Impact of Bullying and Interventions

Impact of Bullying and Interventions Kelli Piperata I. Introduction Harassment and bullying in schools is not given the attention that is needed to correct the problem. In the article, Low-Level Violence, A Neglected Aspect of School Culture, David Dupper and Nancy Meyer-Adams bring attention to the issues that students face due to bullying and harassment. In this essay, I will aim to demonstrate the different types of bullying, the impact it has on students and steps that can be taken to implement change within schools to correct these deviant behaviors. II. Bullying in Schools Bullying in schools is a form of harassment that includes psychological and physical deviant behaviors towards other students. Some forms of this bullying include social, physical, cyber and verbal abuse. According to the article, A Neglected Aspect of School Culture, there are different reasons for students being harassed by other students. For females this can be because they are pretty enough, or they are not dressed in the style of clothes that is currently the trending fashion. For boys there can also be multiple reasons for peer harassment such as, not being a part of a sports team and not having certain strengths that other male students may have. III. Other Forms of Harassment Bullying can take on different forms of harassment that is not always by fellow students. Peer sexual harassment is another issue that students face this form of harassment is mostly directed to the female student. Unwanted sexual comments, spreading rumors, grabbing a student, sexual jokes and gestures are some of the common forms of sexual harassment. Moreover, these actions can make a student self-conscious, uncomfortable and embarrassed, and not want to attend classes. A bigger issue with peer sexual harassment is that many students that are perpetuating these acts feel that they are not doing anything wrong, that it is a part of school life. Another disturbing issue is that there are teachers and personnel who witness these acts and yet they do nothing to reprimand the students that are partaking in these deviant acts. Another form of bullying can be directly attributed from teachers. This is a psychological form of abuse; however, it has been taken to physical levels as well. Teachers are in a position of authority and sometimes that authority role has taken advantage of by the teacher. There have been incidences of teachers mistreating students by using fear mongering tactics that include yelling, threatening, and embarrassing students in front of others. In addition, there are some cases where teachers also physically battered students by hitting them or grabbing them forcefully. The sexual orientation of students seems to be one of the prime targets of harassment by fellow peers. A student who is gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender often are targets of homophobic fears of others. There is often physical and verbal out lashes towards these students, and often teachers and faculty do nothing to intervene or protect the victims in these situations. According to the reading, many times teachers, guidance counselors harbor the same feelings and may also act out on these feelings in the same manner as the students perpetrating these acts. Religious, cultural and racial bullying are also forms of harassment seen in schools. Students that do not share the same dominant religious ideologies can be targeted and ridiculed by other peers and persons of authority. Additionally, cultural differences are also a problem for students. Students and teachers who believe that the culture of others is perhaps weird or wrong are looking at it from a perspective of ethnocentrism. Furthermore, racism is also a part of bullying. Individuals who see someone that does not share the same skin color or has dissimilar features and reflect these notions onto other students is racial intimidation. VI. How Does Harassment Affect Students Students are affected in numerous ways due to low-level violence. In some cases, harassment can cause a student to take their own life, in other cases these victims can pushed so far that they retaliate and cause extreme harm upon others. Although taking their own life or inflicting harm on others may be extreme, they still in fact happen. However, there are less extreme implecations that are much more common for victims of bullying. Some of these effects may shape the rest of their lives, such as low-self-esteem and students dropping out of school. Additionally, students that are harassed may withdraw from their studies and feel isolated from social activities. This in effect hurts students outcomes on their grades as well as their overall experiences both socially and academically. Hazler (1994) stated that: [T]heir grades may suffer because their attention is being drawn away from learning. Being repeatedly victimized may push even good kids to extremes, such as starting fights or bringing weapons to school to exact vengeance on their tormentors, [and] even students and adults who are witnesses are affected [in that] they must deal with the lowered self-esteem and loss of control that accompanies feeling unsafe and unable to take action. The result is children and adults who do all they can to avoid recognizing when someone else is being hurt. V. How to Implement Change There are a number of ways to implement change within the school systems. One way is for parents, teachers and faculty members to not tolerate these types of behaviors. When they witness an individual bullying or harassing a student they should intervene and take the appropriate actions to stop this from reoccurring. In addition, teachers and faculty members should attend workshops that are properly educating professionals on how to deescalate and handle these situations. Overall, the change must come from the culture within the school, in order to achieve this, school should embrace and promote diversity, positive reinforcements and a no tolerance approach towards individuals who choose to perpetuate acts of bullying and harassment. VI. Conclusion Bullying and harassment is a growing problem within schools that is not being addressed properly. Students are not the only ones that are perpetrating these acts, school faculty are sometimes also ones that are guilty of these behaviors. The victims of low-level-violence are often faced with negative and lifelong impacts including low-self-esteem and sometimes victims seek out retaliation against their perpetrators. There are ways to implement change and create a diverse atmosphere for schools but certain guidelines, techniques and procedures need to be put in place for faculty and teachers. References David R. Dupper, Nancy Meyer-Adams. Low-Level Violence, A Neglected Aspect of School Culture. Jeanne H. Ballantine, Joan Z. Spade. Schools and Society. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, 2015. 200-208. Print.

Asses sociological explanations for ethnic differences in educational achievement Essay

Ethnicity refers to shared cultural practices, perspectives, and distinctions that set apart one group of people from another. That is, ethnicity is a shared cultural heritage. The most common characteristics distinguishing various ethnic groups are ancestry, a sense of history, language and religion. Modern Britain is said to be a multicultural society made up of many different ethnic groups. Achievement within education is very varied across cultures, with some such as Chinese and Indian students performing above the average, and African-Caribbean and Pakistani students performing well below average. There are many factors which can reduce a child from an ethnic backgrounds attainment. For instance, Material deprivation. Material deprivation focuses on income inequality and the material problems that are associated with it. An example of such a study is J. W. B Douglas, ‘The Home and The School’ (1964). He argued that an interlocking network of inequalities existed which operated against many working class students. This included, differential effects of regional and variations in educational provision and expenditure. Also, housing and environmental factors. Which led to chances of access to ‘good’ primary schools. Therefore, hindering the chance of access to top streams. As a result, minority ethnic children are more likely to live in low-income households. This means they face the problems that Douglas highlighted, the material factors, such as poor quality housing, no working space and even possibly bad influence of peers. One other reason for differences in educational achievement between ethnicities is the basic family life. African-Caribbean communities have a high level of lone parenthood. Actually, it is estimated 50% of African-Caribbean households have a lone-parent . This can mean that many face financial problems, this can lead to lower achievement in school (Douglas’ material factors). Conversely, single mothers can be a positive role model or influence for many young girls, meaning they perform better in education. Another explanation for ethnic differences is Language. For many children of an ethnic minority English is not their primary language. This can be a disadvantage because they may not understand exams as well as others. Also they might struggle to express themselves with limited English. Finally, some teachers may mistake poor English for a lack of intelligence, when actually this could be completely untrue, meaning that a clever child may be let down by the teacher who might not push the student to their full potential. However, you could argue that Chinese and Indian students first language isn’t English, on the other hand in these two cultures it is the norm to learn English as a strong second language. Therefore, they are not hindered by the second language barrier, as opposed to Bangladeshi’s for example. Language was such a big issue that Bernstein (1973) categorised students into two groups. Elaborated and restricted. In the case of an elaborated code, the speaker will select from a relatively extensive range of alternatives. However in the case of a restricted code the number of these alternatives is often severely limited. Bernstein’s work was not always praised. For instance, Labov (1974) argued that young blacks in the United States, although using language which certainly seems an example of the restricted code, nevertheless display a clear ability to argue logically. Their lack of knowledge concerning the subject may reach further than just the exams they have to take. For instance, due to the large amount of failing black Caribbean’s and Bangladeshi’s (a combined total of 41% managed to get 5 A* – C grades), teachers may be subconsciously prejudiced against ethnic minorities. This can lower the students attainments in many ways, one is that the teachers give the student lower grades. Another way is that the teacher negatively labels a student of ethnic minority which can lead to self-fulfilling prophecy. Racism can also lead to conflict between students and teachers, making learning a much harder task. Lastly, racism can lead to low-self esteem among ethnic minorities. A researcher who studies this was Howard Becker (1971). Becker Interviewed 60 Chicago high school teachers. He found that they judged pupils according to how closely they fitted image of â€Å"ideal pupil†. Their conduct & appearance influenced judgement. Middle class was closest to ideal, working class furthest away & labelled as badly behaved. As a result you can see, if teachers labelled students on how they look, you can imagine how they would label a whole ethnic race. Another factor for ethnic differences in educational achievement is the ethnocentric curriculum. There are several reasons why ethnic minorities may struggle due to this curriculum. One is that the subjects often focus on British culture; naturally White British students will have grown up with this culture, so they might have a greater understanding of the content than students who grew up in a different culture. Another reason is that the content of the curriculum could lower ethnic minorities self-esteem, this is because often the white character is seen as â€Å"good† and superior whilst the ethnic minorities are seen as â€Å"not as academic†. However, it is crucial not to forget that every ethnic minority underachieves at this level. In fact, in the UK, Chinese and Indian pupils score better grades than the â€Å"White† ethnic race. One of the main reasons for this is the support of the parents. Research has shown that some parents of ethnic minority, such as Chinese and Indian, take more interest in their child’s education, they also encourage their child more than other in other cultures. This obviously leads to higher achievement for the child. Not only the parents play a part. Some teachers may stereotype some ethnic minorities to be intelligent and hard-working. This encouragement and sort of support can aid a student in raising their grades. To conclude, there are many sociological explanations for the ethnic differences in educational achievement, from language barriers to family life at home. However, it is important to remember not all ethnic minorities to underachieve. Rafi Kentafi – Lindill 12P.

Rhetorical Analysis Of George Thoreau s Letter From...

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Learning Disabilities Are The Most Predominant Type Of...

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