Briand 1

Casey Briand

Dr. Wright

ENC 3331-0002

18 Mar. 2017

Analysis of a Rhetorical Problem:

Bullying in U.S. High Schools

Although it is often simplified down to the idea of one mean, aggressive child picking on

one passive, defenseless child, bullying is, in reality, a complex issue. Children who bully engage

in aggressive behavior for a multitude of reasons, and a child who is a victim of bullying one day

may find himself a perpetrator of bullying the next day. Despite the depth of this issue, the

assistance provided to students at school is very often one-sided students who are bullied are

given help and resources, while the students who bully often receive no guidance in how to stop

their aggressive behavior.

On the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) website, teachers, parents, and

students involved in public school in the State of Florida can find resources to assist them in

dealing with bullying (FLDOE, p. 1). However, in the extensive list of resources for educators,

there is a notable gap in the type of assistance teachers can access. While there are numerous

websites, PowerPoints, and handouts to view regarding how to assist bullied students, there is

little information about how to assist the students who are engaging in bullying behavior. A gap

in the rhetoric of bullying in schools exists the conversation teachers, parents, and students

have about bullying revolves around the victims of bullying behavior, and the needs of the

students engaging in bullying are often ignored rather than addressed. Because of the narrowness

of the conversation, teachers frequently do not have access to resources that can help them learn
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to address the needs of students who engage in bullying behavior. In order to understand and

address this issue, the narratives constructed by the actors in this situation must be explored. The

rhetorical situation in schools surrounding the issue of bullying must also be explored.

According to Shetgiri, et. al., in the article "Parental Characteristics Associated with

Bullying Perpetration in US Children Aged 10 to 17 Years, there are thee essential factors that

must be involved in order for aggressive behavior to be considered bullying. First, there must

be intent to harm. Harm that occurs accidentally to a student is not defined as bullying. Second,

there must be repetition. The aggressive acts must occur more than once. Finally, these harmful

and recurring acts must be related to an imbalance of power, which occurs when the bully

perceives or creates a situation in which the victim of the bullying is less powerful than the bully

(Shetgiri, et al., p. 2280).

The history of the formal conversation surrounding bullying in schools is fairly recent,

having truly grown over the past three decades. The way all stakeholders have talked about

bullying has changed over time teachers, parents, and students themselves conceptualize

bullying differently now than twenty years ago. Parents who went to high school in the 1970s

and 1980s often talk about bullying as a sort of rite of passage it was often considered a

normal part of growing up, and something that had the positive effects of teaching children how

to handle conflict. Anti-bullying programs slowly became a factor in schools starting towards

the late 1980s and early 1990s, and the first anti-bullying legislation in the United States was

passed in 1999. As of 2015, all fifty states have adopted anti-bullying legislation. Current

research pertaining to bullying in schools is therefore not a very old body of literature. However,

the conversation has expanded considerably over the past three decades. Current research

focuses on many facets of bullying and bullying prevention, exploring the reliability of systems
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like Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) and examining the effects of high school

bullying throughout the victims later lives. Despite this expanded conversation, the issues faced

by the students who engage in bullying behavior are still largely ignored, and the discussion is

focused greatly on supporting those students who are victims of bullying.

The idea of narratives can help to unravel the nature of this conversation. A narrative is a

story a sequence of real or fictional events over time (Palczewski, et. al., p. 131). Stories are

rhetorical in that they can craft the world into a particular understanding, contribute to the

memory of community, family, or individual, or make a point in an engaging way. Like many of

the events of school, bullying has its own narrative. Research suggests that over half of all

students in grades six through twelve are bullied either physically or verbally (Austin, et. al., p.

188). Therefore, the parents of any generation of children or teenagers likely experienced

bullying themselves when they were in that age group. The narratives those parents construct are

the narratives that are passed down to the children and, further, written into the films and

television shows that the children consume. Generations of bullying narratives have evolved this

way, with each generation of students complaining of bullying to their parents and being told

thats just the way it is, I survived it and so can you, or some kids will just always be

mean. Alternatively, some parents may characterize the bullies more sympathetically, saying

hes bullying you because he feels bad about himself, or even, when people pick on you, it

really means they want to be friends. In childrens media, bullies are often characterized as

misunderstood they are angry about something and take it out on their peers, and when they are

shown understanding or patience, the bully can become a friend. In other media, such as films

aimed at adults and teenagers, bullies are sometimes just depicted as mean people who can

never learn to do better, and who are in some way punished as a result. Narratives of bullies and
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bullying are broad, and depending on which narratives are shared and passed down, children and

teenagers can grow up with different perceptions of what it means to bully and be bullied.

Because of these narratives, and the experiences that teachers, counselors, and

administrators carry with them, it is possible that the adults in charge in an academic situation

approach bullying behavior with an inherent bias. If a teacher was horribly bullied herself

throughout high school, she might be much more sympathetic towards the victims of bullying in

her classroom, and write off the bully as a hopeless cause who is acting out of some sort of

inherent evil. If a teacher was not bullied, or was bullied but also told a narrative of bullies being

sympathetic and misunderstood characters, he might be more likely to question the motives of

the bullies in his classroom and attempt to help them address the roots of their behavior. Because

bullying is such a universal experience, the narratives shared and held by the participants in the

conversation are factors in shaping how they handle the situation.

The three elements of the rhetorical situation are exigence, audience, and constraints

(Palczewski, et. al., p. 228). The audience of this rhetoric especially warrants further

exploration. In the context of rhetorical situation, audience consists of those who have the ability

to be influenced by the rhetoric to change the situation in some way. In the case of this

conversation, the audience being explored is primarily the teachers who work at any given high

school they are capable of directly influencing the situation within their classrooms, and

provide assistance to both the students who are bulling and the students who have been bullied.

Many researchers have explored the issue of the demographic gap between the teaching force

and the rapidly diversifying student body in the United States. While the students in high schools

across the nation reflect a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds, languages, and cultural heritages,

teachers, as a whole, remain mostly white middle-class females only fifteen percent of teachers
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identify as black or Hispanic, despite black and Hispanic students almost outnumbering white

students in U.S. schools (Busey and Waters, p. 72).

In a study conducted by Shetgiri, Lin, Avila, and Flores, called Parental Characteristics

Associated with Bullying Perpetration in US Children Aged 10 to 17 Years, the researchers

found that African American and Latino children and children living in poverty and who had

emotional, developmental, or behavioral (EDB) problems had higher odds of bullying (p. 2280).

Research has also indicated that there is a connection between poor mental health in parents and

bullying behavior in children. According to Shetgiri, Lin, and Flores, in another study titled

Suboptimal Maternal and Paternal Mental Health Are Associated with Child Bullying

Perpetration, parents who struggle with challenges such as mental illness may have children

more likely to bully (p. 461). While this research has implications for the potential needs of

students who engage in bullying, it also suggests that the teachers who are so integral in the

rhetoric of bullying may not be fully equipped to deal with the realities of students who bully.

Mental health issues are historically more likely to remain untreated in lower-income populations

who may not have the resources to identify and treat them. If most teachers are coming from

white middle-class backgrounds, they themselves as a professional body may have less

experience dealing with these issues, and the narratives and experiences they share may make it

easier for them to identify with and support the victims of bullying rather than the perpetrators.

In understanding why the rhetoric of bullying is shaped as it is, looking at the rhetors involved

can help unravel the situation. In this conversation, when the situation is being explored with the

intent of expanding the rhetoric amongst the audience of teaching, understanding the

demographics of the profession can assist in filling gaps teachers may have. In order to talk

about and learn to address the challenges sometimes faced by students who bully, teachers may
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need to understand more about underlying concerns such as poverty and mental health issues.

Additionally, teachers may face other barriers to talking students about bullying such as the

perceived boundaries between teachers and students and appropriateness of approaching students

who are being bullied or students who are bullying.

The nature of the bullying conversation can also be considered in terms of its reactionary

nature stakeholders talk about bullying in the wake of a tragedy related to bullying. The

evening news will be silent on the issue until a local student takes his own life in response to

being bullied for years. For example, Floridas anti-bullying legislation is called the Jeffrey

Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act, and it was created in response to Jeffrey Johnstons

suicide after three years of bullying in his Florida school. The event was tragic, and scarring for

Jeffreys family and community, and Jeffreys mother fought for years for the legislation to be

passed in her sons memory. The law requires all districts to adopt and enact a formal bullying

policy for all schools, school events, and school computer networks.

While the legislation is a clear positive step forward in terms of creating safe learning

spaces for all students, when discussing the overall bullying conversation, it is important to

explore the fact that the act was passed in a cloud of rhetoric that focused on a grieving mother

and cast Jeffreys bullies as purely evil characters, and understand how that influences the overall

rhetoric of bullying. In an article for ABC News shortly after the legislation passed, the final

sentence places emphasis on Debbie Johnson. The authors quote her saying we're gonna prove

to my little brown-eyed baby boy that one person can make a difference (Chang, Owens, and

Brady 1). This is representative of the focus in the bullying rhetoric narratives and extreme

appeals of pathos are consistently used to place emphasis on the struggles of the victims and their

families, often following a terrible and unnecessary loss of life. This is vital and important, and
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the struggles and memories of the victims of bullying should not in any circumstances be

ignored. However, it is necessary to note that much of the bullying rhetoric is shaped by tragedy

and a focus on victimization, and therefore casts the bullies as inherently evil and irredeemable.

By expanding the conversation to also focus on how to address the underlying concerns that lead

certain students to bully, the Jeffrey Johnston Stand up for All Students Act may truly lead to

standing up for all students.

Research clearly indicates that children who face challenges outside of school are more

likely to engage in bullying behavior in educational settings, but the conversation surrounding

bullying in schools is still firmly focused on assisting those students who are victims of bullying.

In order to expand the conversation and address the needs of all students, it is necessary to

consider the audience in this case, teachers to which the rhetoric must be addressed. Due to

the narratives shared by all stakeholders, including teachers, and the gaps in understanding that

may be caused by the primarily middle-class teacher demographic, teachers may need additional

training on the underlying causes that may be related to bullying. Future rhetoric directed at

teachers should take these factors into account, and focus first on educating teachers on the

research that explores the causes of bullying, and second on training them to talk about and

address these issues when it is possible to do so.

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Works Cited

Busey, Christopher L., and Waters. "Who Are We? The Demographic and Professional Identity

of Social Studies Teacher Educators." Journal of Social Studies Research, vol. 40, no. 1,

Jan. 2016, pp. 71-83. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/j.jssr.2015.07.001.

Chang, Juju, Linda Owens, and Jonann Brady. "Mom's Campaign for Florida Anti-Bullying Law

Finally Pays Off." ABC News. ABC, 2008. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.

Florida Department of Education. Bullying Prevention. FLDOE, 2017.

http://www.fldoe.org/schools/safe-healthy-schools/safe-schools/bullying-prevention.stml.

Accessed 14 Feb. 2017.

Palczewski, Catherine Helen, Richard Ice, and John Fritch. Rhetoric in Civic Life. Pennsylvania:

Strata, 2016. Print.

Shetgiri, Rashmi, et al. "Parental Characteristics Associated with Bullying Perpetration in US

Children Aged 10 to 17 Years." American Journal of Public Health, vol. 102, no. 12, Dec.

2012, pp. 2280-2286. EBSCOhost, doi:10.2105/AJPH.2012.300725.

Shetgiri, Rashmi, et al. "Suboptimal Maternal and Paternal Mental Health Are Associated with

Child Bullying Perpetration." Child Psychiatry & Human Development, vol. 46, no. 3,

June 2015, pp. 455-465. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s10578-014-0485-z.