Nobody Left to Hate Teaching Compassion After Columbine by Elliot Aronson - Essay Example

BULLYING In the book d Nobody Left to Hate Teaching Compassion After Columbine by Elliot Aronson tried to express his feelings in the plight of high school killings in Colorado. As a social psychologist he felt there is some responsibility towards the society on his part. “Nobody left to hate accurately describes the competitive, cliquish and exclusionary social atmosphere present in most American middle and high schools” (Elliot, 15). Aronson’s works demand attention and are very useful to the society, as he has worked for four decades to bring the atrocities of bullying that has affected many children psychologically. Frustrated from being treated as losers, some students took extreme steps like injuring others and more dangerously killing fellow students and others. Root cause If we start analyzing the issue from the root cause, we can understand the reasons why children at young age or adolescents develop the tendencies like harassment, discrimination, maltreatment, singling out, humming and hounding which is nothing but bullying. It is clearly understood that bullying has many forms of intriguing aspects related to it. Boys or girls may start at a tender age but it has its own reasons for such strange behavior. The major reasons for children start bullying depends on the characters of parents and teachers etc., since these are the immediate guardians to the children, if not this parents or teachers at school whoever are close to the children with respect to time get to influence them. Human beings develop or grow by observing the surroundings and so they are called as social animals. Bullying is not what which is imbibed by birth, the situations and people around them make children harass whoever comes in contact with them. Children at young age don’t have that much understanding to differentiate between genders or elderly people, teachers, family members and friends are the easiest scapegoats. The beginning of bullying may start from people surrounding the child start interfering in their matter and trying to alter their thoughts and at the same time molding them in a way what their parent or guardians need their wards to grow. This noble effort may be a good weapon to blend their children into a multi-talent adolescent, but it may have serious consequences if the child is already preoccupied by thoughts of his own. At this time if someone tries to interfere with their thoughts and intentions, emotions that may burst paving a way of bullying whoever tries to bother them. The greatest responsibility of molding a child depends on parents, teachers, etc. Students are the building blocks of the society. Teachers should be well versed in their subject, learnt and should have enchanting character which should influence the child to imitate their teachers. One of the reasons for children and adolescents is suspected weakness in themselves or in others. They try to cover up their weaknesses by aggressive behavior and showing the power personally. If a student is found weak mentally or in aspect of human or common intelligence then the surrounding adolescents whoever are aggressive in nature start bullying. This can be a stepping-stone to the child or adolescent to start bullying their immediate or fellow students and their teachers. Children bullying at tender age may just tease their fellow student, neighbors and teachers but when they grow up with such mentality, bullying altogether take a different meaning and as it expands, date violence, sexually harassing girls. The very beginning of bullying at tender age should be checked and corrected so that it may not continue up to adult hood. Not checking and correcting at tender age is also a specific reason for adolescents and adults bullying, once children and adolescents taste the sarcastic magic of bullying, it entices and tempts them to whip out their natural behavior by replacing aggressive and power full behavior in to their character. The combination of power and aggression makes them fell supreme. Generally adolescents look to their peers for help all times. If their peers are noble enough then such behavior made declaim in adolescents. But if they are not, then adolescents become most notorious and when they continue to grow which such behavior up to adult hood then bullying will be key component of sexually harassment, gang attacks, date violence critical assault, marital violence, child abuse, work place harassment and elder abuse, another important reason for bullying is getting attracted to such behavioral pattern by children and adolescents this attraction make them form to groups and start harassing every body around them which makes them more power full then as individuals. Effects of Bullying Bullying has diversified and serious effects on adolescents and adults. The effects of bullying have long-standing issues and may stretch thought life span. Short term or long term bullying tend to have serious mental difficulties on adults. Adults who continue to bully get into serious troubles and commit crimes like, marital violence, child abuse etc. It also affects the cordial relationship between the family members and friends. As it develops an adult may use more sophisticated form of bullying either directly or indirectly. It has shades of sexually harassing men and women to an adult where if sexually also reported even to moral policies. Adults who continue to bullying tend to become more sophisticated and gets associated with peer groups forming organized social structures with differentiating codes of behavior targeting women and children for personal collective needs. The victim of bullying could be some every strata of human life. For example accuracies and unruly behavior by the students in elementary school forces teachers to neglect those students initially and at a later stage the whole class. This intern has to adverse effects on both teachers and fellow students. The teacher depraves the fellow students of their rightful education due to negligence. The teachers who neglects will not teach properly there by not performing their duty in a rightful manner. This will of course effect the relation between the teacher and students. Influence of Bullying This is just beginning of the bullying elementary school level and if we imagine this kind of behavior developed up to high school are even up to college level then its effects much more devastating and wreck havoc on adulthood. Bullying metamorphosis’s into much more sophisticated form getting into college. In high school peer groups trouble fellow students and even facility. This kind of bullying effects education to a grater extent. One of the staggering effects of bullying could be high school dropouts, teen marriages child employment etc. ragging is also one of the form of bullying taking all the universities and colleges across the geographical boundaries by storm and affecting even the economy of the education institution and the country as a whole. Taking on example of bullying by peer groups increases to an extant where fellow students don’t dare to come to college and faculty are not in a position to teach the will have serious effects of the future of the teenagers, the education institutions, faculty and the country at the large. In this scenario the fellow student may just slow up as the college during semi exams. The attendance percentage may decline not allowing student to appear for the exams. Imagine the fate of the students who are not allowed to appear the examination. These affects are just at the root level. If this continues up to adult hood then it affects the whole carrier of a person and family members and the people associated with that person. The peer groups who bully uncontrollably are at times even rusticated or debarred from the school. They even get suspended from the schools due to their unruly acts and misdemeanor. Commenting on teachers and girls at college bring personal criticism and also enmity from the victims families. All these negative effects due to bullying which has its different forms like harassing, misdemeanor teasing and maltreatment make the society a worst place to live with. Intervention is the best possible way to check the advancements of bullies right through the beginning. It would be much better to intervene during mild aggression since it needs lesser intensity to interfere. Teachers find it easy to recognize and provide support for the students who have difficulty in learning from the corrective feedback. The basic principles for intervention are similar irrespective of age but may change depending upon students who need counseling. Since power and status are the vital features of bullying, it may be checked by proper interventions at the right time making it easier to their teachers, guardians or parents. Interventions, counseling and strict discipline may be the only weapon to fight against a destructive phenomenon like bullying. References Elliot Aronson. (2000). Nobody Left to Hate Teaching Compassion After Columbine. New York: WH Freeman and Company. Smokowski, Paul R., Kopasz, Kelly Holland. Bullying in School: An Overview of Types, Effects, Family Characteristics and Intervention Strategies. Children & Schools, v27 n2 p101-110 2005 (EJ724855). Camodeca, Marina, Goossens, Frits A. Childrens Opinions on Effective Strategies to Cope with Bullying: The Importance of Bullying Role and Perspective. Educational Research, v47 n1 p93-105 Mar 2005 (EJ691669) Whitted, Kathryn S., Dupper, David R. Best Practices for Preventing or Reducing Bullying in Schools. Children & Schools, v27 n3 p167-175 2005 (EJ724864). Read More