BULLYING IN SCHOOLS

Bullying occurrences have been a perpetual problem in schools and among teenagers. As Meyer-
Adams & Conner (2008) assert, “Bullying is continued harassment though acts of domination towards
another person, either through physical or emotional abuse.” With the recent technological
developments, bullying can be done online and through social media platforms. As a result of its
advance effects on the victims, bullying has attracted universal attraction from the media, school
authorities, parents, and researchers. Many studies have been done in different schools situated in
different locations all over the world examining the prevalence of harassment among the teenagers in
schools and other places. In light of these studies, it has been established that bullying has some clear-
cut causes and effects and some recommended effective precautions to curb its occurrence.

We have also written Persuasive Essay on Bullying

CAUSES OF CYBER BULLYING
The first cause of bullying is revenge for being victims of bullying. Some people may feel that their
parents or their older sibling are bullying them. As a result of this feeling, these victims bully others
as a way of seeking to be equal. According to Mark & Ratliffe (2011) “getting bullied by any of these
people may tempt some to claim a sort of authority for themselves through bullying, rather than
reaching out for help in dealing with their own issues in a more productive way.” The same case
happens with cyber bullying occasions. Often, cyber bullying happens as a result of offline bullying of
the perpetrators in their lives by others. However, cyber bullies do not have the courage to bully their
victims in person and thus use the tools at their disposal to perpetrate intimidation to others.
Additionally, “cyber bullying can be an extension of real world bullying too, for example, hacking
into a social media account in order to display negative rumors about another person” (Hoff &
Mitchell, 2009).

The second cause of bullying is jealousy or frustration toward the victim by the perpetrator. When an
individual becomes the smart one in class or other places such as getting good grades always or
becoming the centre of attention, they may become the target of bullying. According to Meyer-Adams
& Conner (2008) “some of the things that make people different are generally neutral characteristics,
but some, like being smart, focused, or creative often representing attributes that the bully wishes they
shared with their victim.” As bullies become jealous and thus target their victims with an aim of
undermining these outstanding attributes. The third cause of bullying is inadequate understanding and
lack empathy. The lack of empathy or understanding as a result of personality adequacy is a
predicting factor for bullying. As a result, suck kind of people develop prejudice toward a given
sexual orientation, race or religion. They thus use their prejudice as a justification for bullying those
who possess such personalities that they do not agree with or that they hate.
The fourth cause of bullying is the urge for attention. Some perpetrators do not construe themselves as
bullies. As Mishna (2004) asserts “they think that all they are doing is teasing a bit, and may even be
trying to communicate or even befriend the person they are bullying.” They underlining intention is to
get the attention of their victims. As such, they result to use of physical violence or insults to
communicate since they are unable to communicate through decent ways of communication. When
the instances of victimization increase, the bullied are forced to become friends with the perpetrators
to continued bullying. This way, the perpetrators achieve the intended purpose by getting the attention
of their victims. The fifth cause of bullying is dysfunctional families. The presence of a dysfunctional
family does not guarantee that children from such families will be bullies. However, Peguero (2012)
holds that “a large number of bullies come from homes where there is little affection and openness.”
Such individuals observe their parents or significant ones being violent toward other family members,
friends, or siblings and thus become violent too.

The sixth cause of bullying is the urge to be in control. When individuals bully others, they instill fear
in them and thus achieve control over them. This gives them power and an urge for more power leads
to increased instances of bullying. Such occasions become a routine in a way that the perpetrator
assumes the role a serial bully and enjoys doing it for more power. The seventh cause of is the reward
attached to bullying. In most cases, individuals bully others to gain acceptance from their peers or to
belong into a group. As such, they perpetrate bullying, even though it might seem morally wrong to
them, to maintain recognition or membership to the peer group.

EFFECTS OF BULLYING
Bullying has effects for both the bully and the victim. The first effect of bullying is that the
perpetrator has a high likelihood of becoming a delinquent and finally a serious criminal. This
tendency emanates from the repeated pattern of bullying that graduates the perpetrator from a bully to
a hardcore delinquency. The second effect is that bullying puts the bully at risk of abusing drugs and
thus become a school dropout. The third effect is that bullying puts the victim and the perpetrator at
the risk of experiencing depression. As Mishna (2004) asserts “bullies and victims tend to experience
depression more than their peers who have not been involved in bullying, which can lead to academic
problems, frequent absences from school, loneliness, and social isolation.”

The fourth effect of bullying is increased risk of self-destruction behaviors for both the perpetrators
and their victims. Such self-destruction behaviors include suicidal thoughts and risky behaviors such
as excessive engagement in harmful drugs. As Mark & Ratliffe (2011) state, “research indicates that
the risk of both thoughts and attempts at suicide seem to be higher for girl victims and girl bullies no
matter how infrequent the bullying occurs.” The fifth effect of bullying is development of nervous
habits by the victims. Bullying is a bad experience on the victims. As such, they live in fear since they
do not know when next they will encounter a bully. The result of this is that they develop nervous
habit for the fear of repeated bullying experience. The sixth effect of bullying is poor appetite and
sleeping disorders. People react differently when exposed to demeaning experiences such as bullying.
As such, some develop poor appetite while others develop sleep disorders or both.

HOW TO END BULLYING

The first precaution for addressing bullying is setting clear rules and expected code of conduct that is
enforceable. As such, the rules must be positively stated, minimum in number, easily enforceable,
enforced consistently, and applied evenly among the subjects. As Peguero (2012) asserts “the rules
and the consequences for breaking the rule should be clearly stated and students need to know what
will happen if they engage in a certain behavior.” The second precaution against bullying is rewarding
positive behavior. When an individual engages in bad behavior, it becomes easier to point it out than
it is to point out good conduct. As such, it is vital to recognize individuals when they engage in good
behavior so as to guarantee the willingness to uphold it.

The third precaution is putting in place a mechanism for open communication. Such communication
mechanisms may include classroom meetings and the use of suggestion boxes to report such
incidences. When the communication becomes open, the involved parties are able to understand each
other and thus combat the problem when detected than when it is too late. The fourth precaution is
frequent monitoring of suspicious tendencies that may point toward bullying incidences. Monitoring
some places such as playgrounds, bathrooms, and hallways is vital for combating bullying
occurrences. As Mishna (2004) asserts “Statistics show that 47.2 percent of bullying occurs in a
hallway or stairwell, 33.6 percent of bullying happens in the classroom, and 20 percent of bullying
situations occur on school grounds, on playgrounds and on school busses.” As such, monitoring these
places frequently is very effective in curbing bullying.

Conclusion
In conclusion, there are several causes of bullying such as revenge against bullying, jealousy or
frustration toward the victim, inadequate understanding and lack empathy, and the urge to be in
control. On the other hand, bullying has several effects such as increased risk of self-destruction
behaviors, development of nervous habits, and risk of depression. There are a number of precautions
that might be implemented against bullying such as setting clear rules and expected code of conduct
and putting in place a mechanism for open communication.

References
Hoff, D. & Mitchell, S. (2009). Cyber-bullying: causes, effects, and remedies. Journal Of Educational
Administration, 47(5), 652-665. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09578230910981107
Mark, L. & Ratliffe, K. (2011). Cyber Worlds: New Playgrounds for Bullying. Computers In The
Schools, 28(2), 92-116. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07380569.2011.575753
Meyer-Adams, N. & Conner, B. (2008). School Violence: Bullying Behaviors and the Psychosocial
School Environment in Middle Schools. Children & Schools, 30(4), 211-221.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cs/30.4.211
Mishna, F. (2004). A Qualitative Study of Bullying from Multiple Perspectives. Children &
Schools, 26(4), 234-247. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cs/26.4.234
Peguero, A. (2012). Schools, Bullying, and Inequality: Intersecting Factors and Complexities with the
Stratification of Youth Victimization at School. Sociology Compass, 6(5), 402-412.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2012.00459.x