The Causes Consequences and Effects of Bullying

It disturbs student’s option of school as a safe environment, distracting their learning on every aspect. Bullying is the widely practised form of aggressive behavior and an increasing problem for students. It allows superior students to rule over and insult the less powerful. Many factors contribute to bullying. The prime reason why people bully is that it gives a sense of entitlement and superiority over others (Muijs 258). Perception is prime to aiding in bullying prevention at schools. When students see their schools, teacher and other students as being supportive, there will be more likely inclined to seek help when involved in bullying and victimization incidents. Purpose In recent year, bullying has been a salient problem in most learning intuitions. There has been rising interest in the subject of bullying and bullying intervention and preventing strategies.

My study aims to critically examine various types of bullying, causes and the underlying mental impacts of bullying and suggest the most appropriate preventive measure American schools can adapt to minimize mushrooming cases of harassment among teenagers. There is a significant positive connection between bullying and academic achievement, increased suicide cases, low self-esteem and substance abuse among teenagers. We as a society can begin to address and minimize bullying violence in learning institutions. Greener stated that if students allowed to attend institutions where bullying is not accepted then there will be fewer cases of abuses at a given time (p. By teaching student social skills how to cope with their feeling, respect other and have empathy, children can effectively learn how to solve their problem without violence and have respect for others.

Schools should provide a safe learning environment to all students as well as offer protection from danger within their control so that every student can have a chance to learn new information (Jankauskiene et al. Aggression among teenagers is familiar phenomena, but bullying is different since it involves a repeated pattern of abuses between two or group of youths with one being more powerful compared to other. Study shows that bullying issues of bullying and victimization have existed for decades (Jankauskiene et al. Bullying and peer victimization have been a prime problem affecting students in almost all American schools. High predominance of bullying has resulted in escalated somatic complaints, school refusal, anxiety, depression and low self-esteem among bullied students (Moore, and Woodcock p.

Bullying involves the intimidator, the bully-victim, and the spectators. Bullying is anonymous as it happens anytime and anywhere, either in school or outside. With the current advancement in technology and use of internet and the value that children attached to it, has yielded a newest and most common form of bullying, cyber-bullying (Mishna 74). This type of bullying follows its victims into their homes and ensure that victims have no place to hide. Framework My study aims to investigate the current forms of bullying, their causes, mental impacts and some preventive strategies in place. Through formal interview and self-administered questionnaire will help us understand the present bullying state in learning institutions. According to (Burns & Grove p. 9), a case study is a comprehensive description and analysis of a bounded system.

A qualitative case study concentrates on a particular phenomenon and in my case, the event is the causes, mental impact and preventive measures of bullying and victimization. Usually, qualitative case studies are descriptive and heuristic. A heuristic case study opts to find discoveries or merely confirm what is already known. "How do you Feel about Bullying in Schools?" Students, Teachers, and Leaders Addressing Bullying in Schools, 2015, pp. Besag, Val. "Cyber Bullying: Bullying in The Digital Age".  Child and Adolescent Mental Health, vol 15, no. 2, 2010, pp. , et al. "Bullying. " Annual Review of Law and Social Science, vol.  8, no.  1, 2012, pp. "Bullying. " Students, Teachers, and Leaders Addressing Bullying in Schools, 2015, pp. Fox, Claire L. , et al. "Does the gender of the bully/victim dyad and the type of bullying influence children's responses to a bullying incident?" Aggressive Behavior, vol.

"Preventing School Bullying: Should Schools Prioritize an Authoritative School Discipline Approach Over Security Measures?".  Journal of School Violence, vol 15, no. 2, 2014, pp.  Informa UK Limited, doi:10. Greener, Mark.  Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth, vol 60, no. 3, 2015, pp.  Informa UK Limited, doi:10. 1080/1045988x. Ismaili, Emanuela. "Preventing School Bullying: Investigation of The Link Between Anti-Bullying Strategies, Prevention Ownership, Prevention Climate, And Prevention Leadership".  Applied Psychology, vol 66, no. 4, 2017, pp.  Wiley-Blackwell, doi:10. 1111/apps.  Wiley-Blackwell, doi:10. 1111/bjep. Mishna, Faye. "Cyber Bullying in a Cyber World. " Bullying, 2012, pp. Peiper, N. C. , et al. "Subtypes of Bullying and Suicide Behaviors Across Kentucky High School Students. " Annals of Epidemiology, vol.  17, no.  8, 2017, pp. Smalley, K. Bryant et al. "Connection Between Experiences of Bullying and Risky Behaviors in Middle and High School Students".

Although it’s the right of every child to live, be safe and have access to good education, bullying has violated these fundamental children rights. Bullying distracts students’ views of learning institutions being a safe place (Canady,2017). It interrupts their stay and learning process in all aspect. Bullying has remained to be a persistent problem in most American schools despite numerous strategies to curb it (Greener, 2015). The incident of bullying in school has escalated rapidly over past few decades, has become a global concern (Goldblum et al. Loose laws and policies, and failure to uphold rules and regulations that eradicates bullying in American schools are the primary factors that have contributed to the increased rate of bullying among teenagers (Goldblum et al.

Students still face several forms of harassment from their peers. In his study (Canady, 2017), indicated that victim suffered physical, emotional and mental health issues which resulted in school avoidance, increased school dropout, anxiety, depression, suicide and learning problems. The issues of bullying have gained a lot of attention over past few years. Numerous researchers have been carried out in different countries to investigate the causes, forms of bullying, the preventive measure and the physical, emotional and psychological consequences of the bullying on the bullied (Canady, 2017; Goldblum et al. Studies have confirmed that there is a substantial positive link between unlawful acts and low self-control. The study findings indicated that students with poor self-control, often involved in school victimization and other antisocial acts (Payne and Denise, 2014).

Research carried out by (Greener,2015), found that there is a significant definite link between antisocial conducts s and low self-control. Overall, the research findings found that bullies were likely to be impulsive, were more easily provoked and lacked empathy for others, all related with low self-control (Payne & Denise, 2014). Differential Association Theory Sutherland (1947), using differential association theory hypothesized that antisocial and illicit conducts are acquired in similar ways to law-abiding manners. As a way to alleviate their negative attitudes or rectify a situation, the strained person may commit antisocial or illicit acts. Several studies have affirmed that when students are exposed to various forms of strain, they are likely to engage in school bullying acts (Greener, 2015). A large body of empirical findings noted that negative feelings like frustration and anger compel an individual to engage in antisocial acts (Shetgiri, 2017).

In another study carried out by (Payne and Denise, 2004), indicated that anger and school bullying are significantly related. The overall, study’s findings showed that students who experienced emotional/physical abuse, anger, rejection or maltreatment, were likely to get involved in school bullying. Following are some factors that motivate some students to bully their peers. • Feeling powerless in their own life In their study (Payne and Denise, 2004), observed that bullying whether physically, verbally is one-way students claimed a sort of power in their lives. They seek those students who seemed vulnerable and attacks some elements of their personality that make them stand out. Those students who have old shoes, too dumb, short, feminine or smart are mostly the target (Payne and Denise, 2004).

The reason for bullying doesn’t matter, and their only aim is to pull others down to pull themselves up. • Lack of understanding or empathy Greener (2015), observed that students bullied their peer since there were some aspects of their peer’s personality that they didn’t understand or did agree with. The bullies might have a prejudice against their peer’s race, sexual orientation or religion. More often they attacked and bullied students whom they saw emanating “wrong” characters as a good thing. • Looking for attention In their research of trying to under the causes of bullying in learning institutions (Goldblum et al. , 2014), concluded that some bullies never thought themselves as bullying, they only believed that all they were doing was teasing a bit, to befriend or to communicate with their peers.

, 2014) observed that most student who was bullied came from families where there were little affection and openness. Youths saw their older siblings or their parents being aggressive and violent toward another member of the family, siblings or their friends. Kids then inherited these traits and tried to exercise them to their peers (Goldblum et al. Besides, (Goldblum et al. , 2014) stated that the need for power often drove youths who pushed their peers around. , 2014), observed that a significant number of youths were affected by bullying during their study period in American schools. Approximately 15% of American students in their study sample had involved in school victimization and intimidation. About 18% to 22% youths in different grades stated that they had been bullied. Consequently, several pieces of research on school bullying were carried out in several parts of the world (i.

e. He observed that 15% of those primary students and 11% of those secondary youth involved in school bullyings such as hitting, assaulting fellow students, fist-fighting or slapping juniors (2017). Payne and Denise (2014) with a sample of 2000 high school youth in Japan. He observed that 32% of sample youths reported had been bullied and 24% of students said bullying others during the last three months of his study. The cause of variation in the percentage of bullying in different countries was not precisely known. Nevertheless, the ubiquity of bullying instances seemed indubitable. In his study (Greener, 2015), observed that youths continue to encounter verbal harassment and intimidation in learning institutions which has placed them at higher physical and psychological risk and even distracting their academic performance. Most papers have affirmed that occurrences of vocal or other nonphysical bullying and harassment in most learning institutions, yet students still suffer in silence.

In 2014, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey noted that 34. 2% of the students had been bullied in the school environment. In their study (Goldblum et al. The perpetrators used the internet to post abusive messages or pictures against victims (Besag, 2017). Most youths described a double-edged interaction with the current technology and the internet. It provided a platform where students could interact and find new friends, learn new things, but at the same time left them more vulnerable to bullying and harassment (Goldblum et al. Facebook, chatroom, twitter, WhatsApp, and YouTube are the primary contributors the increased cases of cyber-bullying. In their study (Li, Yiqiong et al. In their study, (Li, Yiqiong et al. , 2017), affirmed that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students were often asked intrusive questions about their sex life by their peers.

Majority of LGBT students interviewed admitted that they had encountered a lot of verbal sexual harassment, requested invasive questions by their peers. In addition to sexual harassment, LGBT students were subjected to sexual assaults. Most of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students had experienced sexual threats through their study period (Fox et al. Learning institutions also provide a platform for students to socialize and met with different students from the various background within the school compound. Away from classrooms, learners are often alone minus teachers’ or school administrators’ surveillance. School going students undergoes different experience while in schools, these experience can either be positive or negative (Goldblum et al. School bullying is the intimidation and victimization of youths by their fellow student within the school context.

Canady (2017), conducted systematic research on school bullying, he observed that most students in American schools encountered harassment and intimidation during their study period. The victimization and intimidation have the severe effect on students’ mental health, and academic performance of the students involved irrespective of their level of involvement (Canady, 2017). In his research (Greener, 2015), observed that bullied youth experienced severe mental health problems exhibited with somatic symptoms such as sleep difficulties, bed-wetting, fatigues, stomach aches among other many issues. He noted that the victims often experience anxiety, low self-esteem, depression, they feel socially rejected or isolated and suicidal ideation (Greener, 2015). Students who bullied others also suffer from low school bonding and adjustment, which results in reduced academic performances and increased cases of school dropout (Canady, 2017).

Moreover, it was also noted that persecutors were more likely to engage in different disobedient or illicit acts such as, vandalism, stealing, fighting, and getting in trouble with the law (Canady, 2017). Nadine’s study results showed that the students who were victims feared attending schools since the learning institutions were unsafe for them. This made most students unable to concentrate on their studies thus negatively impacting their academic success. Besides, Wolke, Copeland, Angold, & Costello (2013), researched the effect on of bullying and victimization on students’ mental health and academic performance. The study finding indicated that bullying causes severe mental health issues, anxiety, depression, lower educational achievement, increase school dropout cases, low self-esteem, lack of motivation, and sleep disorders. Also, the study showed that bullies were also at higher risk of performing poorly in their academic, violence in adolescence and use of the substance.

The studies’ findings indicated a rapid increase in the prevalence of school bullying in the United States. The school bullying has a severe negative psychological impact on students’ mental health (Bursch, 2016). Despite its severe consequences, little has been done by the school administration and the teachers to curb the issues of bullying in schools (Brank et al. There are no clear strategies installed in place to prevent school harassment and intimidation or provide any counseling services to those affected by the bullying activities (Bursch, 2016). For instance, (Bias, 2015) noted that there was a substantial gap in the acuity of the prevalence of victimization among students and teacher. Many institutions have either ignored or failed to establish and uphold laws that prevent bullying and protect students’ well-being and their safety (Brank et al.

Bias, suggested that learning institutions should implement policies which address the current salient issue of bullying (2015). He noted that when schools become involved in curbing bullying, students felt safer within the environment (Williams and Peguero, 2013). Sensitization is prime step aiding in minimizing victimization and intimidation in schools. Brank et al. Conclusion In summary, it is clear that school bullying is still a salient problem in most American schools. The youth encounters several forms of victimization and intimidation; physical, sexual, verbal, isolation, exclusion, and discrimination during their learning period (De Pedro et al. Scholars have joined hand together and suggested some possible strategies that can be adopted by the school, administrators, teacher, students, and parents to help address the issues of bullying (Hornby, 2015).

Despite numerous series of researchers about school bullying, it is astonishing that only a few papers have attempted to systematically document best strategies schools can employ to curb this salient problem of bullying in schools (Hornby, 2015). In my study, I will try to address these confines by critically examining previous study data finding and suggest best strategies schools can adapt to minimize bullying incidents. , Hoetger, L.  A. , & Hazen, K.  P. Bullying.  Mental Health Weekly, 27(40), 1-7. doi:10. 1002/mhw. 31223 Coyne, I. , & Campbell, M. , & Maffei, C. Bullying as a style of personal relating: Personality characteristics and interpersonal aspects of self-reports of bullying behaviors among Italian adolescent high school students.  Personality and Mental Health, 6(4), 325-339. doi:10. 1002/pmh. 21529 Gerlinger, J. , & Wo, J.  C. Preventing School Bullying: Should Schools Prioritize an Authoritative School Discipline Approach Over Security Measures? Journal of School Violence, 15(2), 133-157.

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