Rebecca Gerardi

ED 206 025
Bullying
3 December 2012
Bullying
The Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights requires that school leaders address a new set of
responsibilities. There are four steps that school district employees should follow. They
should familiarize themselves with bullying, form a leadership group consisting of
parents, teachers, and students, develop a method for assessing specific bullying types in
their school, and finally schools should create a plan to prevent and intervene bullying.
The article Bullying Prevention Guidance for School Stakeholders defines bullying as
repeated actions that harm, harass, intimidate, or humiliate another person. Frequent
bullying occurs by about ten to fifteen percent of students. Although many assume that
bullies have low self-esteem, no empathy, and poor social skills, this is not necessarily
true. In fact, many bullies are actually very social and popular. It is important for
schools to involve students and families in their anti-bullying programs. Schools should
develop a definition of bullying that students will learn through examples and
discussions.
This law is strongly applied to students with disabilities. Often times, disabled
children are targets because they look different or act differently. Other reasons may be
that they have no defense against bullies or are isolated from peers. While special
education students may get bullied, sometimes, they are the bully. If this is the case, it is
very important that the student is disciplined properly; by following the guidelines of

both the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights as well as the IDEA. To prevent bullying amongst
students with disabilities, teachers should help non-disabled students to realize the
diversity of all students.
In the video Put the Brakes on Bullying, the term bullying is defined as the
combined use of power and aggression toward another individual. There are four
elements that classify bullying. Power imbalance, repetition of behavior, intentional
aggression, and victim distress. There are three major types of bullying; verbal, physical,
and psychological. The tendencies to bully are based on individual, family, peer, and
school factors. Individual factors may include a difficult temperament and lack of
empathy. Family factors can include stress, and harsh, inconsistent punishment. Peer
factors include rejection by peers or a group of friends that tolerates aggression. Finally,
school factors include a lack of awareness of bullying as well as failure to prevent
bullying.
Research shows that there are certain characteristics bullies display. For example,
a bully often has a dominant personality and a strong self-concept. In the case of boys,
they are generally bigger than the victim. Boys and girls have very different ways of
bullying. Boys, for instance, are very physical and overt, whereas girls are more subtle
and indirect. Victims, on the other hand, are likely to show signs of anxiety, withdrawal,
and aggression. They can even have a high risk of suicide or dropping out of school.
Some factors that may lead to a victim being bullied are being different, lacking a strong
social network, being rejected by peers, and having a timid personality. Often times,
victims try to avoid school, become isolated, and their self-concept is lowered.

Too often, bullying is seen as kids being kids, and adults thinking the children will
grow out of it. This is not the case. It is very important to identify bullying at a young
age as it can lead to a child committing crimes in the future. Bullying should be
addressed before it becomes a problem. It is possible to reduce bullying by maximizing
adult supervision, intervening, and educating the community to make them aware of what
is happening. Children should be taught to look out for each other.
In the article BullyingAnd the Power of Peers two types of bullies were
identified; marginalized bullies and connected bullies. Socially marginalized bullies are
often unpopular, have desire to become popular, and their bullying may be caused by
impulsive actions. According to the article, marginalized bullies would benefit from
violence-reduction programs or social skills training. Socially connected bullies on the
other hand are popular, have great social or athletic skills, and good looks. Their
aggression is goal-oriented. Once they establish the dominance in a relationship, they
become less aggressive. Connected bullies are not likely to be recognized as bullies and
often target children that will most likely not be defended.
The article explains that peers who take a stand against bullying situations can be
successful in more than half of bullying attempts. Sadly, defenders are unlikely to stand
up to bullying, and will do so in less than twenty percent of bullying situations. The
article also discusses the importance of a victim having at least one friend. A child who is
getting bullied is likely to show fewer signs of anxiety, depression, or sadness, if they are
friends with a nonvictimized peer. Contradicting the importance of defending victims in
bullying situations, the article also mentions a study that showed an increase in
victimization when others stepped in to stop the bullying.

In my opinion, bullying is uncalled for and should not be accepted or overlooked

anywhere. It is very important that teachers as well as other faculty members
acknowledge bullying situations and take care of them immediately. Many people say
that it is just a part of childhood; children are just mean, etc. If we continue to accept
these types of cruel behaviors, of course it will remain a part of childhood, and children
will all be mean. Part of the job of an educator is to form the foundation of a childs
development, especially in elementary school. This is why it is crucial for teachers to
understand what is really happening in their classrooms, on the playground or in the
cafeteria. It is their job to acknowledge a problem, intervene, and take control. Children
should be taught the effects of bullying, and should understand why it is wrong before it
becomes a serious problem. In my classroom, I would do my best to pay attention to the
social aspects of my students during the school day. I would hope that all teachers are
alert and able to see if their student is upset or distressed. Children should not have to
face these types of situations alone, or at all. School should be a safe place that is
designated to learning and building social skills to carry children through their lives. In
seventh grade I was the class representative for the student council, I was on the cheering
squad, and had a wide variety of friends. When I reached eighth grade, I became a victim
of bullying, which stemmed from just one of my classmates. Everyone else must have
thought it looked like fun to watch me get mad because they caught on pretty quickly. I
was not harassed to any severe extent, but I hated going to school. None of my teachers
did anything about the situation, even when they saw what was going on. Instead of my
friends standing up for me, nearly my whole class turned against me. It is not a good
feeling to be rejected by what feels like the entire school.