December 8, 2012
Assignment 15 Anyone can be the victim of bullying but certain types of children are more likely to be victimized. Children who act submissively and anxiously are more likely to be bullied than children who do not have those tendencies. Bullied children also tend to be insecure and to cry often, even before the bullying begins. Bully victims tend to have fewer friends than children who do not experience bullying. In addition, a victim of bullying is often perceived poorly by peers and may have experienced peer rejection. These children are often found alone at recess and lunchtime. This negative peer response typically occurs long before the bullying begins. Unfortunately, children with special needs are disproportionately victims of bullying. For instance, children with learning disorders often report that they are bullied as a result of their disorder. Children with obvious physical or mental issues may also face abuse at higher levels than their peers, as may those who are homosexual or bisexual. Being physically weaker than peers also seems to put a child at increased risk of being bullied. This particularly seems to be the case for kids who look weaker at first glance; in other words, kids who are shorter, thinner or less muscular than peers. Victimized children also tend to fail at sports. Most of the time, bullying occurs while other kids are present. Yet, the most common reaction for bystanders is to keep silent and do nothing. While there are a variety of reasons for this inaction, most of the times kids simply don’t know what to do. The key then is to get these bystanders to demonstrate that bullying is not acceptable and it’s not cool. Therefore at school, a good anti-bullying policy must be in place before bystanders can be expected to report a bullying situation. If your school doesn’t have an anti-bullying policy, then develop one for your classroom. It’s important for all kids to know that bullying behavior is unacceptable. To ensure that bullying prevention efforts are successful, all school staff needs to be trained on what bullying is what the school’s policies and rules are, and how to enforce the rules. Training may take many forms: staff meetings, one-day training sessions, and teaching through modeling preferred behavior. Schools may choose any combination of these training options based on available funding, staff resources, and time. Training can be successful when staff is engaged in developing messages and content, and when they feel that their voices are heard. Learning should be