Bullying and Discrimination in School - Essay Example

Whether schools should create and enforces guidelines to protect individuals from bullying and discrimination

Bullying refers to the unwanted or aggressive and overpowering behavior, the use of threat, or force to dominate others or demand one's request, especially to those who are perceived as vulnerable. For a long time, there have been reported cases of bullying in schools through repeated verbal, physical, social, and psychological harm. Bullying can involve an individual, while in others, it could be a group. According to statistics, bullying off any form has the potential to have immediate short term, medium, or long term effects on those that are involved (Schott and Søndergaard,21). Discrimination, on the other hand, is the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people commonly based on factors such as race, age, or gender, among other characteristics. Nevertheless, there have been numerous campaigns set up to eradicate all forms of discrimination and bullying, especially those that happen or occur in schools.

Bullying and discrimination have been ongoing for a long time in schools across all states. An average of 3.2 million students are bullied each year. With the numbers of reported cases of bullied students committing suicide, it seems like a grave matter which needs immediate attention and focuses on how it can be eradicated with the aim of reducing school violence Most of the instances have been proven to occur in certain designated areas such as the bathrooms, bus parks, and hallways. Such behaviors and experiences have adverse negative repercussions on individuals who go through these experiences. Bullying and discrimination in school can sometimes be well calculated and thought out, where students use the vulnerability of others to threaten, tease, or abuse them. As a result, occurrences of bullying and discrimination have become a serious issue which needs to be addressed promptly (Shore, 2).

Both discrimination and bullying behaviors have been evolving over time. There have been different forms of bullying that is direct and indirect methods. Direct methods include physical hitting, threatening, teasing among others while indirect methods include social isolation and spreading of rumors (Goodstein, 12). Some of the instances of bullying and discrimination include name-calling which is intended to humiliate and lower the self-esteem of the victims. Another form is physical manipulating which is inflicted on the victims including theft of the victim’s belongings and causing injuries. Either way, all these instances are still termed as exclusive bullying. Discrimination is majorly directed to students of different races and ethnicities and those students with disabilities. Most of the victims of bullying and discrimination tend to share some common characteristics such as anxiety, vulnerability, having insecurities, very cautious and tend to have very low self-esteem. Thus, it is important for the school administrations to set up measures that can be used to identify booth the bullies and victims of discrimination and bullying.

With the apparent global evolution of technology, cyberbullying has been on the rise and even harder to fight because of the animosity of the bullies. It has recently been termed as the most commonly used form of bullying in schools today. Cyber bullying uses the apparent changes in technology such as text messages, emails, posts on websites and other social media platforms such as instagram and twitter to either bully or discriminate the victims(Goodstein, 11). The continuous use of information and technology has created a technological world, one which has become threatening and unsafe and an environment of anxiety amongst all students in schools. However, it must be noted, this form of bullying is harder to control by the school because it frequent occurs off school property. In some instances, victims of cyber bullying have succumbed to depression while in some instances they have been driven to commit suicide. It is through the available technologies that the bullies have been able to hide away behind screens. Despite of all these issues, it is the responsibility of schools and parents to establish strategies and programs that will attempt to teach students not to cyber bully other students. However, for the learning to be effective, both teachers and schools should ensure that there is minimal or no needless and unpleasant confrontation or encounter.

For as long as the school system has been in existence, there have been multiple if not several instances of discrimination in schools occurring in one form or another. Many students have been discriminated because of the socio-economic status, race among other factors (Orfield and Ayscue, 20). Fact is that, it is not only student who discriminate against each other but also school officials such as teachers, administrators and faculty members who have been responsible for furling the discrimination in schools. The main question is, who should be held responsible or accountable of matters encompassing discrimination in schools? My response is that everyone should be held accountable for their actions or words which promote discrimination. There have been several reported cases of blocked opportunities for students of certain races or social and economic backgrounds("How Teachers Contribute to a Bullying Culture", 73). For example, African American and Hispanic students have been majorly affected by a form of discrimination referred to as tracking. Tracking involves separating students based on their intellectual abilities. This form of discrimination has proven to place majority of the students who are economically disadvantaged to be at the risk of not receiving quality education (Orfield and Ayscue, 22).

Bullying and discrimination have now been recognized as a widespread and neglected problem all around the globe. Both bullying and discrimination have implications and the apparent sever consequences for students who initiate the bullying and their victims. According to a recent study, an average of 60% of students that were bullies over grade 6-9 got to be convicted of crimes by the age of 24.Bullies have a tendency to demand power and have control over their victims and have no remorse whatsoever when inflicting pain and suffering to the victims(Goodstein, 14). For most bullies, they seem to exhibit very high self-esteem and minimal anxiety. These characteristics have been observed on students who come from homes which may practice physical punishment. Because the victims of bullying and discrimination are often perceived to be weak, in most instances, they are socially isolated while many struggle with grasping fundamental skills and have a hard time making and keeping friends. Some argue that bullying is part and parcel of life as it aids in the individual standing up for themselves, however, I do not agree because while others may be able to stand up for themselves there are those that just crumble down with insecurities and become reclusive individuals all their life, a matter which can be avoided or prevented through strong guidelines.

In order to provide students with a healthy education environment free of bullying, we need to establish and enforce guidelines which will protect students from bullying and discrimination. These students suffer from depression and anxiety, changes in sleeping and eating patterns. Moreover, some parents have reported cases of their children losing interest in things that they previously enjoyed doing and a decrease in academic achievement. Educators and the school administrators need to be hands on this matter because they have a big role to play in inhibiting the violent behavior of bullying and discrimination in the schools. It is their principle responsibility to make sure that the school environment creates a nonviolent haven free from discrimination and bullying activities. However, for them to manage this, they need to be conscious of the reality of the problem so as to cultivate measures to intervene. This should begin from the classroom because teachers have a more one on one interaction with the students who could be bullies or rather the victims. This can assist in the detection of bullying practices and thus encourage the victims and bystanders to report these cases to the school. Whatever interventions are established, they need to be inclusive all students without necessarily being an intimidation to either the victims or the bullies. Moreover, for a further increase in awareness of the problem to the parents, the school administrators should develop parent teacher days to make the parents aware of the problem’s existence and the importance of the parents to get involved in the whole process.

Preventing and putting an end to bullying and discrimination requires a lot of commitment. Not only is the school guidelines important but also the s students and parents intervention to curb matters of discrimination and bullying. It is also essential that schools have professionals with the capacity to promote a positive force that can be used to stop or reduce any occurrence of school violence amongst the students. In addition to this, schools should also set aside a part of the curriculum that is aimed at teaching students bullying and discrimination language amongst themselves and their peers. Teaching positive communication skills will also create a more positive environment that does not support these acts. The school administration needs also establish a system of reporting (if possible, unanimously) so that students affected or by standers can feel open to report these cases. A follow up of the students and their families is essential to come up with solutions of how best to handle these matters. Educators can also take maters in their own hands by having discussions the motivations and effects of bullying and discrimination as a way of sensitizing students on the importance of promoting self-awareness.

To further promote and strengthen guidelines that protect the individuals from bullying and discrimination, it is upon the school to set and make known to the students the strong repercussions for those found committing these acts. Bullying and discrimination should be treated as illegal offences, therefore, there should be zero tolerance for such kind of behaviors in the school environment. While the above long-term solutions may offer a bit of consolation, they may not entirely instill good behavior on students that commit these acts. This is why it is essential that school authorities demonstrate the importance of protecting the students against acts of bullying and discrimination. Both educators and coaches need to explicitly remind the students that behaviors regarding bullying and discrimination of other students will result to harsh consequences(Rose and Pierce, 67). Moreover, parents need to develop and set boundaries with technological devices. This will offer immense help in filtering the kind of information that students are exposed to or interact with an aim of reducing cyber bullying. Both teachers and parents need to model as positive examples and portray the importance of having positive relationships with their peers.

In conclusion, bullying and discrimination are part of the society’s inception and for this reason, they may not be easily eradicated. However, through the joint efforts of the school, parents and students it possible to create a much more positive and healthier environment for students to interact and learn. There exists no clear framework or strategies that will curb these problems directly or prevent them from ever taking place. However, having the ability to note, deal with or offer long-term solutions of acts of bullying and discrimination is the best shot of minimizing the chances of these problems reoccurring in education institutions. All parties including the students should be involved when creating these guidelines as this will give the students the mandate and role which will assist them in setting an environment which allows them to feel safe and own their personal climate of respect and responsibility for each other. However, it must be noted that these actions will all be in vain if they are not properly reinforced at home level by both parents and the guardians of the students. In addition to this, for schools to further enforce these guidelines aimed at protecting the students from discrimination and bullying, they need to ensure that the schools’ policies, rules and regulation remain consistent with those of the state laws and school districts policies. These laws will place more responsibility on schools and hand them the authority that they need to stop and deal with these instances. Remaining vigilant to curbing these acts of discrimination and bullying will definitely minimize any chances of them occurring within the school environments. Thus it is therefore very important that schools create and enforces guidelines to protect individuals from bullying and discrimination before they evolve to be uncontrollable.

With the apparent global evolution of technology, cyberbullying has been on the rise and even harder to fight because of the animosity of the bullies. It has recently been termed as the most commonly used form of bullying in schools today. Cyber bullying uses the apparent changes in technology such as text messages, emails, posts on websites and other social media platforms such as instagram and twitter to either bully or discriminate the victims(Goodstein, 11). The continuous use of information and technology has created a technological world, one which has become threatening and unsafe and an environment of anxiety amongst all students in schools. However, it must be noted, this form of bullying is harder to control by the school because it frequent occurs off school property. In some instances, victims of cyber bullying have succumbed to depression while in some instances they have been driven to commit suicide. It is through the available technologies that the bullies have been able to hide away behind screens. Despite of all these issues, it is the responsibility of schools and parents to establish strategies and programs that will attempt to teach students not to cyber bully other students. However, for the learning to be effective, both teachers and schools should ensure that there is minimal or no needless and unpleasant confrontation or encounter.

For as long as the school system has been in existence, there have been multiple if not several instances of discrimination in schools occurring in one form or another. Many students have been discriminated because of the socio-economic status, race among other factors (Orfield and Ayscue, 20). Fact is that, it is not only student who discriminate against each other but also school officials such as teachers, administrators and faculty members who have been responsible for furling the discrimination in schools. The main question is, who should be held responsible or accountable of matters encompassing discrimination in schools? My response is that everyone should be held accountable for their actions or words which promote discrimination. There have been several reported cases of blocked opportunities for students of certain races or social and economic backgrounds("How Teachers Contribute to a Bullying Culture", 73). For example, African American and Hispanic students have been majorly affected by a form of discrimination referred to as tracking. Tracking involves separating students based on their intellectual abilities. This form of discrimination has proven to place majority of the students who are economically disadvantaged to be at the risk of not receiving quality education (Orfield and Ayscue, 22).

Bullying and discrimination have now been recognized as a widespread and neglected problem all around the globe. Both bullying and discrimination have implications and the apparent sever consequences for students who initiate the bullying and their victims. According to a recent study, an average of 60% of students that were bullies over grade 6-9 got to be convicted of crimes by the age of 24.Bullies have a tendency to demand power and have control over their victims and have no remorse whatsoever when inflicting pain and suffering to the victims(Goodstein, 14). For most bullies, they seem to exhibit very high self-esteem and minimal anxiety. These characteristics have been observed on students who come from homes which may practice physical punishment. Because the victims of bullying and discrimination are often perceived to be weak, in most instances, they are socially isolated while many struggle with grasping fundamental skills and have a hard time making and keeping friends. Read More