BULLYING AMONG SCHOOL STUDENTS

1. INTRODUCTION
a) Definition
i. Olweus 1999 – Bullying or the systematic of power can be physical,
verbal orr elational and direct (face to face) or indirect.
ii. The handbook of Bullying in Schools: An International Perspective
(Jimmerson, Swearer & Espelage 2010) has 41 chapters.
iii. Preventing Bullying Through Science, Policy and Practice by Frederick
Rivara (Editor) and Suzzane Le Menestrel (Editor)

Thesis statements – This paper will present cause and effects of bullying and how to
prevent or reduced bullying

2. BODY
a) Definition
i. Bullying ranges from one-on-one, individual bullying through to group
bullying called mobbing, in which the bully may have one or more
"lieutenants" who may seem to be willing to assist the primary bully in his
or her bullying activities. Bullying in school and the workplace is also
referred to as peer abuse. Robert W. Fuller has analyzed bullying in the
context of rankism.
ii. A single significant act or a pattern of acts by one or more students
directed at another student that exploits an imbalance of power and
involves engaging in written or verbal expression, The Texas Legislature,
in a bill known as “David’s Law” (SB179).
iii. Olweus (1993), a pioneer in bullying research, defines bullying as an
imbalance of strength, which must be a repeated action and occur
regularly over time.
b) Description on bullying
i. The Norwegian researcher Dan Olweus] says bullying occurs when a
person is "exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the
 part of one or more other persons". He says negative actions occur "when
a person intentionally inflicts injury or discomfort upon another person,
through physical contact, through words or in other ways. Individual
bullying is usually characterized by a person behaving in a certain way to
gain power over another person.
ii. The 2014–2015 School Crime Supplement - PDF (National Center for
Education Statistics and Bureau of Justice Statistics) indicates that,
nationwide, about 21% of students ages 12-18 experienced bullying.
iii. According to Frey and Fisher (2008), bullying has become a part of life
for countless students, and can take on many forms within contemporary
schools.
iv. Cognitive processes are also justly linked to students’ emotional,
psychological, and physical health (Siris & Osterman, 2004). Davis and
Nixon (2011, p. 18) state, when “teachers, counselors, and administers
strive to create emotionally safe and respectful school environments, they
are often confronted with conflicting ideas about what to do.”
v. Bullying is nothing new in society; the exploitation of the weak by the
strong is a recurring theme throughout recorded history (Rigby 2002).
c) Causes
i. The National Education Association (NEA) reported that “bullying and
violence cause 160,000 fearful children to miss one or more school days
each month” (as cited in Mental Health American [MHA], 2011,
ii. Professor Donna Cross's presentation what if harm from bullying is a
hoax and we create a better world for nothing. Professor Donna Cross
explores the research about 'what works' to prevent bullying, and
discusses practical ways schools can engage with students in building safe
and supportive school environments
iii. Kert, A. S., Codding, R. S., Tyron, G. S., & Schyko, M. (2010). Impact of
the word “bully” on the reported rate of bullying behavior. Psychology in
the Schools, 47(2), 193-204.
 iv. Nansel, T. R., Overpeck, M., Pilla, R. S., Ruan, W. J., Simons-Morton, B.,
& Scheidt, P. (2001). Bullying behaviors among U.S. youth. The Journal
of the American Medical Association. 285(16), 2094-2100.
d) Effects
i. Romain, T. (1997). Bullies are a pain in the brain. Minneapolis, MN:
Free Spirit Publishing. Seals, D., & Young, J. (2003). Bullying and
victimization: Prevalence and relationship to gender, grade level,
ethnicity, self-esteem, and depression. Adolescence. 38(152), 735-746.
ii. Wolke, D., Woods, S., Stanford, K., & Schulz, H. (2001). Bullying and
victimization of primary and secondary school children in England and
Germany: Prevalence and school factors. British Journal of Psychology,
92(4), 673-696.
iii. Diamanduros, T., Downs, E., & Jenkins, S. J. (2008). The role of school
psychologists in the assessment, prevention, and intervention of
cyberbullying. Psychology in Schools, 45(8), 693-704.
3.
a) Perspective bullying
i. Individual perspective – views bullying as an individual, psychological
and behavioral problem.
ii. Social-ecological perspective – views bullying as an interpersonal
relationship dynamic problem and the expression of the varying status and
unequal power relations between individuals and groups (social) in that
context (ecology)
iii. Systemic perspective – views bullying as a cultural and system-wide
problem related to the power dynamics inherent in all institutions.

b) Types of bullying
i. Physical bullying
 Hitting/kicking/pinching
 Spitting
 Tripping/pushing
  Taking or breaking someone’s things
 Making mean or rude hand gestures
ii. Verbal bullying
 Teasing
 Name calling
 Inappropriate sexual comments
 Taunting
 Threatening to cause harm
iii. Social bullying
 Leaving someone out on purpose
 Telling other children not to be friends with someone
 Spreading rumors about someone
 Embarrassing someone in public
iv. Relational bullying
v. Reactive bullying
vi. Bullying can also involve assault on a person's property, when the victim
has his or her personal property taken or damaged
c) Impact of bullying
i. Bullying is not a harmless part of growing up.
ii. Researchers have also identified negative impacts in adults many years
after being bullied.
iii. Feelings of anxiety fear and distress about being excluded and being
treated with contempt can continue away from the school setting for
students who experience bullying in person or online.
iv. Students who persistently bully others have been found to have later issues
in mental health and educational outcomes, as well as showing criminal
and anti-social behaviour.
v. Students who see bullying happening can also experience negative
impacts.
vi. Feeling unsafe can have a negative impact on learning and participating
for all students.
 SOLUTIONS
d) Prevent bullying
i. Parents
 Help kids understanding bullying
 Keep the lines communication
 Encourage kids to do what they love
 Model how to treat others with kindness and respect

ii. School
 Activities to teach students about bullying
 Evidence-based programs curricular
 Staff training on bullying prevention

iii. Community
 Review what you learned from your community study to develop a
common understanding of the problem.
 Establish a shared vision about bullying in the community, its
impact, and how to stop it.
 Identify audiences to target and tailor messages as appropriate.
 Describe what each partner will do to help prevent and respond to
bullying.
 Advocate for bullying prevention policies in schools and
throughout the community.
 Raise awareness about your message. Develop and distribute print
materials. Encourage local radio, TV, newspapers, and websites to
give public service announcements prime space. Introduce bullying
prevention to groups that work with kids.
 Track your progress over time. Evaluate to ensure you are refining
your approach based on solid data, not anecdotes.
4. CONCLUSION
a) Bullying is a widespread problem in which about half of students are directly
involved and up to 90% of students are indirectly involved (Atlas &Pepler, 1998;
Cook,Williams, Guerra, & Kim, 2010; Craig & Pepler, 1995; Glew et al., 2005;
Hawkinset al., 2001). Policy interventions are an approach to bullying that
establishes legal mandates for schools, influences the behavior of students and
school personnel, and guides the implementation of other targeted interventions
within schools. Findings on the effectiveness of policy interventions for bullying
are primarily mixed, and there are limitations in the evaluation methods used.
Bullying is a serious issue that is affecting very many children in the schools and
has been going on for a very long time now. Anti-bully laws can help eliminate
this kind of bullying together with the other forms of bullying that have been in
practice. The laws can also place more responsibility and give the teachers and
school administrators more authority to stop the behavior and deal with the
bullies. Need to ban bullying in schools, the law needed to be passed now. Parents
can also be sensitized by the need to monitor the behavior of their children