I researched bullying prevention and read this article which discussed that bullying is important to be stopped, because it often leads to school shootings, such as Columbine. Research shows that Klebold and Harris (shooters in the Columbine massacre) were often subjected to harassment and bullying from other students. Some wondered if the ridicule from other students had prompted Harris and Klebold to seek revenge. I also learend that critics of increased surveillance in schools contend that bullying, stalking, and harassment present the real risk to students and believe that stronger counseling and early intervention programs are urgently needed. Surveillance may stop bullying, but it is also important to educate students about why bullying is bad. If students do not learn at a young age about it's consequences, then they are more likely in the future to bully others or not know what actions to take when they are being bullied. Bullying was a particular problem in middle schools; 37% of sixth graders, 28% of ninth graders, and 20% of 12th graders reported that they had been bullied at school. This shows that bullying begins at a young age, which could cause stress and lead to pyschological problems in the future.
Studies divide bullying behaviors into two categories: direct and indirect. Direct bullying behaviors include physical and verbal attacks and harassment. Indirect bullying behaviors include subtle actions that might be hard for those not directly involved to recognize. These would include psychological activities, such as those listed earlier, as well as obscene gestures, hurtful facial expressions, and turning friends against each other. Researchers also find that students who had been bullied were more likely than other students to carry weapons to school (4% and 1%, respectively). And an even more shocking statistic is that most of the victims of school shootings are not the bullies who have harassed the shooters, but average students caught in the cross fire of angry classmates. This truly demonstrates how serious the issue of bullying is; it turns the victim into the killer and it puts innocent lives at risk.
I also read about the effects of being bullied. Researchers find that bullied students were more likely to engage in a variety of behaviors than students who had not been bullied, including fearing attack, truancy from school or skipping classes, not participating in afterschool activities, carrying weapons, and engaging in physical fights. Being victimized by a bully may also lead to aggressive and/or antisocial behavior. Many students may even attempt suicide.
However, bullying can be stopped. There are prevention programs, but these antibullying efforts are not only geared toward bullies but also at the students and teachers who do not do enough to stop such aggression from occurring. Some victims claim there are teachers who allow bullying to occur, even encourage it. Others say they are afraid to tell teachers because the educators just ignore it and tell the victims to toughen up. Still other victims are ashamed that they cannot stop the bullies so they retreat into themselves and internalize it. This shows that even the bystanders are to blame. If one sees bullying happening they need to stand up for the bully, rather than stand back in silence, because if they do, they are just encouraging the bullying and it will continue to happen.
Source: http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=OVIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ3020750109&mode=view
Friday, May 6, 2011
Final Project Day 6:
Last night I worked on putting together my poster for the market. I decided to do a tri-fold poster than illustrated the important parts of bullying. For one of the sides I am showing the consequences of bullying. It lists depression, suicide, and school violence. I know a lot about the consequences of school violence, since I read Nineteen Minutes, which was focused on a school shooting. The research I have done has also shown how bullying leads to psychological disorders, which ultimately leads to depression and even suicide. I have stories such as Columbine and Phoebe Prince's suicide story to help demonstrate the seriousness of bullying. Side two of the poster lists many statistics about bullying that I found very interesting. My focus for this project is to educate people about the issue of bullying, and by showing people these shocking statistics, I hope that they will understand why bullying is so relevant and serious today in high schools. The final side of the tri-fold poster is my plea for people to take action now in order to stop bullying. I encourage people to sign the pledge I made as an action item and show that bullying can be stopped as long as we make an effort to prevent it. In addition to the poster I decided to show a short youtube video that shows how even non-physical bullying can be dangerous. It's titled "Words Hurt" and demonstrates how verbal bullying also has serious consequences.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Final Project Day 5 Part 2:
School Violence Timeline:
2009 - In Winnenden, Germany, 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer opens fire at his former secondary school, killing nine students and three teachers. While attempting to flee, he kills three more people before shooting himself.
2008 - A gunman opens fire at a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University on February 14, leaving five students dead and 16 others wounded before killing himself. The shooter is identified as 27-year-old Steven P. Kazmierczak, a former student at the university.
*2007 - On November 7, 18-year-old Pekka-Eric Auvinen shoots and kills eight people at Jokela High School in Tuusula, Finland, and then turns the gun on himself. The shooting was planned in a YouTube video entitled "Jokela High School Massacre - 11/7/2007," which depicted a photo of the school and revealed Auvinen pointing a gun at the screen.
*2007 - On April 16th, 23-year-old Seung-Hui Cho, a senior at Virginia Tech University, shoots 32 students on campus before fatally turning the gun on himself.
*2006 - On April 20, five teenage boys are arrested hours before they planned to shoot fellow students at a local high school in Riverton, Kansas. An individual alerted the police after viewing a MySpace.com message hinting at the upcoming shooting.
*2005 - In late March, Jeffrey Weise, a student at Red Lake High School in Minnesota, enters the high school killing seven people and then himself.
2004 - In response to a $50 debt, 16-year-old Philadelphia, Pennsylvania student Desmond Keels shoots four students, killing one.
2003 - On April 24th, James Sheets, a 14-year-old student at a junior high school in Red Lion, Pennsylvania, shoots and kills the principal in the cafeteria before turning the gun on himself.
2000 - In Lake Worth, Florida, on May 26, 13-year-old Nathaniel Brazill murders his English teacher after the teacher asks him to stop talking to two girls in the classroom. Brazill is later convicted of murder.
*1999 - On April 20, students Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris attack fellow students at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Killing 15 people including themselves, their attack is the deadliest school shooting to date.
1998 - On March 24, an 11-year-old boy and a 13-year-old boy open fire near their middle school in Jonesboro, Arkansas, where they injure fifteen people; four girls and a teacher are fatally shot.
1997 - On October 1st, Luke Woodham, a 16-year-old from Pearl, Mississippi, shoots seven students, and kills two after fatally stabbing his mother.
1996 - A federal government report on school-related deaths shows that between 1992 and 1994, 105 people died at school or during a school-related event from either homicide or suicide.
*1994 - Congress passes the Gun-Free Schools Act requiring every state to enact a law requiring schools to expel students for bringing guns to school.
*1993 - The American Psychological Association estimates that children watch over 8,000 murders on television before leaving elementary school.
1993 - A paper by the National Education Association reports that an estimated 100,000 guns are brought to school every day in the United States.
1993 - President Bill Clinton begins his term with a strong emphasis upon school violence prevention.
1977 - The National Alliance for Safe Schools is founded to provide technical assistance to school districts with rising school violence.
Source: http://issues.abc-clio.com/Topics/Display/913445?cid=85&terms=school+violence
2009 - In Winnenden, Germany, 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer opens fire at his former secondary school, killing nine students and three teachers. While attempting to flee, he kills three more people before shooting himself.
2008 - A gunman opens fire at a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University on February 14, leaving five students dead and 16 others wounded before killing himself. The shooter is identified as 27-year-old Steven P. Kazmierczak, a former student at the university.
*2007 - On November 7, 18-year-old Pekka-Eric Auvinen shoots and kills eight people at Jokela High School in Tuusula, Finland, and then turns the gun on himself. The shooting was planned in a YouTube video entitled "Jokela High School Massacre - 11/7/2007," which depicted a photo of the school and revealed Auvinen pointing a gun at the screen.
*2007 - On April 16th, 23-year-old Seung-Hui Cho, a senior at Virginia Tech University, shoots 32 students on campus before fatally turning the gun on himself.
*2006 - On April 20, five teenage boys are arrested hours before they planned to shoot fellow students at a local high school in Riverton, Kansas. An individual alerted the police after viewing a MySpace.com message hinting at the upcoming shooting.
*2005 - In late March, Jeffrey Weise, a student at Red Lake High School in Minnesota, enters the high school killing seven people and then himself.
2004 - In response to a $50 debt, 16-year-old Philadelphia, Pennsylvania student Desmond Keels shoots four students, killing one.
2003 - On April 24th, James Sheets, a 14-year-old student at a junior high school in Red Lion, Pennsylvania, shoots and kills the principal in the cafeteria before turning the gun on himself.
2000 - In Lake Worth, Florida, on May 26, 13-year-old Nathaniel Brazill murders his English teacher after the teacher asks him to stop talking to two girls in the classroom. Brazill is later convicted of murder.
*1999 - On April 20, students Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris attack fellow students at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Killing 15 people including themselves, their attack is the deadliest school shooting to date.
1998 - On March 24, an 11-year-old boy and a 13-year-old boy open fire near their middle school in Jonesboro, Arkansas, where they injure fifteen people; four girls and a teacher are fatally shot.
1997 - On October 1st, Luke Woodham, a 16-year-old from Pearl, Mississippi, shoots seven students, and kills two after fatally stabbing his mother.
1996 - A federal government report on school-related deaths shows that between 1992 and 1994, 105 people died at school or during a school-related event from either homicide or suicide.
*1994 - Congress passes the Gun-Free Schools Act requiring every state to enact a law requiring schools to expel students for bringing guns to school.
*1993 - The American Psychological Association estimates that children watch over 8,000 murders on television before leaving elementary school.
1993 - A paper by the National Education Association reports that an estimated 100,000 guns are brought to school every day in the United States.
1993 - President Bill Clinton begins his term with a strong emphasis upon school violence prevention.
1977 - The National Alliance for Safe Schools is founded to provide technical assistance to school districts with rising school violence.
Source: http://issues.abc-clio.com/Topics/Display/913445?cid=85&terms=school+violence
Final Project Day 5:
Today I researched how bullying is relevent in society today. Columbine may have happened over ten years ago, but these serious effects of bullying are still taking place in schools now. Within the past few years there have been many deaths that were a result of bullying. Fiveteen-year-old Phoebe Prince hanged herself after being bullied. Six of her classmates were charged with criminal harassment and civil rights violations. These people were responsible for her suicide, which most likely could have been prevented if she had not been bullied. Tyler Clementi is another teenager who committed suicide after he was secretly taped during a gay dorm-room incident. Just a 13 year old killed herself after she was made fun of by other students over a picture.
Research has shown that bullying victims are far more likely to try suicide that non-bullying victims are. According to this article, around 50 percent of high school students say that they have been bullied in ways that seriously upset that. That means that these 50 percent of students are at high risk for suicide. This is just a single fact that screams that bullying is a serious issue that must be stopped.
Some other interesting statistics are that 61% of people believe that bullying is more of a problem right now that it has been in the past. 12% of boys and 9% of girls have said that they bully other students at least 2-3 times a month. 17% of boys and 16% of girls have said that they are bullied 2-3 times a month or more. These are significantly high numbers, especially because these people committing the bullying acts may not realize how serious their actions are. It is important for them to be educated about stories like Phoebe Prince and Tyler Clementi so they can recognize that their words and actions strongly affect other students.
I also found it very interesting and surprising to hear that fewer than half of bullied students have told a parent. I believe that that is part of the problem. Like I learned from reading Nineteen Minutes, victims who don't ask for help are likely to become depressed and result to severe consequences. At the same time, parents and school officials must be on the look out for bullying, because as the facts show, they will not necessarily be told about it. A survey shows that 50% of people believe it is the parent's responsibility to deal with bullying and 39% believe it is the school's responsibility. Recently, to help stop bullying, there have been stricter laws especially on internet harassment.
Source: http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2010121000&type=hitlist&num=1
Research has shown that bullying victims are far more likely to try suicide that non-bullying victims are. According to this article, around 50 percent of high school students say that they have been bullied in ways that seriously upset that. That means that these 50 percent of students are at high risk for suicide. This is just a single fact that screams that bullying is a serious issue that must be stopped.
Some other interesting statistics are that 61% of people believe that bullying is more of a problem right now that it has been in the past. 12% of boys and 9% of girls have said that they bully other students at least 2-3 times a month. 17% of boys and 16% of girls have said that they are bullied 2-3 times a month or more. These are significantly high numbers, especially because these people committing the bullying acts may not realize how serious their actions are. It is important for them to be educated about stories like Phoebe Prince and Tyler Clementi so they can recognize that their words and actions strongly affect other students.
I also found it very interesting and surprising to hear that fewer than half of bullied students have told a parent. I believe that that is part of the problem. Like I learned from reading Nineteen Minutes, victims who don't ask for help are likely to become depressed and result to severe consequences. At the same time, parents and school officials must be on the look out for bullying, because as the facts show, they will not necessarily be told about it. A survey shows that 50% of people believe it is the parent's responsibility to deal with bullying and 39% believe it is the school's responsibility. Recently, to help stop bullying, there have been stricter laws especially on internet harassment.
Source: http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2010121000&type=hitlist&num=1
Monday, May 2, 2011
Final Project Day 4 Part 2:
Bullying Statistics/Facts:
- 30% of U.S. students in grades six through ten are involved in moderate or frequent bullying — as bullies, as victims, or as both — according to the results of the first national survey on this subject.
- Bullying is increasingly viewed as an important contributor to youth violence, including homicide and suicide. Case studies of the shooting at Colombine High School and other U.S. schools have suggested that bullying was a factor in many of the incidents.
- 1 out of 4 kids is bullied.
- Surveys show that 77% of students are bullied mentally, verbally, & physically.
- 8% of students miss 1 day of class per month for fear of bullies.
- Teenagers say revenge is the strongest motivation for school shootings:
- 87% said shootings are motivated by a desire to "get back at those who have hurt them."
- 86% said, "other kids picking on them, making fun of them or bullying them" causes teenagers to turn to lethal violence in the schools.
- Bullying generally begins in the elementary grades, peaks in the sixth through eight grades, and persists into high school.
- Bullying was reported as more prevalent among males than females and occurred with greater frequency among middle school-aged youth than high school-aged youth. For males, both physical and verbal bullying was common, while for females, verbal bullying and rumors were more common.
- Research shows that those who bully and are bullied appear to be at greatest risk of experiencing the following: loneliness; trouble making friends; lack of success in school; and involvement in problem behaviors such as smoking and drinking.
- 74% of 8 to 11-year-old students said teasing and bullying occur at their schools.
- 39% of middle schoolers and thirty-six of high schoolers say they don’t feel safe at schools.
Final Project Day 4:
Today in class I decided to research about the Columbine school shooting. I learned that it was the deadliest school shooting in America that occured on April 20, 1999. During the mass-murder, Eric Harris and Dylan Kleebold killed eleven people, wounded twenty-three, and then committed suicide. Research shows that both boys were social outcasts and faced bullying for being different. Harris was labeled as a clinical psychopath and Kleebold was a depressive. It has caused much controversy wondering if this tragedy could have been prevented by recognizing the boys' plans before they put them into full effect.
After the tragic incident, people blamed many things for allowing this to happen. They said that media was to blame because bomb-making directions were available online and violent themes came across in music and on the television. The school was also blamed for not have stronger security. Schools have since responded to the violence by installing metal detectors at entrances and putting video cameras in the hallways.
It has been Columbine that has awakened the nation to the seriousness and pervasiveness of bullying. It was bullying that causes Harris' and Kleebold's depression to escalate into something as violent as this. Columbine has demonstrated the dangers of bullying and how it has a strong connection to school violence.
Sources: http://issues.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/950858?terms=columbine
http://issues.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/971107?terms=columbine
After the tragic incident, people blamed many things for allowing this to happen. They said that media was to blame because bomb-making directions were available online and violent themes came across in music and on the television. The school was also blamed for not have stronger security. Schools have since responded to the violence by installing metal detectors at entrances and putting video cameras in the hallways.
It has been Columbine that has awakened the nation to the seriousness and pervasiveness of bullying. It was bullying that causes Harris' and Kleebold's depression to escalate into something as violent as this. Columbine has demonstrated the dangers of bullying and how it has a strong connection to school violence.
Sources: http://issues.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/950858?terms=columbine
http://issues.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/971107?terms=columbine
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Nineteen Minutes Entry 6: Final Reflection
I've always loved Jodi Picoult books, but this one is easily my favorite. The interesting storyline, tied along with an important and relevant message, caught my attention after just the first few pages. Picoult is such a strong writer because she makes fiction seem like reality. Her characters are so real, that I felt as if they went to school with me every day. I recognize qualities of my friends and other students within her characters, making Nineteen Minutes a very captivating and powerful novel.
Picoult's novel brings up a lot of important questions. Who has the right to judge someone else? How can we stop bullying? Why does bullying even take place? What does it mean to be different? Can the shooter in a school shooting also be the victim? As high school students, are we ever acting truly as ourselves? I think all of these questions are so important because they connect to me and are relevant in every high school student's life. Although I believe that DHS does not face a lot of bullying, we're still not a perfect school. There's plenty of name-calling, side snickers, and people that make fun of others behind their backs. What these students may not realize is how much hurt they are causing another. Nineteen Minutes was an extremely powerful story because it educated me on why bullying has such severe consequences. It is wrong, hurtful, and must be stopped.
Peter was one of the main characters in this book and I both sympathized with his problems, and also hated him for hurting so many innocent people. Josie, however, was a character that I really enjoyed reading about. She was a complex girl-she was constantly faced with the decision of whether popularity or doing the right thing was more important. For a long time, she took the popularity route. As a girl in high school I know how much pressure there is to do the right thing in order to be accepted. Josie is just like any teenage girl; she knew what she was doing was wrong, but was too selfish to stand up for Peter. It was only in the end of the novel, with the final twist, when she admitted to the court room the truth. She shared that she was the one who shot Matt, not Peter.
I think part of the reason Josie shot her boyfriend was because in the moment she was overwhelmed and scared, and she partly believed that both her and Matt were responsible for leading Peter to this place. She was tired of being a coward and not standing up for what she believed in. She knew that how Matt and her other friends treated Peter was wrong, and in the moment, she felt that she needed to cause Matt the pain he caused Peter. That was her way of standing up for herself, as well as Peter. Similarly to Peter, it was clear that Josie was hurting from keeping the truth to herself for so long.
Josie demonstrates that even though it is difficult, it is very important to stay true to yourself and stand up for what you believe it. The students who stand by knowing that bullying is wrong, but never try to stop it, are just as much to blame. Peter felt alone, when all along Josie cared for him and wanted him to stop feeling the pain he felt. But because she never stood up for him or told him that, he never knew.
Nineteen Minutes was a very powerful and deep story that educated me a lot about bullying and it's repercussions. It has taught me how to be a better person and why it is important to stand up for what you know is right, even if it is not the socially acceptable thing to do. I loved reading this novel, and I think it is very important for other high school students to read it as well so that they can be educated about the issue of bullying.
Picoult's novel brings up a lot of important questions. Who has the right to judge someone else? How can we stop bullying? Why does bullying even take place? What does it mean to be different? Can the shooter in a school shooting also be the victim? As high school students, are we ever acting truly as ourselves? I think all of these questions are so important because they connect to me and are relevant in every high school student's life. Although I believe that DHS does not face a lot of bullying, we're still not a perfect school. There's plenty of name-calling, side snickers, and people that make fun of others behind their backs. What these students may not realize is how much hurt they are causing another. Nineteen Minutes was an extremely powerful story because it educated me on why bullying has such severe consequences. It is wrong, hurtful, and must be stopped.
Peter was one of the main characters in this book and I both sympathized with his problems, and also hated him for hurting so many innocent people. Josie, however, was a character that I really enjoyed reading about. She was a complex girl-she was constantly faced with the decision of whether popularity or doing the right thing was more important. For a long time, she took the popularity route. As a girl in high school I know how much pressure there is to do the right thing in order to be accepted. Josie is just like any teenage girl; she knew what she was doing was wrong, but was too selfish to stand up for Peter. It was only in the end of the novel, with the final twist, when she admitted to the court room the truth. She shared that she was the one who shot Matt, not Peter.
I think part of the reason Josie shot her boyfriend was because in the moment she was overwhelmed and scared, and she partly believed that both her and Matt were responsible for leading Peter to this place. She was tired of being a coward and not standing up for what she believed in. She knew that how Matt and her other friends treated Peter was wrong, and in the moment, she felt that she needed to cause Matt the pain he caused Peter. That was her way of standing up for herself, as well as Peter. Similarly to Peter, it was clear that Josie was hurting from keeping the truth to herself for so long.
Josie demonstrates that even though it is difficult, it is very important to stay true to yourself and stand up for what you believe it. The students who stand by knowing that bullying is wrong, but never try to stop it, are just as much to blame. Peter felt alone, when all along Josie cared for him and wanted him to stop feeling the pain he felt. But because she never stood up for him or told him that, he never knew.
Nineteen Minutes was a very powerful and deep story that educated me a lot about bullying and it's repercussions. It has taught me how to be a better person and why it is important to stand up for what you know is right, even if it is not the socially acceptable thing to do. I loved reading this novel, and I think it is very important for other high school students to read it as well so that they can be educated about the issue of bullying.
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