Bullying Causes School Violence Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Bullying Causes School Violence - Research Paper Example Bullying involves â€Å"a person’s or a group’s intentional and hurtful action towards one person or more than one person and involves a complex interplay of dominance and social status† (Sutton, Smith, & Swettenham, 1999). Physical violence, slander, and verbal intimidation are just of the few manifestations of bullying. Incidence of bullying are so prevalent in schools that a national estimate of more than 1.5 million students bullying and being bullied on a weekly basis in the United States (Nansel et. al., 2001). By surveying more than 15, 000 students in grades 6 through 10, the researchers found that one in seven students is either a bully or victim. This research was also supported by different self-methodological reports which generally yields that a wide range of bullying prevalence estimated with as many as 75% of youth reported that they are being the target of peer harassment at least occasionally (Olweus, 1993; Cowie & Dawn, 2004; and Sanders & Phye, 2004). Such harassment may include physical contact, verbal assault, making obscene gestures or facial expressions, and being intentionally excluded. Although numerous programs have been created to decrease the violence and harassment occurring at school, there are indications from numerous studies that provide startling results about the frequency of bullying in schools. Such statistics suggest that bullying is quite common and not decreasing (Olweus, 1991; Glew et. al., 1997, and Bradley & Daniels, 2011). Because of this, there is a need to examine the implications of aggression, violence, and bullying among children and young adults across the country. Reactive and Proactive Bullying Because of the growing concerns of the prevalence of bullying in schools, researchers have begun to distinguish... This report approves that bullying is a serious matter involving a substantial number of students. No one knows at this point exactly what caused students such as Charles Andrew Williams, Eric Harris, Dylan Klebold, and Cho Seung-Hui others to shoot and kill their fellow students at school, but bullying is frequently mentioned as a possible contributor. The report released by U.S. Secret service that two thirds of school shootings have been caused by attackers who experienced bullying clearly showed how grave the bullying climate at US schools is. This essay makes a conclusion that bullying may be a barrier that impedes effectiveness of teaching, the primary mission of school personnel, yet recent studies found that evidence-based, whole-school approaches to bullying are rarely implemented in elementary schools. Implementing anti-bullying interventions in the elementary years, before bullying becomes a part of school culture, might improve schools’ ability to carry out their educational mission by improving students’ ability to focus on learning and establishing an atmosphere of respect early on. Well-conducted, comprehensive bullying prevention programs can be effective in reducing the number of bullying incidents and creating a climate that discourages bullying behavior. We should begin to look at bullying as a behavior fraught with inherent violence that can contribute to a horrific cycle of mayhem and at its worst, death of school children in the country. The information presented in this paper provides additional evidence of the need for elementary school personnel to implement bullying prevention programs, not only to prevent school shootings but also to prevent potential barriers to providing education: student feelings of lack of safety, belonging, and sadness.