How Would You Stop Bullying in Schools - Essay Example

Bullying is perhaps one of the most insidious and pervasive social challenges encountered by and employees today. Many victims of bullying suffer silently because public perception of bullying is not aligned with how bullying actually occurs today. In the past, bullying behavior was believed to happen on the playground between peers. A common scenario that seems to run through society is the myth of the victim of bullying that “gets up the nerve” to stand up to the bully. This act of bravery forever frees the victim from the evil clutches of the bully, producing a dual victory of sorts. The former victim gains self-esteem and a stronger character, while the vanquished bully is served a bitter lesson that will surely cause them to contemplate their life choices and gain a desire to reform. Unfortunately, nothing about bullying or being a victim of bullying in real life is this simple. Bullying is a result of complex social interactions that involve many aspects of personal and communal relationships. An understanding of the bully-victim relationship, the motivations of both bully and victim and how society handles this dynamic is essential if bullying is to be prevented. The best bullying prevention plans include elements that address the concerns and motivation of victims and bullies. These plans also include elements designed to train teachers, supervisors, coaches and parents in real techniques that allow them to support victims and reach out to bullies. Finally, these programs will work with resources within the community such as Student Resource Officers (SROs) and other law enforcement entities to educate the entire community about the changing face of bullying from a legal aspect. This is especially helpful with the rise in new forms of bullying such as Cyber-bullying and sexual harassment. The only way to prevent bullying is to take a holistic approach to the phenomenon Traditionally, bullying prevention programs have focused on the bully. The thought was that if the bully could be contained, then the other potential victims could be protected from socially or physically aggressive individuals. Recent studies suggest that counseling or punishing bullies is only one part of the prevention program. Bullying, researchers have found, involves three distinct groups of individuals; the bullies, the victims and the bystanders (Breaking…, 2010). Addressing the role of each is essential to forming a holistic approach to bullying prevention programs. Starting with the victims, not the bullies, is a technique that is gaining in popularity in many schools. Social Skills Training (SST) is growing in popularity among school counselors. SST teaches individuals that become the target of a bully how to cope with the situation. SST also aims to help students develop the social skills that will help them not to be targeted by a bully. Victims fall into two types of categories (Batsche and Knoff). Some victims are passive. They do not understand why bullies target them. For males, they are often smaller physically and tend to have few friends. Passive female victims tend to be socially isolated as well. SST for passive victims equips them with two vital tools. The first is improved social skills that will allow them to build and develop their own friendships. These friendships will end the social isolation that makes them attractive targets to bullies. Friendship and social inclusion is also a source of improved self-esteem. Having a positive self-image has shown to be a valuable mechanism for coping with bullying and for preventing bullying. The second tool that SST gives to victims of bullying is practice dealing with bullies through role-playing. The role-plays often occur with a counselor in a small group setting. Students that have been identified as victims meet together to learn vocabulary and body language designed to thwart attempts bullies may make to intimidate or harass them. Through the use of role-playing, students are given time to develop personal strategies that can be used in real-life situations. By helping victims develop a rich social network of friends and by equipping them with verbal and physical tools that can be utilized to thwart aggressive actions by bullies, SST aims to take the easy targets away from bullies. The second category of victims is aggressive. These victims draw the attention of bullies because they are impulsive and have a difficult time keeping their emotions in check. Bullies easily goad them into reacting to aggressive and hurtful comments. Teasing that would be hurtful, yet endured by other students causes the aggressive victim to engage the bully in a hostile manner. The reaction to the bullying is obvious and often considered out of proportion to what was said, so the victim of this type of bullying is often the individual that is viewed as being “out of line”. By a five to one margin, most victims are of the passive sort, so much of the counseling focuses on helping these sorts of victims. More counseling methods designed to decrease impulsivity, emotional response to stimuli and stress reduction techniques are necessary for this student population (Brockenbrough, Cornell and Loper). In theory, SST could create a school culture where bulling would be nearly impossible due to the high self-esteem of each student. The problem is that high self-esteem is not enough to prevent a student from being bullied. In fact, some studies have shown that while SST does in fact increase self-esteem in the students that participate in the role-plays, that increase in self-esteem does not always translate into less frequent bullying (Fox and Boulton). But this fact does no mean that SST is not effective. Nor can it be said that SST should not be a part of any comprehensive bullying prevention plan. This study simply shows that a truly holistic approach needs to be employed if bullying is to be eliminated from the school or workplace. Encouraging victims to gain the skills necessary to ward off bullies assumes that there are bullies. Unfortunately, nearly 25% of school age children report being bullied at some point. The two questions that must be answered concerning bullies is who are they and why do they bully? Understanding the answers to these two questions is vital for being able to address bullying by confronting and counseling the bullies. Bullies tend to fit a bit of a profile. They are often the victims of abuse. They are being raised in families where physical punishment is the preferred method of discipline. The parents exhibit an inconsistent parenting style where they are at once very permissive yet they punish their children very harshly. Bullies show a decidedly lower ability to think critically and solve problems than other students, as well (Xiao). Seeing the profile of a bully clearly shows why a holistic approach to preventing bullying must take place of the program is to be successful. It is clear that bullies are largely made by their surroundings. Most of the behaviors are learned from parents. This is why bullying has been describes as an intergenerational problem (Greenbaum). The influence of family and home environment has been identified as being more influential than school, church and other social institutions in developing a child’s character. So it can be very discouraging to think that because bullying starts in the home, then there is nothing else that can be done for the bully. But this is not the case. Counselors are using a very powerful tool to help bullies lessen their aggressive behavior. They are turning to the most influential group outside of the family, especially in the case of young adolescents. Counselors are using the peers of the bully to help lessen or eliminate aggressive behavior. The three groups always involved in an episode of bullying are the bully, the victim and the bystander. The home life of the bully has socialized him or her to seek dominion over others through the use of force, verbal abuse or intimidation. The victim has, through poor social skills and the inability to form social connections, had identified themselves through word choice and body language as a victim to the bully. But the group that is most important in seeing that the bullying continues is the bystanders group. Their reaction to the bullying episode can influence whether it continues or ceases. Bullying is an inherently social activity. Bullies seek approval for their actions and victims expect help out of the uncomfortable. The bystanders have the ability to make either outcome occur. Counselors working with bullies have begun to also incorporate their peers in the counseling sessions. They have found that the bystanders have a greater capacity for feeling empathy for the victims of the bullying. By including bystanders, the hope is that bystanders will understand that their reaction encourages or discourages bullying. By building empathy for the victim, counselors hope to instill the ability of bystanders to take a stand against bullying instead of encouraging it (McAdam and Schmidt). Proactive aggression, the type of bullying that is planned and purposeful, is an attempt by the bully to exert control over other individuals and a means of gaining heightened social status. By removing peer approval, the bully is stymied in his or her efforts to accomplish these goals. Because bullying is a social phenomenon, efforts to eliminate it must go beyond the bully, the victim and the bystanders. For bullying to really take root, a culture of permissiveness must be established. Some disturbing statistics indicate that some adults that are in positions of authority and trust, that could reasonably be expected to discourage bullying, do not have a terribly negative view of this sort of social interaction. In fact, nearly 25% of the teachers surveyed in one study indicate that they feel that sometimes it is best for all concerned to ignore bullying at times (Batsche and Knoff). As previously mentioned, some feel that a little bullying is capable of building character in victims. They fell that it can teach victims to stand up for themselves. At the very least, occasional teasing and taunting is regarded as an unpleasant but necessary element of childhood and adolescence. Changing attitudes of teachers, parents and caregivers is an important way to combat bullying. Creating a culture where bullying is not tolerated, where individual worth is instilled as an essential element of social interaction and where adults are expected to model positive behaviors. Schools and workplaces have chosen to go about changing the culture relative to bullying in a variety of ways. One way that changing the prevailing culture is preventing bullying is through character education. The best character education programs are implemented over many years in a school district and utilize a uniform set of terms and vocabulary throughout the grade levels. Character traits are emphasized that, when exercised, lead to more kind and ethical interactions between students. An essential component of this training is educating adults as well. Hopefully, adults that have chosen helping professions such as educators, counselors and caregivers understand the importance of their positive example. Adults must abide by the same rules of good character as the students are expected to exemplify fit he culture of a school is truly to change. Another way culture can change in a school setting is by training adults that work with children about the negative impact bullying has on students. Bullying has been linked to low self-esteem and depression. It also has a horrible impact on learning. Students that are constantly afraid are not able to learn effectively. They are more likely to skip school. In fact, one study suggests that as many as 7% of eighth grade students nationally miss one day each month due to stress caused by bullying (Banks). Many states now hold schools accountable under No Child Left Behind legislation based on attendance percentages. Schools rife with bullying will have more absenteeism than schools without a culture where bullying is permitted. Making teachers aware of the impact even small amounts of bullying can have on children may make them more apt to take preventative action in their schools and classrooms. A final element of education that must be included in any holistic bully prevention program is educating the entire community about new, pervasive types of bullying. These refer to cyber-bullying and sexual harassment. Many communities are making use of Student Resource Officers (SROs) in an attempt to educate parents, students and teachers about the dangers of these activities. SROs are law enforcement officers that work in schools full time. They are not security guards. Their duty is to forge relationships with school age children that grow outward into the community and the families in the community. They are employed by school districts to run educational programs dealing with drug abuse and bullying primarily. What makes an SRO especially effective is the fact that they have full law enforcement powers while operating within the school. An SRO is very effective at training parents, teachers and students in how to avoid and identify cyber-bullying. Recent tragedies where young people have gone to extreme measures to escape cyber-bullies have been noted in popular media. Unfortunately, several of these cases have ended in suicide. An SRO officer is effective at letting parents and teachers know the practical aspects of handling cyber-bullies, but also have the added expertise of informing the community as to the legal aspects of the crime. Nearly every state has cyber-bullying legislation pending or passed. An SRO is specially equipped to help the community understand the emotional as well as the legal aspects of this crime (Kranich). An effective anti-bullying program needs to take a holistic approach. It cannot just focus on the bully. Counseling with the bully, the bystander and the victim can create a dynamic where social pressure actually suppresses bullying. Changing a culture of permissiveness to one where bullying is recognized as a real threat to the health and safety, as well as the education of children also leads to the prevention of bullying. Family dynamics, teacher expectation and peer social relationships are all a part of the bullying process. Any program that is effective at preventing bullying will address all of these various societal groups. Work Cited Banks, Ron. “Bullying in schools”. ERIC Digest [Online]. Available: http://npin.org/library/pre1998/n00416/n00416.html (1997). Batsche, George M., and Howard M. Knoff. "Bullies and Their Victims: Understanding a Pervasive School Problem." School Psychology Review 23 (1994): 165-75. Print. "Breaking the Bully-Victim-Bystander Cycle: Strategies to Reduce Bullying and Support Caring, Connected and Responsible School." Google. Web. 27 Apr. 2010. . Brockenbrough, K., Cornell, D., & Loper, A. “Aggressive victims of violence at school.” Education and Treatment of Children, 273-287. (2002). Fox, Claire; Boulton, Michael. "Evaluating the effectiveness of a social skills training (SST) programme for victims of bullying" Educational Research 45.3 (2003). Greenbaum, Stuart. “School bully and victimization” (Resource Paper). Malibu, CA: National School Safety Center, (1988). Kranich, Donna R. "Creating a New Climate for Kids." Law Enforcement Technology 32.9 (2005): 170-78. Print. McAdams, Charles, and Christopher Schmidt. "How to Help a Bully: Recommendations for Counseling the Proactive Aggressor." Professional School Counseling (2007). Access Library. Web. 22 Apr. 2010. . Salmivalli, Christina. "Participant Role Approach to School Bullying: Implications for Interventions." Journal of Adolescence 22.4 (1999): 453-59. Print. Xiao, Juan. “Bullying in schools” [white paper, electronic version]. Retrieved 25 Apr. 2010. from Georgia State University Center for School Safety, School Climate and Classroom Management website: . Read More