Do Schools Cause Bullying?

There was a lot of discussion on Wednesday as to whether or not schools actually cause bullying. Several members in the class proposed that bullying is actually caused from low self esteem or confidence in individuals and I completely agree. I think Dr. Glassman does make a good point though in that the school environment has a huge impact on bullying, but I disagree with him that schools actually cause bullying.

If we think about it, many times bullies do it because they have deeper psychological and emotional issues and it is easier to bully someone else than to deal with their own problems. Nothing has to be worked out because the bully always gets his or her way.

I found this fantastic article that brings up many fascinating insights into why children and teens bully. The link for the article is http://www.empoweringparents.com/Why-Do-Kids-Children-Teens-Bully-and-How-to-Stop-Bullies.php#ixzz2lEvuwQjo. This article asks readers to think about how many passive bullies they have ever seen. It points out that bullies usually control others through verbal abuse and insults and by making people feel small. Bullies are very negative, critical people who begin bullying usually when they are 5 and 6 years old. People become bullies maybe because they were bullied by their older brothers and sisters, they have a parent or other adult family member who uses aggression or intimidation on others or because they have a diagnosed or undiagnosed learning disability that inhibits their problem solving and social skills.Whatever the reason may be, by age 10 after they have been using bullying to solve their problems for several years, bullying becomes engrained in these children.

An example of a bully given by the article is "He doesn't know how to get along with other kids, so he's usually not trying to play with them. When you look out on the playground at recess, he's probably alone. He's not playing soccer or kickball with the other children; he’s roaming around the perimeter of all the interactions that take place at school on a daily basis. And whenever he's confronted with a problem or feels insecure, he takes that out on somebody else. He does this by putting somebody else down verbally or physically. A child who bullies might also throw or break things in order to feel better and more powerful about himself. When the bully feels powerless and afraid, he's much more likely to be aggressive, because that makes him feel powerful and in control. That’s a very seductive kind of thing for kids; it’s very hard for them to let go of that power."

The article also addressed the adolescent and gang mentality of bullying in high school. It indicates that there are peer groups that attack other kids verbally and emotionally just like gang mentality Many times the children who become targets are those that are shy and passive...those who don't socialize very well like Tyler and Alex in the movie Bullies that we watched on Monday. As we saw in the film bullying is traumatizing for kids who are the targets. The author of the article believes that children should be taught about bullying throughout grade school. He says they need to learn what it means, how to resolve it, and how to deal with a bully. If this is not taught, kids who are targets will think there's something wrong with them, and this vicious cycle—because that is truly what this is—perpetuates itself. Ways to combat bullying given by the article are to
1. Teach Your Children about Bullying from an Early Age
2. Create a Culture of Accountability in Your Home

3. Teach the Skills Your Child Needs to Learn

4. Hold Children Accountable if Your Child is Bullying Others in School Through Giving Consequences

 

This article is full of great ways in thinking about bullying. I highly recommend reading it. It doesn't portray that schools do not affect bullying, but I think it makes the point that schools do not cause bullying. One is a bully because of deep individual experiences and how they develop psychologically and emotionally. Schools themselves do not make children bully, but they can discourage and make a stand against bullying. It is not schools alone though that will completely get rid of bullying. Parents often times have the biggest impact on their children's lives and so they need to be on the same page as the schools if bullying will ever be stopped.