes will lift up the spirits of the bullies and they will resolve to work hard so that they can be at pace with the high achievers. Motivation is also necessary since it also helps one evaluate his/her personality and discover their weaknesses. Bullies can work on their weaknesses and become respectable people in the society. Bullying has been observed to be a serious due to its negative impact on the victims such as depression and suicides. The causes of bullying range from poor parental relationships, low self-esteem, peer-rejection, envy, and competition for the same job position in the workplaces. Motivation classes and counseling sessions have proved to be effective in tackling this behavior. Good relations among employees and a conducive learning environment are important for positive results to be achieved hence the behavior of bullying should not be accepted in the society. Every individual in the society must rise to say no to bullying regardless of the bullies’ physical appearance. References Booth, N., Robson, C., & Welham, J. (2004). Tolleys managing a diverse workforce (1st ed.). Croydon: LexisNexis UK. Bullying Statistics. (2013). Bullying Statistics 2010. Retrieved from Daniels, E. (2014). More Students Drop Out in Bullying ‘Climates’. Retrieved from Einarsen, S. (1999). The nature and causes of bullying at work. International Journal Of Manpower, 20(1/2), 16--27. Gov.UK. (2014). Bullying at School. Retrieved from Hurley, K. (2013). Bullies are not born, they are raised. Retrieved from Monks, C. and Coyne, I. (2011). Bullying in different contexts. 1st ed. 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