Conley 1

Searra Conley
Ms. Caruso
UWRT- 1102-001
21 June 2016
Bullying involves aggressive acts exerted by one or more students toward another student
who is unable to stop the aggressive advances, according to Preparing Teachers to Manage
School Bullying: The Hidden Curriculum." These acts have occurred for over a hundred years,
but why is it still occurring? A problem I see constantly is that kids, students, are being bullied
and the pattern has not stopped. For my inquiry product, I created a meme of Kermit the frog to
reiterate that most people do not recognize bullying or intend to stop it or prevent it. Kermit the
frog is best known as a character on the Muppets show, but this picture is from a Lipton Tea
commercial, that has been used in several other memes as a way to say someone has the tea,
the new information or opinion and chooses to keep it to themselves. This meme will be viewed
on multiple social media platforms allowing it to be seen by several people including, students
and teachers.
Bullying comes in many forms and types such as: name calling, making or writing
degrading comments about a person, deliberately excluding individuals from activities, not
talking to a person, making a person do things he or she does not want to do, taunting or teasing
(Beran). Specific roles children play in bullying are: kids who bully, kids who are bullied, kids
who assist, kids who reinforce, outsiders and kids who defend (The Roles Kids Play). In a
2002 studies, between nine and thirty- five percent of students reported being bullied in some
way (Beran). According to Tanya Berans research, six to seventeen percent of children

Conley 2
confessed of bullying others. These acts occur on average, every seven and a half minutes on
school grounds and only eleven percent of students are known to intervene to stop the bullying
(Beran).
Another form of bullying is cyberbullying. What is Cyberbullying, defines
cyberbulling as bullying [by your peers] that takes place using electronic technology [which]
includes: cell phones, computers & tablets as communication tools including social media sites,
text messages, chat and websites. Some examples of cyberbulling would be rumors posted on a
social networking site or embarrassing pictures and videos posted (What is Cyberbullying?).
Social Media is a convenient source of communication between teenagers and their friends and
some people see nothing wrong with teens using it (Stein). Social media can also have a negative
effect on people. Dr. Charles Sophy, a Los Angeles psychiatrist says, "...[people] who have
become obsessed with Social Media, using it as a tool to guide their self-esteem and self-worth...
[but these are] false measures, and when reality sets in, anxiety, depression and other psychiatric
issues begin to emerge (Stein).
Kids who are bullied can experience negative physical, school, and mental health issues
(Effects of Bulling). Kids who are bullied are more likely to experience: depression and
anxiety, increased feelings of sadness and loneliness, changes in sleep and eating patterns, and
loss of interest in activities they used to enjoy (Effects of Bullying). Kids who bully others are
more likely to: get into fights, vandalize property, and drop out of school, according to the
Effects of Bullying article. Kids who witness bulling are more likely to have increased mental
health problems like depression and anxiety. Some believe students already have mental health
issues and bullying just happens to occur after becoming depressed. In Is Social Media
Dependence A Mental Health Issue article, Dr. Bernard Lukin discusses a case of how someone

Conley 3
with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (O.C.D.) happened to commit suicide because of his
obsession with selfies. Danny had O.C.D. The vehicle [the obsession] just happened to be
Social Media, if it wasn't that one, it would have been another one. Its a case where O.C.D. got
out of control, says Lukin.
Bullying can vary depending on different groups or factors. Boys tend to engage in direct
bullying like hitting and pushing; while girls are likely to exert indirect forms of bullying like
gossiping and excluding people (Beran). Some bullies target specific groups. "Depending on the
environment, some groupssuch as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered (LGBT) youth,
youth with disabilities, and socially isolated youthmay be at an increased risk of being bullied"
(Risk Factors). In a 2008 survey, LGBT students reported about 85% of the students were
targets of name-calling and 60% reported being assaulted (Swearer et. al).
Reasons for bullys actions can be explained through dynamic systems theory; each
persons behaviors influence and are a reaction to other peoples behaviors (Beran).
Accordingly, victims submissive responses positively reinforce the bullys behaviors, thereby
maintaining and exacerbating the bullying. In addition, peers passive responses positively
reinforce the bullys behaviors by providing attention and seeming approval for the aggressive
behaviors, according to Beran. Students are most likely to bully if: some are well-connected to
their peers, have social power, are overly concerned about their popularity, and like to dominate
or be in charge of others (Risk Factors). Also they are likely to bully if they are: more isolated
from their peers and may be depressed or anxious, have low self-esteem, less involved in school,
easily pressured by peers, or not identified with the emotions or feelings of others (Risk
Factors).

Conley 4
Since teachers are often not aware that this occurring, students quickly discover who
dominates the playground, it can be referred to as the hidden curriculum (Beran). Considering its
pervasiveness, bullying presents a considerable challenge to teachers when supervising at recess
time (Beran). Teachers intervene in four percent of bullying episodes (Beran). Teachers do not
approach a bullying situation because the incident may be overlooked and interpreted as playfighting due to the fact the aggression of bullying and play-fighting are very similar (Beran).
Also teachers are not able to identify who the bully is because the aggression the victim may
return because he or she was bullied and the teacher does not intervene. Or the teacher may lack
the skills to intervene and may not interfere at all (Beran). Teachers have also been known to
bully students, 39.2% of LGBT students have heard homophobic remarks like faggot from
adults at school, which only adds to the bullying problem (Swearer et. al). To help prevent
bullying, school- based anti-bullying efforts involving universal programs administered to the
entire school population is advised, with the goal of increasing awareness about bullying and
decreasing bullying behaviors among students (Swearer et. al). The most promising results were
reported for whole-school anti-bullying efforts, including those to establish schoolwide rules and
consequences for bullying, teacher training, conflict resolution strategies, and classroom
curricula and individual training (Swearer et. al).
I have discussed bullying, its side effects and the roles people play in these predicaments.
My intentions for this paper was to produce awareness of bullying in the hopes of preventing it. I
believe that bullying can cause physical and mental abuse that is not beneficial to people.
Through the exposure of my Kermit the frog meme, I hope to let people know how unnoticed
bullying has come to be and persuade students and teachers to prevent any further actions.

Conley 5
Original Works Cited

Fisher, Nathan. Teen Self- Esteem Issues. StudioD. OurEverydayLife.com, n.d. Web. 31 May
2016.
Risk Factors. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Stopbullying.gov, n.d. Web. 31
May 2016.
Stein, Emma. "Is Social Media Dependence A Mental Health Issue?." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 7 May 2014. Web. 31 May 2016.
Shaw Brown, Genevieve. Victorias Secret Perfect Body Campaign Draws Social Media
Outrage. ABC News. ABCNews.com, 29 Oct. 2014. Web. 31 May 2016.
Van Pelt, Jennifer. Is Facebook Depression For Real?. Social Work Today.
Socialworktoday.com. n.d. Web. 31 May 2016.
What is Cyberbulling. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Stopbullying.gov, n.d.
Web. 31 May 2016.

Conley 6
New Works Cited

The Roles Kids Play. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Stopbullying.gov, n.d.
Web. 17 June 2016.
Beran, Tanya N. "Preparing Teachers to Manage School Bullying: The Hidden Curriculum." The
Journal of Educational Thought (JET) / Revue De La Pense ducative 40.2 (2006): 11928. Web.
Swearer, Susan M., Espelage Dorothy L., Vaillancourt Tracy, and Hymel Shelley. "What Can Be
Done About School Bullying? Linking Research to Educational Practice." Educational
Researcher 39.1 (2010): 38-47. Web.
Effects. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Stopbullying.gov, n.d. Web. 17 June
2016.