Bullying An Issue Commonly

Bullying: An Issue Commonly Faced by School-Age Children

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Abstract

Bullying is a major issue faced by school-age children. It is a significant mental health concern for the children who are bullied, and it can have an adverse effect on their physical health and academic performance. For example, one study found that male adolescents who experience bullying are at a greater risk of developing depression, suicidal tendencies, and high levels of anxiety. Another study found that bullying at a young age can lead to long-term depression, social isolation and eating disorders in adults later in life. Nevertheless, research suggests that the prevalence of bullying is increasing, particularly among children living in metropolitan areas.

There are a number of different definitions for bullying. The World Health Organization defines it as repeated aggressive behavior by one person against another, which causes physical or psychological harm or distress. It should not be confused with teasing or name-calling, which are not considered to be acts of aggression. This definition indicates that bullying can occur between persons regardless of their race or ethnicity. A range of factors have previously been associated with bullying. Some of the factors are socioeconomic status, gender, parental support and involvement, grade level, and child’s race or ethnic background. In addition, having a learning disability or being overweight may also increase one’s likelihood for being a victim of bullying.

Bullying: An Issue Commonly Faced by School-Age Children

Bullying behaviour can be defined as “a set of actions in which one person harms or threatens to harm another and is supported by an ‘adjacency’ who also plans or perpetrates the action, especially when it has been done repeatedly”. Bullying can happen at school, on the bus, online, in person and can even happen among friends. It is not just a school issue but a community issue. In order to combat bullying behaviour we need to understand that it is an issue that everyone faces on a daily basis. Kids are affected by bullying behaviour through physical violence such as being pushed around and punched, feeling intimidated and intimidated because they have low self-esteem, choosing not attend school because they feel unsafe there or trusting their peers less frequently (Nickerson, 2019).

Ideally, this article will discuss about bullying in schools and online as well as information on signs that indicate when a child is being bullied or witnessing vicarious bullying. The paper should also offer guidelines for parents to prevent their children from being victims of bullying. Two of the most notable studies on bullying were conducted in the United States. One study was based on data collected between 2009 and 2017, while the other was based on data collected between 2017 and 2019 (Nickerson, 2019).

The 1999 to 2003 study found that 5% of children aged 6 to 15 years old experienced physical bullying at school annually, while 25% experienced verbal bullying at school annually. 4 The 2007 to 2010 study found that 7% of children aged 6 to 11 years experienced physical bullying at school annually, while 31% experienced verbal bullying at school annually (Nickerson, 2019).

In addition to physical and verbal forms of bullying, children may also be bullied online. A 2012 study found that 20% of children aged 7 to 11 years old experienced cyberbullying at school annually. A study conducted in 2008 found that 40% of children aged 3 to 11 years old experienced online bullying at school annually (Winnaar et al., 2018).

Child witnesses vicarious bullying can be defined as individuals who experience unwanted attention from others because they witness their peers behaving aggressively towards others. A study conducted in 2008 found that 15% of children aged 9 to 16 years experienced vicarious bullying at school annually (Winnaar et al., 2018). Data on the prevalence of bullying among adults has never been systematically collected. However, adults who were bullied as a child have been found to experience similar adverse effects as children who were bullied. For example, they have been found to be more likely to experience depression, anxiety, loneliness and suicidal tendencies.

There are a number of different approaches which parents and schools may adopt in order to prevent children from being bullied and witnessing vicarious bullying. One approach involves teaching children how to recognize when they are being bullied as well as recognizing when they are witnessing bullying of others.

Spotting the signs of bullying is difficult, especially for the victims. If a child often complains about pain or has bruises on their body it is possible that their parents may need to make an appointment with the GP. Also if a child constantly gets into arguments with their peers it is possible that they are experiencing bullying. The child may also be anxious about going to school and feel stressed, irritable and depressed. Anxious behaviour can also be a sign of bullying if the child is always complaining of stomach aches and seems depressed (Winnaar et al., 2018).

If a child has been bullied at school they may: have low self-esteem, talk about the bully, feel sad, nervous or anxious all the time, feel depressed and hopeless that they will be bullied again, not want to go to school or come home at lunchtime.

Children who are experiencing bullying behavior should seek help from an adult such as a parent/carer or teacher. Parents should encourage their child to be open about what is happening to them but should also listen to their child and be there for them as well. The school should have a no-bullying policy and students and parents of students should receive letters regarding this. Getting children involved in a project that teaches non-violence will help them better understand why the behavior they are exhibiting is wrong and they can learn not to repeat it.

Proposed Method Section

The main participants in this research study are children and adolescents aged between six to 18 years. The children were in grades three through 10, while the adolescents were in grades nine through 12. All of the participants are current students of public school districts in the state of Oklahoma, with children being drawn from multiple districts for recruitment purposes. Participants include both bullying victims and bullies.

The research design is mixed-methods with a mixed-methods quantitative component and qualitative component that is also mixed-methods. The quantitative component involves the use of multiple methods in order to capture the complex nature of bullying. These include self-report survey of participants, self-report and observational data about bullying incidents, and peer report survey of participants and descriptions about them from other students at their schools. The qualitative component is focused on in-depth interview data from selected participants with a primary focus on non-victims.

The qualitative component of the research design is intended to provide an in-depth understanding of bullying and the experiences of its participants. The research questions that guide this qualitative data collection are organized into eight clusters, including: theoretical-conceptual concerns; definitions and models; categories of bullies and victims; similarities between bullied and non-bullied students; victimization experiences; perceived means of coping with bullying; school responses to bullying incidents; types of responses to bullying incidents; social comparisons among victims and non-victims. The approach to analyzing data from this study is content analysis that focuses on concepts, subtexts, themes, patterns, descriptions, patterns, structures displays and other relevant features.

Discussion/Conclusion

The act of bullying among school-age children has been a growing problem in schools nationwide. Many of these children suffer psychological damage, depression and anxiety caused by the act of bullying. The effects of bullying can last for long periods of time, affecting the victims’ education, their self-esteem and their health. Staying safe is a matter of life and death for many children. Without anyone to help them, some children are forced to take matters into their own hands. The consequences can be severe even if the bullies cannot be punished. According to “The Origins of Bullying”, (Bork-Hüffer et al., 2021)”teachers may feel powerless”. If a child is being bullied by other students, they should have someone they trust in the school such as the principle or another teacher on hand who can protect them from further bullying in the future. Schools need to make sure that a child is safe and people are not able to bully them. Bullying can be stopped but it will take all the schools in a community working together to do this.

Mental health is something that should be taken seriously by everyone in a community and especially at school. We need to educate children on how they should treat each other and what the consequences of bullying are both physically and mentally for the victims. If we don’t stop bullying behaviour now then it will continue for generations and more people will suffer from its effects (Bork-Hüffer et al., 2021).

There is a strong correlation between bullying behaviour in school-age children and suicide. We live in a society today where we see almost everyone of all ages on social media, browsing the internet or playing on their phones and it has become easy for us to forget how much time we spend with one another Le (Menestrel, 2020). We go to school, go home for dinner and do our homework, then repeat the next day. On our path through life we have lost touch with ourselves as people, as human beings and have started to focus on what makes us different from each other rather than what makes us the same.

Various reasons as to why people tend to bully others include, peer pressure, confidence and self-esteem issues, looking for attention, seeking revenge, bullying is a form of entertainment and feelings of being superior to others. All these cause someone to pick on other children.

The first step in stopping bullying behaviour is to acknowledge that it is an issue that needs to be dealt with at a young age before it gets out of hand. If the victims feel like there is no one they can turn to, then they may want to take matters into their own hands. The next step is for everyone in the community to remember how important it is to be kind, tolerant and patient with each other, even if the person you are dealing with seems like they need a hard time sometimes. Bullying behaviour can ruin lives and people’s self-esteem and confidence.

References

Bork-Hüffer, T., Mahlknecht, B., & Kaufmann, K. (2021). (Cyber) Bullying in schools–when bullying stretches across cON/FFlating spaces. Children’s Geographies, 19(2), 241-253.

Winnaar, L., Arends, F., & Beku, U. (2018). Reducing bullying in schools by focusing on school climate and school socio-economic status. South African Journal of Education, 38(1).

Le Menestrel, S. (2020). Preventing bullying: Consequences, prevention, and intervention. Journal of Youth Development, 15(3), 8-26.

Nickerson, A. B. (2019). Preventing and intervening with bullying in schools: A framework for evidence-based practice. School Mental Health, 11(1), 15-28.