Final Project Day 7:

    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