Does Bullying Become Hard to Prevent?
By Hafso Salad
Sixty percent of students in middle school reported that they have been bullied, but did not say how they were bullied. With the expansion of technology, there is now a different type of bullying that should be considered, which is called cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is even more concerning now that teens carry devices with them, unlike traditional bullying where children get bullied usually in outside of school grounds or some cases in school. For cyberbullying, the behavior continues in most cases. According to Sticca and Perren (2013), cyberbullying is considered worst because of an increased potential for a large audience, an increased potential for anonymous bullying, lower levels of direct feedback, decreased time and space limits, and lower levels of supervision. There are four types of bullying and none of them are OK.
As someone who has family members that experienced bullying in a various spectrum, it’s important to consider the ways to reduce or change the harsh behavior. Now the question is, how can adults step up to help and what factors should be looked at. This is not just an issue for children/teens, but an adult issue as well and they should take an active role in solving this problem. Here we will look at the school policies, statistics, the role of the adults, and the psychological damages.
What Parents Need to Know
Zero tolerance in bullying does not reduce the behavior; many teenagers go to juvenile detention for petty crimes but still re-offend and go back to detention. Now you might ask why does this matter? It matters because when schools implement the zero-tolerance policy on bullying thinking it’s the solution, in reality they are punishing the children without any actual solution. Most schools have anti-bullying policies and they vary how they implement them, but one thing they have in common is that they are all focused on positive consequences which in some cases are ineffective. In a study conducted in Australia by Chalmers (2016), it was found that the way they define bullying and cyberbullying can make a difference on whether these policies are effective.
To understand this problem more in depth we have to look at statistics. According to Palm Beach County, approximately 160,000 students skip school to stay home every day in United States because of bullying. Thirty percent of students who have been bullied said that they brought some type of weapon to school. Twenty percent of all children experience bullying. Some of them have suicide thoughts and those children who have been bullied are more likely to become bullies themselves. When my niece was in 7th grade, she would skip school due to some students who made fun of her because of her height and that made her become less interested in school.
Another issue is that adults are notified in only one of three bullying situation and schools who have programs have much less bullying situation compared to those without any programs. Creating anti-bullying programs and notifying parents are some of the solutions that can be implemented to reduce the number of the students who get bullied. Adults should always take action when it comes to cyberbullying by perhaps limiting the amount of time children spend on the internet because it can be undetected. In the case of my niece, her mother had no idea since she worked all the time and thought she was feeling physically sick. The school did not notify her, even though they knew the problem.
Psychological damage that can come from bullying can be overwhelming for young children. They can experience low self-esteem, depression, and suicidal thoughts. It is common to assume that bullies have low self-esteem and that is why they bully other children. According to Psychology Today by Lamia (2012) research has proven otherwise, showing that they have higher self-esteem but they are very “shame prone,” which means that they are afraid of their own shortcomings and failures becoming exposed. If necessary, you can always go see a family counsellor together or child psychologist to help your child.
How Can You Help
In conclusion, it’s becoming difficult to prevent bullying, but it takes an entire community to stop bullying and when schools and parents come together so solve the issue they have a better chance of helping children. For parents, make sure you are aware of your child’s internet exposure, school policies and statistics. For schools, they should implement policies that can prevent bullying and avoid punishing children. Everyone is counting on you to take a stand against bullying of any kind.
References
Sticca, Fabio, and Perren, Sonja. Is Cyberbullying Worse Than Traditional Bullying? Examining the Differential Roles of Medium, Publicity, and Anonymity for the Perceived Severity of Bullying. Journal of Youth and Adolescence (2013): 739–750. Web.
Lamia, C, Mary. Do bullies really have low self-esteem? Psychology Today (2013).
Chalmers, Caitlin et al. School Policies on Bullying and Cyberbullying: Perspectives Across Three Australian States. Educational Research 58.1 (2016): 91–109. Web.
Welcome to the Stop Bullying Now Foundation, Palm Beach County (2017).