Bullying Behavior Among Children in Australian School - Essay Example

Running Head: BULLYING BEHAVIOR AMONG CHILDREN IN AUSTRALIAN SCHOOL Bullying behavior among children in Australian school Name Institution Date Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Bullying behavior among children in Australian school 3 Introduction 3 School bullying 4 Why students bully 6 Impacts of bullying in schools in Australia 7 How to stop bullying in schools 8 Conclusion 11 Annotated Bibliography 12 Bibliography 15 Bullying behavior among children in Australian school Introduction Bullying is an act of violence by one individual or a group of individuals towards each other, or towards their counterparts. This often occurs due to an imbalance in power that one uses to harm the other either physically or mentally. Those who do the act of bullying usually exist and move in their own small groups and they choose to bully those individuals or groups which they identify as vulnerable. The vulnerability of the groups or the individuals is judged by the size of their physique, the age, and the social status. Those with a bigger physique bully those of small physique, the older bully the younger and those from higher social status bully those form the lower social status, and so on. Bullying is an intentional act that is done to please personal desires for example to acquire money or just to intimidate the other party in efforts to prove one’s high social status (Smith, 2000). Mind Plan School bullying Bullying takes place in all areas in the school. It can happen in the classrooms, during the physical education lessons, along the hallways and in the school buses. These are in areas where there is group work or there is no serious and supervised leaning. The bullies in schools usually win the loyalty of the bystanders who stay watching their activities to avoid being the next victims. However, the students may not find it a vice as does the adults since students rejoice and enjoy in it. These students do not even see the reason for stopping the act in the schools. In some states such as America, the parents of the victims may sue the teachers or the school due to their failure to man bullying in the schools. Recent studies have shown high rates of bullying in the schools and negative impacts of the behaviour among the adolescent children. The act is on increase among the schools worldwide regardless of the efforts by the school managements to stop the behaviour. Victims of bullying have been found to suffer from various problems such as anxiety, a feeling of insecurity, mental disturbances, low self esteem, bed wetting and always having a feeling of sadness. This is because they live in a threatening environment where their freedom is restricted by the bullies. These victims have high incidences of school absenteeism where they have to give lies that will keep them away from the presence of the bullies. Bullying has been identified among the school children especially in Australia. This is high in the elementary schools, middle level schools and in the high schools. Bullying in schools can take many forms including insulting comments and bad names, social exclusion and physical bulling that includes kicking. Other form of bullying includes statements of lying and false gossips, having property damaged during bullying, racial and sexual bullying (Nansel et al., 2001). Sexual bullying can also occur in girls since they are prone to gossips about other’s sexual behaviours. All theses forms of bullying have been experienced and identified in learning institutions. The most common form of bullying that has been identified among the Australian schools is verbal bullying for example calling of bad names and teasing. The victims of bullying are in most cases not helped by heir friend since the bullies are mostly feared by the majority of the students in the whole school. Research in the Australian schools estimated weekly bullying cases in Australia as about one out of every six children during a year’s time Riley, Duncan, & Edward, 2009). It has however been found to decrease with increase in age with more boys getting involved in it than the girls in any given school. Boys however are mostly involved in bullying that involves physical violence while girls are highly involved in bullying that involves isolation (Olweus, 2002). However, the problem behavior theory explains that the act of bullying may be one out of a collection of problematic behavior in an individual. Students who engage in bullying while in schools may end up involving themselves in several other bad behaviours such as excessive drinking of alcohol and other forms of drug abuse (Nansel, 2003). However, some members of the bully groups in schools are cowards and cannot bully when left alone. They therefore take advantage of the bully groups to achieve recognition and exercise powers over the vulnerable others. Why students bully Research that has been done on bullying in the schools in Australia has revealed three inter linked reasons as to why the students bully. Students who engage in bullying mostly have strong desire for power and supremacy. However, this is negative supremacy where the student wants to be in a position that he or she can harass the rest. Another reason was found to be bullying in order to get satisfaction through causing injury and pain to the rest. Some student will rejoice when they see their school mates in suffering. The other reason was found to material and psychological rewards that the bullies get as a result of their behavior. These are like bullies for hire where the weaker students request the strong ones to bully a certain student on their behalf. It is a common behavior in school and most students who are involved in it rejoice in being associated with the act (Cunningham et al., 2000). Students who bully others often come from family backgrounds where they do not receive warmth and concentration from their parents, and also where the parents are excessively permissive. The parents of bullying students also do not offer supervision to their children, are also harsh to them or are also bullies. Children from such backgrounds have no role models and where they lack warmth, they grow on their own and are likely to adopt an aggressive lifestyle where they do not see a big issue in causing suffering to their peers. Such children are also frustrated and will always feel good while disturbing peace of the others. Impacts of bullying in schools in Australia Most of the students who bully are in most cases not aware whether the act is wrong. They are never aware of the affects that their act can have on the victims and that’s why most of them rejoice in doing it. Some bullying behaviour can cause death or make the bullies to be defined as serial killers. A study done in Australia revealed a case of a girl who had suffered in the hands of bullies for a period of here years. She could be called bad names, have her belongings vandalized and her clothes soiled. Her peers and the bullies however, expected her to take the issue lightly but she ended up committing suicide. This cat is called bullycide. This was a serious impact of bullying that led to her parents suing the school. Bullying makes the victims to always feel tensed, anxious and worried in the presence of the bullies. The concentration of the victims in class is reduced and in most cases they look for reasons that will make them remain absent for the school. The victim can’t play well or have fun with the peers in the school due to theses worries and anxiety. When it is done one person for a long time, the self esteem of the victim goes down and one is left with no confidence in all areas (Wyler, 2004). In its extreme cases, bullying can be distressing for the teenagers and have life time consequences. The bullied feel obliged to take adverse actions such as walking with weapons for self defense or engaging in violence for revenge. The bully victims grow with the bad experience throughout their lives and their self esteem therefore remain low always. How to stop bullying in schools Stopping bullying in schools is a responsibility of both the parent and the school. As a parent, it is very important to state clearly to the child that you are not ready to cope up with him or her bullying behaviour. This will discourage the child from engaging him/her with the act. The parents should also develop rules at home that will guide the child’s behaviour. The rules should be reinforced peacefully and involving clear and adequate explanation but not associated with acts of violence. The parents should spare time to be spent with the children so as to be able to monitor their behaviour as well as getting to know the things that the children do during their free time. As seen earlier, most students involve themselves in bullying so as to cause pain to their peers as a revenge for denial of attention by their parents. When such students receive the maximum warmth and attention, they will not feel the urge to disturb the peace of others. The parents should also involve themselves towards building the talents of their children and encouraging them to participate in extra curricular activities such as drama, music and sports. Where the case is beyond the parents’ ability, a counselor or a psychiatric can be consulted. On the other hand, set a social environment that does not promote physical violence and bullying. The teachers should encourage group work and leadership responsibilities where the students do what they are advised to. The school should instill the attitude that bullying is unacceptable in the environment and the children will therefore grow with the attitude. It is also important for the school management to make it clear to the students that the school allows zero tolerance to bullying behaviour (Findley, 2006). When tight measures are taken in the school, the parents will feel challenged and will have no choice but to take the same for the children. In Australia, some schools have adopted anti-bullying policies aimed at curbing the habit among the students. The school should be a safe place for every student and the teachers must also prove the same to the parent of those students. Also for the sake of higher academic performance of the schools, indiscipline behaviours such as bullying must be stopped. This should be a long term undertaking where every year the statement of the policy is read to the students. Anti bullying policies in Schools in Australia students are the key players and determinants of the success of the anti bullying campaigns and policies in the schools. This is because they are the fist ones to identify the bullies even before the parents and the teachers. Students always require fairness when it comes to punishments and rewards. Therefore, they encourage the anti bulling policies to ensure that they are all of them treated equally and with respect by their fellow students. The first anti bullying program among the Australian schools was launched in the year 2008 at Camdem Public School and later adopted in Cobbity Public School. The program was launched with the assistance of Camdem council and Camdem lions. In the process of launching the program in other schools, a DVD that features Tiger players is watched where the players are saying anti bullying phrases aimed at instilling the attitude amongst the students in the primary schools. During each launch, every student is given a pencil, a poster, a bookmark and a sticker bearing the logo of the program which is “Its Not Cool To Be Cruel”. These are the things that the student uses every time in class. The exposure of the student to the logo keeps constantly reminding him or her of the responsibility of avoiding violence and consequently bullying. This helps promote positive attitude of the students. These items are supplied all year round and therefore serve as a reminder for the whole year. Every student in Australia where the program has been launched usually has an all year access to the materials. This program therefore brings forth students a society of students and young children who believe that it is wrong to bully. This program has therefore reduced the rates of bullying in Australian schools significantly. Students also shout the logo to their peers when they see them bullying. This puts off the bully since they know that their school is not for bullying as well as his or her friends and peers. The program is however targeted for the primary schools since the students are younger and are able to take up the logo and grow with it. They will therefore grow knowing that bullying is bad and will end up as responsible adults. The school environment also becomes favourable since no one is anxious or worries due to fear of being bullied (McGrath, & Toni, 2006). Conclusion With the many negative results of bullying, it is very important to completely wipe out the habit among the schools. This can be done by involving the parents, the teachers and the children themselves. However, if this habit is left to grow, it is usually passed on downwards along the peers and this ensures the continuity of the program to in the school. It is a habit that causes decline in academic performance as well as other risky things such as death or depression. The teachers should also be active in their efforts to identify the bullies and deal with them severely. When this is achieved in the primary schools, students will move with that attitude and the performance of the schools also go up. Investigation into the issue should continue among the schools since sometimes the teachers are aware of it but do not take any action. Annotated Bibliography Findley, I., (2006). Shared Responsibility: Beating Bullying in Australian Schools. Austria: Aust Council for Ed Research. In this book, the Author, Ian Findley talks on the importance of anti bullying policies in schools that should be made clear to both the parents and the students. Theses will help in instilling discipline from home to the school. These policies should also state that the school environment offers zero tolerance to bullying so that the new parents and their children can be aware of it. Riley, D. & Duncan, D. (2009). Investigation of Staff Bullying in Australian Schools. Sydney: Dan Riley (UNE), Deirdre J. Duncan (ACU), John Edwards. This is a report that was done in Australian schools aimed at investigating the staff as a result of increased cases of bullying among the Australian schools. This found out that one out of six students suffer in the hands of bullies all year round and that in most cases the teachers are not aware of it. The student therefore suffers in silence. Cunningham, B., (2000). Patterns and correlates of gun ownership among nonmetropolitan and rural middle school students. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 29, 432-442. In this Journal, Cunningham et al. sates that the children who bully go to an extent of carrying fidgeting things just to scare their peers and win their respect. Once their peers get frightened, they are easy to bully. Olweus, D. (2002,). Bullying among children and youth. Keynote address presented at the National Technical Assistance Meeting, Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program, U. S. Department of Education: Washington, DC. Olweus in this book explains that while there exist many forms of bullying raging form verbal bullying that involve calling of names, and isolation to isolation by the peers, boys are more involved in physical violence while girls outnumber them in bullying by isolation of the victim. Nansel, R., (2002). Educational Forum on Adolescent Health Youth Bullying Proceedings. Journal of the American Medical Association, 285, 2094-2100. In this journal, the authors explain that sexual bullying can also be inform of gossips about one’s sexual behaviour where girls are the ones mostly involved in the gossip. Unlike boys, most verbal bullying happens in boys. Nansel, T. & R., Overpeck, M. D (2003). Relationships between bullying and violence among US youth. Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine, 157, 348-353. In this journal, the authors explain that students who get bullied at school can have many negative life behaviours even after school. These include stealing, possession of weapons, taking alcohol and drug abuse. The authors vividly explain the kind of situation the affected student goes through. Espelage, D., & Bosworth, K., (2000). Position Paper on Bullying in the Schools. Journal of Counseling and Development, 78, 326-333. In this article, the author explains that most students who bully in schools come from family background that does not offer social support for the children. They are denied of warmth and attention form their parents and always feel like disturbing those who have piece. McGrath, H., & Toni, N., (2005). Bullying solutions: evidence-based approaches to bullying in Australian schools. Boston: Pearson Education. The author of this book gives solutions on how to stop bullying in schools. He states that a good relationship between the parent and the child can encourage the child to drop the habit since the parent will offer guidance. The author also says that stopping bullying is a responsibility of both the teachers, the school at large and the parent. He also explains that various programs can be adopted that may help in curbing the habit in schools. Wyler, P., (2004). The impact of bullying in schools and methods to prevent bullying behaviors: a workshop for parents. Ohio: Muskingum College. The author of this book explains the negative impacts of bullying in schools. He states that efforts are needed in prevention of bullying since it can affect the whole life of the bullied student. The bullied student will grow with fear all his/her life and this will affect his/her adult life. Smith, P., (2000). The nature of school bullying: a cross-national perspective. Boston: Routledge. Smith in this article defines bullying as an intentional act where the bully has the aim of winning respect and satisfying him/herself. He says that the victims of bullying are the smaller in physique, the younger ones and those from lower social status. The author also explained that the behaviour is very common in schools of all levels form elementary to high schools. Bibliography Findley, I., (2006). Shared Responsibility: Beating Bullying in Australian Schools. Austria: Austria Council for Ed Research. Riley, D., Duncan, D., & Edward, J., (2009).Investigation of Staff Bullying in Australian Schools. Sydney: Dan Riley (UNE), Deirdre J. Duncan (ACU), John Edwards. Cunningham, B., Henggeler, W., Limber, P., Melton, B., and Nation, M. A. (2000). Patterns and correlates of gun ownership among nonmetropolitan and rural middle school students. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 29, 432-442. Olweus, D. (2002,). Bullying among children and youth. Keynote address presented at the National Technical Assistance Meeting, Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program, U. S. Department of Education: Washington, DC. Nansel, R., Overpeck, M., (2001). Bullying Behaviors among US Youth: Prevalence and Association with Psychosocial Adjustment. Journal of the American Medical Association, 285, 2094-2100. Nansel, T. & R., Overpeck, M. D., C. (2003). Relationships between bullying and violence among US youth. Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine, 157, 348-353. Espelage, D., Bosworth, K., & Simon, T. (2005). Position Paper on Bullying in the Schools. Journal of Counseling and Development, 78, 326-333. McGrath, H., & Toni, N., (2006). Bullying solutions: evidence-based approaches to bullying in Australian schools. Boston: Pearson Education. Wyler, P., (2004). The impact of bullying in schools and methods to prevent bullying behaviors: a workshop for parents. Ohio: Muskingum College. Smith, P., (2000). The nature of school bullying: a cross-national perspective. Boston: Routledge. Read More

 It has however been found to decrease with an increase in age with more boys getting involved in it than the girls in any given school. Boys however are mostly involved in bullying that involves physical violence while girls are highly involved in bullying that involves isolation (Olweus, 2002). However, the problem behavior theory explains that the act of bullying maybe one out of a collection of problematic behavior in an individual. Students who engage in bullying while in schools may end up involving themselves in several other bad behaviors such as excessive drinking of alcohol and other forms of drug abuse (Nansel, 2003). However, some members of the bully groups in schools are cowards and cannot bully when left alone. They, therefore, take advantage of the bully groups to achieve recognition and exercise powers over the vulnerable others.

 Research that has been done on bullying in the schools in Australia has revealed three inter-linked reasons as to why the students bully. Students who engage in bullying mostly have a strong desire for power and supremacy. However, this is negative supremacy where the student wants to be in a position that he or she can harass the rest. Another reason was found to be bullying to get satisfaction through causing injury and pain to the rest. Some students will rejoice when they see their schoolmates suffering. The other reason was found to material and psychological rewards that the bullies get as a result of their behavior. These are like bullies for hire where the weaker students request the strong ones to bully a certain student on their behalf. It is a common behavior in school and most students who are involved in it rejoice in being associated with the act (Cunningham et al., 2000).

Students who bully others often come from family backgrounds where they do not receive warmth and concentration from their parents, and also where the parents are excessively permissive. The parents of bullying students also do not offer supervision to their children, are also harsh to them, or are also bullies. Children from such backgrounds have no role models and where they lack warmth, they grow on their own and are likely to adopt an aggressive lifestyle where they do not see a big issue in causing suffering to their peers. Such children are also frustrated and will always feel good while disturbing the peace of the others.

Most of the students who bully are in most cases not aware of whether the act is wrong. They are never aware of the effects that their actions can have on the victims and that’s why most of them rejoice in doing it. Some bullying behavior can cause death or make the bullies be defined as serial killers. A study done in Australia revealed a case of a girl who had suffered at the hands of bullies for a period of here years. She could be called bad names, have her belongings vandalized and her clothes soiled.

Her peers and the bullies, however, expected her to take the issue lightly but she ended up committing suicide. This cat is called bullycide. This was a serious impact of bullying that led to her parents suing the school. Bullying makes the victims always feel tense, anxious, and worried in the presence of the bullies. The concentration of the victims in class is reduced and in most cases, they look for reasons that will make them remain absent from the school. The victim can’t play well or have fun with the peers in the school due to these worries and anxiety. When it is done by one person for a long time, the self-esteem of the victim goes down and one is left with no confidence in all areas (Wyler, 2004).

            In its extreme cases, bullying can be distressing for teenagers and have lifetime consequences. The bullied feel obliged to take adverse actions such as walking with weapons for self-defense or engaging in violence for revenge. The bully-victims grow with the bad experience throughout their lives and their self-esteem, therefore, remain low always.

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