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Elizabeth Rojas
Professor Saul
English 1010
1 August 2012

Annotated Bibliography

Bullying has become a huge issue that parents, students, teachers and society should all
be concerned about. If we do not do anything about this abusive, it could cause students life, ruin
their self-esteem and interfere with their studies. It is important that we find a solution that will
end bullying so us parents can feel confident of their children in schools and make better people
of these students that will benefit them in the future. One issue that stood out the most is how
bullying is caused, and how highly it affects their schoolwork and their life. So what can we do
to stop bullying?

Gold. Claudia Meininger. How We can End the Cycle of Bullying. Boston Globe
(Boston, MA) 14 Sep 2009: A. 11. SIRS Issues Researchers. Web 17 July 2012.

In How Can We End the Cycle of Bullying by Claudia M. Gold, she talks about
bullying starting at a young age and it continues into adulthood. She feels we should take action
to stopping the behavior now to prevent these bullies to becoming criminals an prevent the risk
mental issues. Gold defines the word bullying being a symptom that are not able to manage their
aggression and that it starts at an early age. She says Toddlers who are just learning to control
their healthy aggression feelings may grow up in environments where the adults in their lives are
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not able to help them with this task. Because children are not taught this strategy, as they grow
older it is harder for them to control anger and show their negative feelings in actions. According
to Gold, Those in abusive homes have been hurt by the very person who was suppose to protect
them, they may as means coping and identify with the abuser and imitate the behavior as a way
of being close. At the end, Gold states her solution, which is the implementation of a primary
care system that will nurture young parents that will give hope to children to break the cycle of
bullying. As she says, Without meaningful health care reform that places value on primary care
and mental health, the bullies will prevail.

Claudia M. Gold is a pediatrician so far as she knows a lot about children and what she is
talking about in the article the solutions and information she is providing to stop bullying.
Because her solution includes nurturing parents to break the cycle of bullying, she seems to be
going toward parents that would be in this situation. When she talks about how the victim and
the bully were both of her patience, she gives examples of how the bully became because of bad
treatment at home. The author wants us to notice that bullying can be prevented from the start of
early childhood at home.

This is a very important source because it states the importance that parents play in
providing good parenting skills that will result good behavior and could teach their children to
control their aggression. It relates to my other sources because it shows children are not to blame
for becoming bullies, just as the other sources state. The article includes how important it is to
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prevent bullying from a young age to avoid treatment later on in their adult hood. This shows us
that bullying is a serious issue that needs to stop.

Dalton, Rick, and Virginia Wilkins. The Way to Really Stop School Bullying: Student
Mentors. Christian Science Monitor, 28 Oct 2011: n.p SiRS Issues Researcher Web. 17
Jul 2012

The Way to Really Stop Bullying: Student Mentor is an article by Rick Dalton and
Virginia Wilkins about the solutions of stopping bullying by having student mentors in schools.
The authors go over the consequences of bullying and how it affects students. Dalton and
Wilkins state, Bullying affects attendance, grades and graduation. Thousands of students miss
school everyday for the fear of being bullied and Ten percent of students who drop out do so
because of repeated bullying according to Dalton and Wilkins, and they also point out that
students being bullied off school grounds. The growing use of cell phones, Facebook, and other
social media has taken bullying beyond the playground so that its hard to escape it, says by
Dalton and Wilkins. They also discuss that Grades seven to twelve have been bullied online
but do not tell their parents or teachers. The solution they offer is a student-mentoring program
that will create positive peer pressures, teach civility and build confidence. They argue, Peer
mentoring programs can replace the culture of bullying with a culture of caring.

The authors in this article Rick Dalton and Virginia Wilkins made it very informative by
using statistics and good examples. Dalton is the president of CEO and Wilkins is a mentor at
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College for Every Student. The article is directed toward teachers and schools that would be
looking for solutions to stop bullying. The authors give examples by telling the story of a bully
who recovered with student mentoring in the beginning of the article. With this example it gives
readers the idea that student mentoring really works. The purpose of their writing shows that they
want to inform students and parents that their solution really works on decreasing bullying.
This source was one of my favorites because it explains a great solution to the problem of
bullying it definitely answered my question of how to stop this issue and I think all schools
should follow this program. This article does relate to the other resources because it includes the
consequences of bullying and how it affects students.

Kersten, Katherine. Bullying Is a Symptom of Moral Decline. Star Tribune. 06 Nov
2011: OP. 3. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web 17 Jul 2012

In the article, Bullying Is a Symptom of Moral Decline by Katherine Kersten, she
argues the ones to blame for school bullies which are parents and schools that seem to not be
playing their part in students behavior issues. Kersten goes over the fact that cellphones and
Facebook give kids 24/7-cyber megaphone for intimidating their classmates. She points out
that parents are the ones to blame for their behavior because parents just want their kids to be
happy, and according to Kersten, this is thin gruel, and no substitute for passing down a strongle
woven, comprehensive moral framework for a life well lived. She says that schools are also to
blame because they are not teaching behavior techniques as they should and not teaching right
from wrong and have replace it with lingo of self esteem and squishy multiculturalism. Her
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solution to bullying is the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act that prevents suicide and creating a
safe space by also enhancing self esteem and preventing school missing.

Katherine Kersten is a senior fellow at the center of the American Experiment, because of
her lack of education on this issue, its hard to make her believable in her work. She seemed to
have written this article for politicians since she highly argues that parents and schools are to
blame for the cause of bullying and since they are not doing their part, the government should
take the role. However the article doesnt include any statistics that support her solution.

This source was one of my weakest for the lack of back up and statistics. However it got
me thinking of how the government could and should get involved in the issue of bullying and
help find a solution. But even then, this article did not relate much with my other sources
because the other relies on the government to solve the problem of bullying instead of leaning in
with parents and schools.

Kuther, Tara L. Understanding Bullying. Our Children. Oct. 2003: 12-13. SIRS Issues

Researcher. Web 17 Jul 2012.

In the article Understanding Bullying by Tara L. Kuther, she argues the definition of
bullying as to why it happens and what it does. She discusses that students often bully to feel
powerful and strong. Kuther states The bully enjoys the victims reaction and the bullying
continues and escalates. She also goes over how parents are sometimes not able to sense that
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their children are bullies or victims, because bullying occurs out of parents sight as she puts it.
When she talks about the consequences of being victims of bullying according to Kuther,
Victims of bullying suffer psychological and sometimes physical scars that last a lifetime. But
she also argues that the victims arent the ones who suffer, Bullies fail to learn how to cope,
manage, their emotions and communicate effectively she says. At the end she gives examples
on how to stop bullying by giving solutions. She talks about school wide programs that will
involve teachers, students, parents and community members that will seek to change in schools
culture to emphasize respect and eliminate bullying says Kuther.

The author Tara L. Kuther has a Ph.D. in psychology, which would make her believable
as she gives the definition of bullying and solutions. I highly agree that the author was aiming
parents in this article because she discusses how sometimes parents cannot identify if their
children are bullies or victims and this would be great information for parents. She seems to be to
be very concerned about the consequences of bullies and their behavior, as she also wants society
to know of this issue. However Kuther doesnt provide any statistics that would back up her
solutions.

This article was a very important source because I was not aware that parents could not
identify if their children was a bully or not. Which also tells us that children need to be more
taken care of by their parents. As with my other sources, this article is similar because it provides
solutions that involved the three main people, which are student, parent and teacher.

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Dubin. Nick. Asperger Synderome and Bullying: Strategies and Solution. London:
Kingsley, Jessica. June 2006. Print.

In the book chapter, Asperger Syndrome and Bullying: Strategies and Solution Chapter
Eight: Empowering Schools, by Nick Dubin, he goes over the different types of solution that
schools can practice. He mentions one example of also involving students parents as well by
sending letters home of what will be done in the schools to prevent bullying. Dubin states I
would recommend schools adopting a Bully Free Declaration which is a contract students
would have to agree to. He argues that having different rules in schools confuses students and
that the administration should design a whole school approach to set the same policy that would
work for all students and teachers. If this does not follow, As a result, students would suffer
from lack of consistency and continuity if every student is given different rules for preventing
bullying according to Dubin. He also mentions school wide meetings as well as assemblies.
Dubin says Not only will it be an excellent activity for students, it will allow them to voice their
input in tackling this problem. He summarizes the importance of the recognition of bullying
being out in the open, as he says, It is important for educators to recognize that bullying is a
problem at their schools in order to make a change.

The author of this book chapter, Nick Dubin was a victim of being bullied himself.
Because he has the experience of being a victim, he is very believable to his readers of the
solutions and examples he provides. I honestly think that his audience was going towards victims
that have either experienced bullying or seen bullying happening around them. And because he
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himself has been a target to bullying, his purpose seems to be to inform other victims, parents of
victims on how bullying is a experience no one should go through.

This source is very important to my research because it includes an author who has
experienced being bullied and he definitely knows what he is talking about. It answered my
question as to how much schools can get involved in decreasing bullying in their community. His
solutions also relate to my other resources that include having programs for students at their
schools that will make them more confident in handling being bullied.

In my research, I learned variety of things of bullying; the reasons for it, how it usually
starts, when it occurs and the affects it gives for the both the bully and the victim. Bullying in
fact is an issue that until today, all parents and schools should be concerned about and there is
great solutions out there that schools should practice and consider doing to protect their students
as well as for parents to be more involved to help prevent this issue. I learned that bullies are not
to blame for their actions but they can definitely change their behavior.







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Works Cited

Dalton, Rick, and Virginia Wilkins. The Way to Really Stop School Bullying: Student
Mentors. Christian Science Monitor, 28 Oct 2011: n.p SiRS Issues Researcher Web. 17
Jul 2012
Dubin. Nick. Asperger Synderome and Bullying: Strategies and Solution. London:

Kingsley, Jessica. June 2006. Print

Gold. Claudia Meininger. How We can End the Cycle of Bullying. Boston Globe
(Boston, MA) 14 Sep 2009: A. 11. SIRS Issues Researchers. Web 17 July 2012.

Kersten, Katherine. Bullying Is a Symptom of Moral Decline. Star Tribune. 06 Nov
2011: OP. 3. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web 17 Jul 2012

Kuther, Tara L. Understanding Bullying. Our Children. Oct. 2003: 12-13. SIRS Issues

Researcher. Web 17 Jul 2012










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Synthesis of Sources

In the article Understanding Bullying by Tara L. Kuther she argues that bullying is not
a healthy behavior and that it needs to be treated when young to avoid later in life trouble.
Kuther states, [...] they develop into adult bullies who are more likely to experience criminal
trouble, abusive toward spouses. She also gives examples of bullies not being able to manage
their communication skills that will lead to adult hood if bulling is not cured. Kuther says,
Without intervention, bullies suffer stunted emotional growth, [] they dont learn how to have
genuine relationships with other people. Claudia M. Gold agrees with this argument in her article
How We Can End the Cycle or Bullying she mentions that bullying, If not addressed, may
continue into adulthood. And that it as well can result consequences as [] violent criminal
behavior says Gold. She herself gives examples with a study from the Archives of General
Psychiatry, of 5,000 children in Finland found that both bullies and their victims were at
increased risk of needing psychiatric treatment in their teens or 20s. Nick Dubin in his book
chapter Asperger Syndrome: Strategies and Symptons also agrees with outcome. He says
Research tells us that bullies are six times more likely to be convicted of a crime by the time
they reach the age of twenty four [].

As for solving the issues of bullying, Katherine Kersten in her article Bullying is a
Symptom of Moral Decline she suggests that government should get involved since schools and
parents are not doing their part. She says Anti-Bullying of Rights Act is the solution. It will be
preventing suicide, creating safe space, enhancing self esteem and preventing school missing.
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However, Dalton and Wilkins in their article The Way to Really Stop Bullying: Student
Mentors disagree and suggest that the best solution would be to have the school take care of the
case with student mentors for students. They state schools that have these types of programs see
improvement such as sharp decreases in bullying incidents but also gains in grades and
attendance. In Asperger Syndrome and Bullying: Strategies and Solutions by Nick Dubin, he
also agrees with student mentoring. He mentions in her book chapter, Not only can the mentor
help the protg understand why bullying is wrong, but the mentor could personally share []
he or she suffered as a result of his or hers constructive behavior. And even with school getting
involved would show an improvement Claudia M. Gold she as well disagrees in her argument in
the article How Can We End the Cycle of Bullying, she believes that preventing bullying
should start when kids are toddlers and parents clearly have the responsibility to teach their
child that such a behavior is unacceptable. She also gives an example when giving a policy of
the American Academy and Pediatrics, Prevention advocates support of early parenting skills
and appropriate referral for mental services.

In the article How We Can End the Cycle of Bullying, Claudia M. Gold argues that
children become bullies because of the way they are raised by their parents. She mentions,
Those in abusive homes have been hurt by the very person who was supposed to protect them
[], they identify with the abuser and imitate the behavior as a way of being close. She gives
an example when she talks about a mother experiencing a violent past and so she misunderstands
her childs behavior and teaches her child that those feelings are bad. As she says, If a child
gets the idea that his feelings are wrong [] they just become disconnected from the childs
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sense of himself [] and he may simply act them out. Katherine Kersten in her article
Bullying is a symptom of moral decline she agrees that parents have a lot to do with children
becoming bullies. But also argues that society has a lot to do with it as well. Today our children
learn many lessons on how to treat fellow beings from TV shows, movies, the Internet and video
games says Kersten. In Understanding Bullying by Tara L. Kuther she also disagrees the
cause believing kids just bully for being a bully. Bullies hurt others in order to feel strong and
powerful at a given moment she says. Nick Dubin in Asperger Syndrome and Bullying:
Strategies and Solutions he as well agrees that media has a lot to do with bullying as for
violence on reality shows and video games. He says [] We have a culture of children who are
so desensitized to violence and bullying [].

So what happens to the victims of bullies? In The Way to Really Stop School Bullying:
Student Mentors: by Rick Dalton and Virginia Wilkins they talk about the consequences of
victims who have been tortured by being bullied. As they state examples that bullying affects
school attendance, failure of graduation and drop out of 10% of students, the authors agree its
At no surprise. The authors give statistics as well, suicides by teens who were bullied []
4,400 students every year. Tara L. Kuther in her article Understanding Bullying she agrees
with this argument. Kuther mentions, Victims of bulling suffer psychological and sometimes
physical scars that last a lifetime. She backs up her argument by saying that victims also lead
to depression, anxiety and even suicide Nick Dubin also agrees that victims are immensely
affected, in his book chapter Empower Victims he says that victims feel powerless since
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they have little control of their lives. Dubin states Children who are bullied [] are prisoners of
their surroundings with no escape in sight.




















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Blog

While deciding what topic to choose for my final project, I wanted to search for a topic
was most people didnt consider. When people think about bullying, many dont take it serious.
They look at it as it being funny, a joke, and a normal play that occurs in children. One thing
they dont think about is how serious bullying can be. The effects and consequences it carries
with time. I always knew bullying was not a nice thing to do and that it could hurt others
feelings, but I never knew that schools were now taking action or are now being asked to do so.
Nor did I know about how the reasons why children bullied others. I always thought it was just
kids being mean. I learned a lot about this topic and Im glad I chose it.
When searching for articles that I could use for my final project, I found one that really
interested me. In the article The Way to Really Stop Bullying: Student Mentors by Rick Dalton
and Virginia Wilkins, they talk about the best solution to the problem of bullying; student
mentoring. They mention exactly what student mentoring is. The authors also give examples as
well with a student named Tiara who recovered from bullying with this strategy and also saw
decreases in bullying at her school as well as gains in grades and attendance. The authors
also mention the serious consequences that bullying brings for students in their education,
Bullying affects attendance, grades and graduation. The thing that really interested me about
the article was the example they gave with the student that catches us readers attention to student
mentoring really working. I think all schools should have these student mentors because we
really need to end a stop to this serious issue. In my opinion it is the best solution out there.
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What I learned was that bullies could definitely change with student mentors. And bullying
doesnt have to be booming around in schools when schools themselves can take action to
controlling and eliminating bullies.
Another great source that I was able to find as to giving me great answers to ending
bulling was How We Can End the Cycle of Bullying by Claudia M. Gold who mentioned that
the best solution was parents getting involved from the very start to help prevent bullying. Gold
talks about how Bullying is a symptom and how people have trouble controlling their
aggression and it starting at a young age, which is why it should be treated when young. What I
really liked about this article is how Gold discusses that parents clearly have the responsibility
to teach their children that such behavior is unacceptable. She also gives a great example when
stating that children who grow up in abusive homes, imitate the behavior that they are shown by
parents who dont [...] protect them so they misinterpret that behavior by becoming bullies.
The solution Gold gives is to Nurture parents that would break the cycle of bullying from
generation to generation. I think the parents role is very important in the lifes of children as
well as giving good examples to them. So this solution as to nurturing parents should be the first
step to ending bullying! What I learned from this article was how important was for parents to
give the appropriate parenting skills and showing care and love for their children to prevent
giving the wrong message that will result bullying.

One article that really got me thinking outside the box was by Katherine Kersten in
Bullying is a Symptom of Moral Decline because she actually suggests the government should
be involved in the process of ending bullying. In her article, she talks about how bullying has
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always been a problem yet it has never been address correctly and neither parents nor schools
have done much to end bullying. She also blames the media, Today, our children learn many
lessons about how to treat fellow human beings from TV, movies, music, the Internet, and video
games. Which makes sense because children are easy targets to these sources. Her solution is an
example in New Jersey, a law Anti-Bullying of Rights Act [that] prevents suicide, creating safe
space, enhancing self-esteem and prevent school missing. Getting the government involved is a
great idea yet I dont know if it would be as easy to have them actually do something about it.
What I learned in this article was how the government could and should also get involved in
these types of situation. If the government got involved, maybe parents and schools would take
bullying more serious.

After learning of all the solutions, definitions and background of bullying, one article that
also stood out for me was from Tara L. Kuther in Understanding Bullying because she talks
about how some parents do not know if their children are victims from bullying or they
themselves are bullying other children, which in my opinion I think is really sad. However I
could totally agree as well because I know that children are very smart and sneaky, she says,
Its very difficult for most parents to determined whether their children engage in bulling
behaviors because most bullying occurs out of parents sight. She also states the consequences of
both bullies and victims and how they could affect the children that could last a lifetime. Her
solution I totally agree with which is to have school programs to help the prevention of bullying
since children do spend most of their days at school. What I learned form this article was the two
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different types of victims; passive victims and reactive victims. Its interesting how victims can
react different others

My only source that included endless solutions was my book chapter from Nick Dubins
in Asperger Syndrome and Bullying: Strategies and Solutions. Dubins goes over the different
solutions he thinks would work best. One for example is a Bully Free Declaration contract that
would be send to parents for children to agree to not bully, not tease, and treat everyone with
respect according to Dubin. I like how he showed an example letter in his book chapter so we
the readers can see how effective it just might be. He also states how the school would use the
declaration, The Bully Free Declaration should be posted all over the school: classrooms,
hallways, lunchrooms, gym, the principals office and bathrooms with this strategy, it shows
how serious it would be for students and the good possibilities it could work! What I learned in
this book chapter is that there is so many ways schools could stop bullying by using strategies
like this.

After doing the research for my final project, I found that the best solutions to ending
bullying is to start off with good parenting skills so we can teach children that un appropriate
behavior is not acceptable. When parents teach good skills to their children, they stick with them
as they grow older and also as they start going to school. According to my source How Can We
End the Cycle of Bullying by Claudia M. Gold she mentions this solution and good examples
and descriptions. Another great solution would be have schools get well involved in this issue by
embracing programs, mentors, and polices that given by Nick Dubin in his book chapter
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Asperger Syndrome and Bullying: Strategies and Solutions and The Way to Really Stop
Bullying: Student Mentors. They both agree that school should get involved and take action to
stop this issue that is currently not being address. However, something that we could change in
order to eliminate bullying would be to advertise, let people know that bullying is real and
something serious we should all consider. That way parents, older siblings and children can
know and realize that bullying is not right and they can encourage each other to not bully others
or to talk to someone if they are victims that way we can stop it right then and there.