Developmental Issues
Bullying causes negative effects on both the students doing the bullying, and the students who are being bullied. “Researchers have indicated that bullying has been linked to anger and misconduct (Bosworth, Espelage, & Simon, 1999), criminal or delinquent behavior (Olweus, 2002), and suicidal ideations (Kaltiala-Heino, Rimpela, Marttunen, Rimpela, & Rantanen, 1999)(Polanin, 2012).” As we can see bullying can lead to very negative behaviors. The bullies have been linked to criminal and delinquent behaviors, and the students who are bullied have been linked to suicidal behaviors. In this statistic we see that bullying has two negative impacts. As teachers, we need to rectify the bullying epidemic so that students don’t end up in jail, or even worse: dead. “Victimization, on the other hand, has been linked to poor physical health (Rigby, 1999)” (Polanin, 2012). Bullying takes a toll on the victims, and can lead to poor physical health such as obesity, and low self-esteem. After reading statistics like these, teachers will have moral obligations to end this problem so that students are able to enjoy their educational careers.
Bullying can also affect a student’s cognitive development. “The cognitive component of empathy reflects the ability to adopt another’s perspective and identify one’s emotions, while the affective component is taken as ‘sharing the other’s feelings’ (Caravita, Di Blasio, & Salmivalli, 2009)” (Topku, 2012). Bullying can affect the componet of empathy as discussed in the quote above. Bullying can alter how a child cognitively thinks about themselves in regards to self-esteem.
Bullying can also affect a student’s cognitive development. “The cognitive component of empathy reflects the ability to adopt another’s perspective and identify one’s emotions, while the affective component is taken as ‘sharing the other’s feelings’ (Caravita, Di Blasio, & Salmivalli, 2009)” (Topku, 2012). Bullying can affect the componet of empathy as discussed in the quote above. Bullying can alter how a child cognitively thinks about themselves in regards to self-esteem.