Bullying:It Stops Now!!!
By Raychelle Andrews Psy 320 Fall 2014
Talking Points
- What is Bullying
- Types of Bullying
- Causes/Outcomes
- Prevention
What is Bullying?
Any form of aggression that causes harm to someone whether intentionally or unintentionally.
Bullying happens to adolescents all of the time, all over the world and it is an epidemic that needs to be stopped.
- According to Berk(2010), About 10 to 20 percent of children are bullies, while 15 to 30 percent are repeatedly victimized, most bullies are boys and they use both physical and verbal attacks, while girls use verbal and relational hostility."(343).
- Berk also states that, "Peer Victimization is a destructive form of peer interaction in which certain children become targets of verbal and physical attacks or other forms of abuse"(343).
Causes and Outcomes
- What causes a person to be a victim of bullying?
- frail in appearance
- history of resistant attachment,
- overly controlling child rearing
- maternal or paternal over protection.
- What are they outcomes?
- lower-self esteem
- dependency with others
- vulnerability
- depression
- loneliness
- poor school performance
- disruptive behavior
- school avoidance.
Does Bullying Cause Emotional Problems? A Prospective Study Of Young Teenagers
A study was conducted in Britain to establish the relation between recurrent peer victimization and the onset of self reported symptoms of anxiety or depression in the early teen years (Bond et. al, 2001, 480-484). The study was conducted in a secondary school at the beginning or year 8(which is the second year of secondary school, mean 13 years, and then in 12 months at the end of year 9 (p 480).
- How was the study conducted?
- "Through a 40 minute self administered questionnaire where the participants who were classified as being victimized answered yes to four types of recent victimization: being teased, being excluded, having rumors spread about them, and if they experienced physical abuse or violence(p 480).
- What did they look at during this study?
- "Mental health, Social relations and if they had someone to talk to when they were angry or upset, if they are having a tough time, or if they know someone well who can be trusted with their private feelings and thoughts, family measures of whether their family is intact or divorced"(p 481).
- What did they find?
- Bond et al found that, "3,623 students were surveyed , "2860 participated and they found that 51% of the students surveyed had a prevalent victimization in year eight, 18% self reported symptoms of anxiety or depression in year 9. They concluded that victimization and poor social relationships predicted whether emotional problems were present in adolescents"( p 480)
Stop Bullying PSA
Prevention and reducing bullyng
- Teach children to respond in non-reinforcing ways(Berk, 2010, pg 343)
- Help them to form friendships that are gratifying(Berk, 2010, pg 343)
- Change the child's environment from wherever the bully might be(Berk, 2010, pg 343)
- Promote prosocial behaviors(Berk, 2010, pg 343)
- Help the school develop codes against bullying(Berk, 2010, pg 343)
- Have bystander intervene instead of remaining silent(Berk, 2010, pg 343)
- Enlist the help of parents to assist in changing bullies behavior(Berk, 2010, pg 343)
- Move bully to a different class room or another school if the problem is too severe (Berk, 2010, pg 343)
References
Berk, L. (2010). Emotional and Social Development in Middle Childhood. In Development through the lifespan (4th ed., p. 343). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Bond, L., Carlin, J., Thomas, L., Rubin, K., & Patton, G. (2001). Does bullying cause emotional problems? A prospective study of young teenagers. BMJ, 480-484. Retrieved November 13, 2014, from PsychInfo
SuperLuigiLogan. (2012, March 9). Stop Bullying PSA [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW9Ei21LY6I