IRPPart2

ChristopherMichele
EDU600TeacherasLeader
8/21/13

My research was based on a topic that is observed by people throughout the educational
world. It is so important that we, as teachers, are constantly reminded about the seriousness
bullying has on our students. The topic I chose was Bullying: Good or Bad and its long term
effects on children. As a person who has witnessed someone be bullied for a major portion of
their educational career, 4th-12th grades, I know the damage it can cause first hand. Bullying can
be one of the most destructive elements of a childs well-being. Even though I am a proud
teacher supporting anti-bullying 100% every day, I ponder if Anti-bullying has caused some bad
instead of good to todays children. As a teacher of Health and PE it has come to my attention
that the students have become more needy and less independent I have come to notice that the
students are now less tough and weaker in the simplest situations. I see that they become
emotionally upset quicker rather than work through the situation and deal with it. I see my
students cry over everything. For example, if a student does something that is funny that causes
the class to laugh with the child, not at the child, this student sees the laughter as bullying and
begins crying instead of feeling proud that they are able to entertain others. Another example is if
a student gets hit in the face with a ball accidently in a game, the next day I have a note from
their parent asking why their child is being bullied in my class. After extensive research, I am
able to define what bullying is and its long-term effects on children. Also, I explain if Antibullying helps or hurts the student become a strong or weaker adult and if anti-bullying allows
the student to become more emotional and not able to handle simple life obstacles. So in order to
do all this, I break down this paper into what bullying is, ways of preventing bullying, and if
anti-bullying is Good or Bad.
First, we must understand what bullying actually is and the destruction it may cause. In
Selekman and Vesseys article they state that:

Bullying, defined by the National Association of School Nurses as the dynamic and
repetitive persistent patterns of verbal and non-verbal behaviors directed by one or more
children on another child that are intended to deliberately inflict physical, verbal, or
emotional abuse in the presence of a real or perceived power differential, occurs
anywhere there is an absence of adults.
The problem with bullying is that from such a young age, not knowing how to cope or react to a
bully, a persons long term health can be affected severely. The Sam Houston State University
issued a news release in 2012 that, Bullying can lead a person to health consequences including
general and mental health issues, behavioral problems, eating disorders, smoking, alcohol use,
and homelessness. A person who is bullied throughout their lives are a victim of someone elses
own personal issues. Bullies develop from, for example, a home where aggressive methods are
used to manage difficult situations or someone wants to show off in front of friends or family.
Seeing someone walking alone can be dangerous because that person may innocently walk by a
group that will target and individual and degraded them to make the group look cool and
untouchable. Poor role models, violence on television as well as video games are also other
strong areas where bullying can develop.
There are many different levels of bullying and all are categorized as a serious threat. In
the Daily Post, Roturua and New Zealands article state there is physical bullying where things
like physical violence, theft, starting fights, and stealing are present. Also things like pinching,
tripping, and assaulting others are further examples of physical bullying. Verbal bullying is
another type of bullying which includes constant name brigading, making fun of ones clothes,
making up horrible nick names for them, and threatening them to stay quiet. For example, a child
can live with a physically or verbally abusive parent/guardian/sibling; this in turn may cause this
same child to mimic these actions onto their peers. Emotional and social bullying, another type
of serious bullying, include things like sexual harassment, public embarrassment, false stories

about someone and insulting a person or people they know. Cyber bullying is the newest type of
bullying where children use the internet, like Facebook or Twitter to pick on someone. Use of
cell phones and text messaging is another type of way bullying that is now taking place in. (Daily
Post, November 2012)
You wonder how or why bullying has been around for so long and why it has not been
removed from society. There are a number of reasons why but the main reason is because the
student does not want to tell on their peer. In the Edmonton Journal, Alta and Edmonton explain
that some students feel the code of silence is preventing them from being bullied further. It also
states they are afraid that telling on the bully/s, will cause their friends not respect them. The
article also explains that some do not care they are bullied while others worry about continual
picking on and name calling. Lastly, they do not want to get their friends into trouble and that
may be preventing them from talking about their experiences. (Edmonton Journal, May 1999)
Bullying is serious and even though it has not been completely dismissed from our schools, this
country has taken a positive step towards preventing it.
From school psychologists and teachers, to principals and administrators, they are always
working around the clock to solve the problem on bullying. There are ways to prevent bullying
and ways not to prevent bullying. The Selekman and Vesseys article discusses methods that do
not work to stop bullying in the schools. They theorize that one of the worst ways of preventing
bullying is ignoring the fact that someone is being bullied. (Selekman, Vessey, 2004) Also, they
believe that when one says a child is being a child after being accused of bullying is not a way
to approach the situation because it is extremely ineffective. (Selekman, Vessey, 2004) Selekman
and Vessey continue to discuss the ineffectiveness of zero tolerance policies and having no
programs in place as being ineffective.

There may be ineffective interventions on bullying but also very effective ones. Parents have
such an important role in preventing their child from being bullied or being the bully. The
Selekman and Vessey article states that:
Parents should be encouraged to talk to their children to discuss the childs view of
bullying, what causes people to bully each other, how it feels to be bullied or to bully
others, and the effects bullying behaviors have on students who are victims and the
bystanders (2004).
Parents must be addressed and educated on the rights and wrongs as well as the differences
between good and bad when it comes to bullying. Other effective anti-bullying interventions and
programs come from important people who are inside the school itself. It is the principals duty
and one of their most important roles as an administrator of the building to keep bullying under
control. Benjamin Alfred states The school principal has the most pivotal role in reducing the
incidents of bullying and appropriately intervening in incidents that do occur (2009). As time
passes and principals continue to combine these interventions, one day bullying may not be
priority number one.
Throughout this research, learning if preventing bullying makes a person weaker seems
to have been proven wrong. There is no evidence in this research identifying and relating why
todays children are more emotional and weaker. This research plainly explains the
extraordinary destructive damage bullying has on a person. Bullying is something that must be
prevented because it causes significant damage and long-term effects on people. People who are
bullied can fall into a life of regrets like behavioral problems, and alcoholism. These types of
negative effects can only bring a person to crime or life full of depression. This is something a
child should not be forced into at such a young age and it is clear now why there should be a zero
tolerance for bullying. Bullying is abuse and abuse is not tolerated, (Selekman and Vessey,
2004). As schools throughout the country continue to have anti-bullying programs as top

priority, the country will one day be able to put an end to this wildfire that has been burning
across the world for decades. As communities, school districts, administrations, and families
come together and identify the importance of anti-bullying, it will eventually be controlled and
hopefully a thing of the past.

Work Cited
Benjamin, Alfred, University of Mississippi. What influences principal perceptions of bullying?
Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanties and Social Sciences, Vol 73 (10-A)
(E). 2013. US: Proquest Information & Learning. UNE Library.
Bradshaw, Catherine P, PhD; O'Brennan, Lindsey M; Sawyer, Anne L. Examining Variation in

Attitudes Toward Aggressive Retaliation and Perceptions of Safety Among Bullies,

Victims, and Bully/Victims. Professional School Counseling 12.1 (Oct 2008). Pp 10-21.
PsycInfo. UNE Library.
Rigby, Ken, School of Education, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia. What
schools may do to reduce bullying. Handbook of school violence and school safety:
International research and practice (2nd ed.). pp. 397-408.(2012). 645 pp. PsycInfo. UNE
Library.
Minne Fekkes, MSc, PhD; Frans I. M. Pijpers, MD, PhD; S. Pauline Verloove-Vanhorick, MD,
Ph. Effects of Antibullying School Program on Bullying and Health Complaints Arch
Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2006;160(6):638-644. doi:10.1001/archpedi.160.6.638. Proquest
Information & Learning. UNE Library.
Selekman, Janice; Vessey, Judith A. Bullying: It Isnt What it Used To Be. Pediatric Nursing
Vol. 30. pp. 246-249. (May/June 2004). ProQuest. UNE Library.
Smokowski, Paul R; Kelly Holland Kopasz. Bullying in School: An Overview of Types, Effects,
Family Characteristics, and Intervention Strategies. Children & Schools 27.2 (Apr
2005): 101-110. Proquest Information & Learning. UNE Library.
(1999, May 8). What is Bullying? Edmonton Journal, Edmonton, Alta, p. H1/Front. ProQuest
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(2012, November 23). What is Bullying? The Daily Post, Rotorua, New Zealand, p. A-4. .
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