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Bullying Background Throughout this paper we will explore how the media influences our perception of bullying; specific attention will be given to shows such as One Tree Hill and how schools can combat this problem. For many years bullying has been an issue in schools around the world. Students tease and taunt other students because of their looks, personality, what they wear and all sorts of things. Ways to prevent these instances of bullying throughout the world all start small. The glamorization of bullying is not helping the cause. Everywhere there are headlines of students committing suicide because of bullying and this is not a positive thing to be reviewing on television. Media has shown to be one of the leading influences mostly everywhere. One Tree Hill is a very popular television show that has shown bullying as an acceptable aspect of life and it is very glamorized. This show has showed bullying as nonchalant because there is a form of bullying in almost every episode in the first season. The bullying in each episode shows bullying as normal in high school for teenagers to experience.

Literature Review Terms: Bullying: to use superior strength or influence to intimidate, typically to force a person to do what they want. Types of bullying: There are several types of bullying that have beginning to surface schools everywhere. Cyber bullying: the uses of cellphones, messaging, emailing, or social networking sites to harass, threaten, or intimidate a person. Physical bullying: a form of bullying that includes hitting, kicking, tripping, or damaging anyones property.

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Verbal bullying: a form of bullying that includes name-calling, teasing, verbal intimidation, race remarks and verbal abuse. Convert bullying: a form of bullying that is not very known, it is mostly used to ruin someones reputation or cause humiliation. This type includes: spreading rumors, negative gestures, using nasty jokes to humiliate, mimicking, and verbally damaging a social reputation or social acceptance.

Why bullying is a problem Children are often bullied in middle school to high school. Research has suggested that students that have mental health difficulties are bullied more and children that who have social issues (Berridge 2011). There is also research that shows students that have low self-esteem use bullying to try to boost the self-esteem they are lacking. Bullying has been linked to low selfesteem, anxiety and depression (Berridge 2011). Many parents and teachers have pushed bullying off because it is a stage of growing up, and it is crucial that bullying is handled properly because it may cause aggressive and violent behavior (Garrett 2003). It is proven that bullying may cause students to avoid school or bring guns or weapons to defend themselves against bullies. In 1999, in Colorado there were shootings at Columbine High School because of bullying. Early 2001, in California high school called Santana High School there was peer violence and suicide involved because of bullying (Garrett 2003). A few experts disagree that bullying can cause aggressive and violent behavior later in the bullied students life. Of course there is correlation between bullying and violent behavior but no one is sure how strong it is. Bullying surely affects many students and has for a very long time but it affects different children in different ways (Garrett 2003). Barbara Coloroso has a very strong view on bullying. She believes that bullying should never be pushed off or ignored. In the past it wasnt as big an issue as it is today, but it should always be taken seriously. In her novel she states that thousands of children go to school everyday in fear (Coloroso 2008). Bullying usually occurs to new students,

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a very young student, a traumatized child, an annoying student, a kid unwilling to fight, a poor student, a student either too fat or too thin, and children with physical or mental disabilities (Coloroso 2008). All of these types of children that are bullied deserve to be respected by their peer and should not be targets of harassment because of their appearance. As a result of the bullying police officers have made their ways into most high schools to help protect student safety (Sampson 2012). Inside the show One Tree hill, bullying is being done almost on every hall. There are plenty of instances in which a student was physically harassed. Most instances are mental harassment, which can cause just as much damage as physical. The main character of One Tree Hill in the first season is mentally and physically harassed every day. Most viewers side with the victim but there are plenty of people that might side with the bullys perspective. If viewers side with the bully, this poses a very big problem. Most actions that are viewed are most likely going to be copied. If a viewer of this show sees this harassment as acceptable, the viewer may decide to act out in a specific way, which could be harmful to peers around him.

Different affects of bullying Barbara Coloroso is a Barbara Coloroso believes that there are four markers of bullying in schools. 1. Imbalance of power: The bully may be of different race, taller, stronger, opposite sex. They use bullying as a way to put down the student being bullied. 2. Intent to harm: The bully uses physical abuse or verbal abuse to hurt another peer and the bully takes pleasure in seeing suffering. 3. Threat of further aggression: The bully and the bullied know the bully will strike again. Finally the 4th: Terror: Bullying is used to intimidate and keep dominance over a peer. It is not a one time crime and strikes fear in to the bullied childs heart. There are several warning signs of suppressed bullying. If a child has a lack of interest in school or grades drop severely can be signs of being harassed at school (Coloroso 2008). Inside One Tree Hill, there are many different forms of bullying throughout the show. There is minor cyber bullying because of the time period and

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cellphones and social media were not popular. The type that is most prominent is belittlement, which is a form of convert bullying. Convert bullying happened to many characters in One Tree Hill. This includes the main character and his close friends. The main characters social status was given to him, and this represents a window for bullying to be allowed. Lucas (the main character) was not a highly known student in his high school. When he decided to try out for the basketball team, the team members rejected him completely (Clifford 2014). He stood up for himself and was then bullied for most of that school year by the team. Physical and convert bullying was the biggest problem for Lucas and he tried to bear all of the anguish.

How Bullying is glamorized in media Bullying is a highlight in most reality television currently. In my assignment one, I observed the first season of One Tree Hill and bullying was being shown for most of each episode. A big portion of this season is mainly focused on the way bullying is portrayed inside high school and how it affects different characters. Media in 3 ways portrays bullying; the first way media glamorizes bullying is by showing that violence solves problem. This is a very big problem because it shows adolescents that a way to solve most problems is to act out in violence. The second way media glamorizes bullying is by showing that there is a right and wrong, no grey area in between. This shows viewers that it is more important to be right than to engage in discussion and not get into an argument. This poses a very significant problem by showing young adults that there is no middle area in between right a wrong. If media shows children that violence solves problems and that there is no in between with this outcome, children may see violence as the only way to react to certain situations. Finally the last way that media glamorizes media is by introducing the concept of capitalism breeds competition. With a certain order of the social system, some adolescents believe it is their right to bully the unfortunate. I believe that there is no acceptable instance of bullying. The physical features of another student gives no one a right to belittle that person or try to harm them in any way.

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Entering The Conversation Bullying is beginning to grow with the growing of technology, and I think that if we can prove that bullying is no longer acceptable, bullying may be stopped. Although all of these sources stated earlier may be different they all have one thing in common, and its main focus is on bullying in schools. One Tree Hill is a prime example of a piece of media that glamorizes bullying. A huge part in One Tree Hill that affects the way bullying is perceived is how bullying seems to be a part of everyones life. I believe that if a severe amount of students in school saw how bullying was conducted inside of One Tree Hill, they would think that it is acceptable. Bullying is no way acceptable even if it is portrayed in media everywhere. I believe that bullying gets so much attention from media, adolescents believe that it is a course that everyone must go through in their lives and this may force bullies to take the bullying role. If schools and parents can show that bullying is not acceptable it might create some distance from bullying and it being associated with being normal. From my experience, I was always bullied in elementary school. I was bullied because I had curly hair, glasses, was short and my last name was Clifford. This of course was a mild form of bullying no one touched me or spread rumors it was just name-calling. Back in 1999, bullying wasnt as televised or in media as often. Bullying has always been around with growing children but does the media bringing bullying into the light affect this? I believe that bullying was not as big of a problem a decade ago compared to 2010s. Technology has become a necessity in todays world and this contributes to bullying in a whole new way. A tweet about a peer or a Facebook post can be posted within seconds and can be hurtful to its recipient. I think that because technology and television has become so popular so fast everything can be circulated around America in a few minutes. This can help cause bullying because it is most possible to be featured on social media and television quicker than in the hallways of high school.

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One Tree hill is a television show that is mainly about high school students and their lives in high school. This includes the main character being bullied by his older half-brother. All throughout the first season, Lucas (the main character) is being bullied and harassed by his half brother because he is envious of him. Because this show presents bullying in such a way that it seems that it happens to most students. Inside One Tree Hill, Lucas is just an average student and gets bullied because his aspiring goal to become a basketball player. His half brother does not accept this and sees it as a threat. This threat towards his half brother seems to be so great he bullies and harasses Lucas. Lucas is a very strong individual and seems to surpass the bullying and keep on with his life (Clifford 2014). I believe that because bullying is portrayed as normal inside television, real students will use this information and try to start the bullying cycle. Viewers may view the representation of bullying as acceptable. A way schools can help fight against the cycle of bullying is to have less unsupervised time around school. If there are not many instances in which students can gather and gossip, there will most likely be less time for bullying. Another way bullying can be prevented is by proving to society that bullying is not tolerated. If bullying could be made to be unacceptable, not many people will continue to do it.

Conclusion Bullying is a non-stop cycle that happens in schools everywhere. A few ways schools can help prevent this cycle can be to restrict areas of school without supervision. Bullying is done almost in every school across America in some fashion. Barbara Coloroso believes that stopping the cycle takes more than merely breaking up a disagreement. Coloroso believes that matters should be taken as far as to discover the reason behind the bully and the bullied. If people start to recognize the cycle it can be stopped before it gets out of hand (Coloroso 2008). Bullies are almost all different in their appearance and their attitude but you can always identify a bully by the actions he or she makes in public. If a child of your own is being bullied at school Rana

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Sampson states that it is best to contact the school and inform them as soon as possible (Sampson 2012). A few things that school officials can do to reduce bullying includes reducing time students are less supervised, increase student reporting of bullying and monitoring areas where bullying is expected (Sampson 2012). The only way that bullying can be stopped or prevented is if people speak out and try to stop this constant cycle of hatred.

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Bibliography Sampson, Rana. 2008. Bullying in schools. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.

Bazelon, Emily. 2013. Sticks and stones: defeating the culture of bullying and rediscovering the power of character and empathy. New York: Random House.

Koebler, Jason. 2011. Bullying Affects a Quarter of High Schools Students. US News. United States. 2005. Stop bullying now!: take a stand, lend a hand : resource kit. [Rockville, Md.]: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration.

Barter, Christine, and David Berridge. 2011. Children behaving badly?: peer violence between children and young people. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell. Eriksen, Shelley, and Vickie Jensen. 2009. "A Push or a Punch: Distinguishing the Severity of Sibling Violence". Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 24 (1): 183-208. Yoshimura, Christina. 2010. "The experience and communication of envy among siblings, siblings-in-law, and spouses". Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. 27 (8): 1075-1088. Brockliss, L. W. B., and Heather Montgomery. 2010. Childhood and violence in the Western tradition. Oxford: Oxbow Books. Coloroso, Barbara. 2008. The bully, the bullied, and the bystander: from preschool to high school : how parents and teachers can help break the cycle of violence. New York: Collins Living. Garrett, Anne G. 2003. Bullying in American schools: causes, preventions, interventions. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co.

Thompson, Carolyn. "With U.S. teen's suicide come spotlight, caution.." USA Today. no. 29 (2011). http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/wellness/teen-ya/story/2011-0929/With-US-teens-suicide-come-spotlight-caution/50601464/1 (accessed March 17, 2014). Clifford, Megan. 2014. Assignment One. Blickey, A. 2014. Do you think media glorifies bullying? Education.com. http://www.education.com/question/media-glorifies-bullying/