Bullying Basic Information
According to WebMd.com, “Bullying is acting in ways that scare or harm another person. Kids who bully usually pick on someone who is weaker or more alone, and they repeat the actions over and over. Bullying starts in elementary school and becomes most common in middle school. By high school, it is less common but still occurs”(Webmd.com). As future educators, we need to be mindful that bullying is a serious ailment occurring in schools all over the world today. In today’s society we also not only have in-school bullying, but we have to deal with Cyber-Bullying due to the rapid popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. We all remember when we were in elementary, middle, and high school, when we learned about Character Counts, and the Golden Rule. Our goal is to make everybody aware of the problems associated with Bullying, and find a way to solve this ongoing social issue amongst students.
Bullying can occur in many different ways. Bullying can occur physically like tripping or pushing. Another form of bullying is calling people names, starting rumors, or excluding students from social groups. “The U.S. Department of Justice has reported that 37% of students don't feel safe at school because of bullying” (Cloud, 2012). More than 1/3 of students don’t feel safe going to school due to the pressures of bullying. This is an alarming statistic because we want to create a safe learning environment for each and every student that walks through the doors of our schools.
One myth that we have about bullying is that some students are the ones doing the bullying, and that other students are the victims. While that is what we believe to be true, it is not always the case. “In a survey of 43,000 high school students completed in 2010, the Josephson Institute's Center for Youth Ethics found that 47% had "been bullied, teased or taunted" at school but that 50% had been bullies themselves” (Cloud, 2012). We can see that student’s who are bullied, are in many cases, also being bullied. This is an educational epidemic that we need to solve to create safer schools for our students. Teachers need to see these stats so that they can better their classroom practices.
Teachers need to be educated on how to properly attend to these issues. “One school administrator who deals regularly with new forms of bullying is Robin Lowe, principal of the biggest middle school in Houston: Pershing, home of the Pandas, of whom there are 1,750 on any given day. Lowe says that "probably once a week" she meets with a parent clutching a printout showing Facebook wall posts that degrade one of her students.” (Cloud, 2012). Cyber-bullying is just the newest ways that bullies target their victims. It is so easy for students to say mean things about others on Facebook, because it is online and they don’t even have to see the other students face when they say or do hurtful things in Facebook posts.
Bullying can occur in many different ways. Bullying can occur physically like tripping or pushing. Another form of bullying is calling people names, starting rumors, or excluding students from social groups. “The U.S. Department of Justice has reported that 37% of students don't feel safe at school because of bullying” (Cloud, 2012). More than 1/3 of students don’t feel safe going to school due to the pressures of bullying. This is an alarming statistic because we want to create a safe learning environment for each and every student that walks through the doors of our schools.
One myth that we have about bullying is that some students are the ones doing the bullying, and that other students are the victims. While that is what we believe to be true, it is not always the case. “In a survey of 43,000 high school students completed in 2010, the Josephson Institute's Center for Youth Ethics found that 47% had "been bullied, teased or taunted" at school but that 50% had been bullies themselves” (Cloud, 2012). We can see that student’s who are bullied, are in many cases, also being bullied. This is an educational epidemic that we need to solve to create safer schools for our students. Teachers need to see these stats so that they can better their classroom practices.
Teachers need to be educated on how to properly attend to these issues. “One school administrator who deals regularly with new forms of bullying is Robin Lowe, principal of the biggest middle school in Houston: Pershing, home of the Pandas, of whom there are 1,750 on any given day. Lowe says that "probably once a week" she meets with a parent clutching a printout showing Facebook wall posts that degrade one of her students.” (Cloud, 2012). Cyber-bullying is just the newest ways that bullies target their victims. It is so easy for students to say mean things about others on Facebook, because it is online and they don’t even have to see the other students face when they say or do hurtful things in Facebook posts.