Bullying in Middle Schools: Research Types of Bullying

Bullying in Middle Schools
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1 Introduction
As a child grows up, it is always very expected that there are a number of changes that he or she undergoes. These changes are usually, in most cases, very rapid, sometimes unexpected and might find the child unprepared .It therefore poses a challenge for him or her, especially when it comes to balancing all the aspects of his or her life. Perhaps the trickiest part of it all comes in middle school, when the child has to learn how to make friends, to associate with peers, and generally, expand his or her social circle. This level in one’s development is the trickiest, as one generally has to quickly learn about interpersonal skills. It is also when bullying becomes more prevalent.
It is always expected that human beings should treat one another, as they would also want to be treated. This is however, not usually the case on some instances. Some individuals are selfish, and would want to get or experience something through the suffering of others. It might not sound so fair, but that is the case when it comes to bullying. Bullying is a very common occurrence in most schools. So many times, it is usually expected that a student hardens and toughens as he or she grows up. However, it is inevitable that there will be others who will be tougher than others, hence want to take advantage of their conditioning.
Some students will just be hell-bent on causing havoc and intimidating others, within the confines of the educational institution. It is usually quite strange to note that the bullies usually know that they are indeed doing the wrong thing, but still continue doing it anyway. It kind of gives a bully some sense of satisfaction, when he or she insults, mishandles, mistreats or victimizes another person. The victim ends up having physical or emotional injuries, but the bullies still revel in that. In the present age, bullying has taken a new dimension, as the rise of the age of information technology has placed everyone connected to the internet, at the risk of being bullied. This is called cyber bullying, and occurs in various ways, such as someone the application of crude photography and posting of demeaning messages on one’s social sites.
In middle school, the rate of development of these individuals is usually quite dynamic, complex and rapid. It covers the entire realm of an individual’s life and enables one to be a more responsible person. One is able to start building up interpersonal relations, have a good rapport with people .This is also the stage where a person develops leadership skills, and additionally, learns how to manipulate others as well. It is a very definitive stage in the development of an individual, as it provides one with a glimpse of what life is all about, first hand.
In some way, bullying is also evolving as the age goes by, and basically new ways of doing it are being invented by the culprits. Bullying can be defined as the process or act, of exerting aggression or negative behavior on another individual. Such behavior incorporates physical or emotional abuse, or both. When it comes to the school context, bullying is any form of behavior by some students, which is aimed at causing intimidation, be it physical or psychological, to another student. Bullying can be categorized into two general branches; the direct form of bullying, and the indirect bullying. Direct bullying is usually done through teasing, threatening or stealing from the victim. It is mostly done by boys, and hence, rampant among the boys schools.
Indirect bullying is done by rumor mongering or isolation. It is mainly done by girls, and therefore a common characteristic of bullying in girls’ schools. In order to ascertain whether an act is bullying or not, its frequency needs to be observed. These acts that define bullying shouldn’t be isolated cases; they must be done repeatedly for them to be classified as bullying. They are just some of the clues that schools need to use in their efforts to combat bullying within their respective compounds, since they offer a first evidence of vice. This paper will look at the issue of bullying in schools, the characteristics of bullies and the victims of bullying, and the measures that can be taken to prevent it. It also analyzes the effects of bullying on both the bully and the victim.
3. Types of Bullying
3.1 Physical Bullying
First of all, bullying can be effectively defines as any act that has an intention to cause hurt, is repetitive, uses an unjust power, and is enjoyed by the aggressor(Rigby,2002).This is arguably the most popular kind of bullying. As the name suggests, it is the form of bullying which is aimed at physically harming an individual. In middle schools, it comes about as a result of students wanting to gain some form of control over their victims. For such kind of bullying to occur, the bullies usually tend to be big in stature, hence more aggressive and domineering. This enables to kick, shove or beat up their targets. One thing to note about physical bullying is that it is the easiest to identify, since it is easily visible (Smith, n.d). Additionally, it is what most students in middle school practice as the main form of bullying, making educational institutions to place more attention on it.
3.2 Verbal Bullying
When it comes to verbal bullying, the perpetrator usually aims at ensuring control or domination over the target, out of the tirades they use on them. They can apply the use of insults and name-calling, to gain mileage over the target. Such bullies will be insistent on insults and vulgarity so as to assert themselves over their target, in a manner that belittles or hurts the victims. For such kind of bullying, the perpetrator usually looks at the situation, circumstance, or physical condition of the victim. For example, the bully might focus on the inferiority of the target, maybe in class or sports, and use that as a yardstick to belittle. This is why most disabled students form a bulk of the victims of verbal abuse (Smith, n.d).
The most difficult thing with verbal bullying comes in its identification. It is usually very difficult to correctly identify verbal bullying, since in most cases, it occurs in the absence of the teachers or any authority. A student will most likely aim such verbal vitriol when the teachers aren’t present, and this would therefore prove difficult to prove. It becomes a matter of the victim’s word against the perpetrators. As a result, schools tend to handle verbal bullying with some lack of seriousness, as they consider the students in middle school to be too young to be affected by verbal abuse. Research has however shown that verbal abuse has similar impacts to other forms of bullying; at it even causes more negative psychological impacts on the student than the other forms of bullying (Dulmus & Sowers, n.d). One is left emotionally scarred by the words they are told by these bullies.
3.3 Cyber Bullying
This is where an individual uses the power of the internet, to harass another, embarrass or threaten another person. This form of bullying incorporates acts such as sending threatening messages or emails, sending nude or disturbing pictures, or threatening someone through their online social presence (Kowalski et.al. 2012). This kind of bullying is increasingly getting popular since more and more people are getting connected to the internet. Additionally, the bullies are usually more confident since for cybercrime, it’s more difficult to track down the culprit (Kowalski et.al. 2012). Much of cyber bullying usually occurs as a result of lack of confidence by the perpetrator, to confront the target.
There are other new forms of bullying that have developed from the above main types of bullying. These are relational, sexual and prejudicial bullying. Sexual bullying is usually one that focuses on individuals’ sexuality (Dulmus & Sowers, n.d).It might be in form of the use of pornographic material, calling names, vulgar language or derogatory touching. This form of bullying is usually very common in mixed schools, and in most cases targets the female portion of the student population. A bully can for instance, give a negative or abusive comment about a girl’s appearance. This might be in form of her attractiveness, or sexual activity (Brisbois, 2008).This form of bullying is very dangerous, since it is seen as the foundation of sexual assault or rape.
Sexual bullying involves both boys and girls as the perpetrators, even though it is the girls who are mostly the victims. When it comes to girls as the perpetrators, there is often the use of abusive language aimed at the target, such as ‘slut’ or ‘whore.’ Sexting, or engaging in sexual chat through the phone, is always another source of sexual bullying. For example, there is the situation whereby the girl might send her then boyfriend, her photos. When they breakup however, the boy decides to share the picture with almost the whole school in an attempt to revenge. This makes the girl vulnerable to sexual bullying, since she would now be taken as a sexual object, and made fun of, at any instance. This exposes the lady to the risk of sexual assault.
Sexual bullying usually comes about as a result of the aggressor’s urge to feel powerful or appear mature. Considering that most kids at middle school are usually in the adolescent stage or somewhere around there, they are therefore subject to peer pressure and social acceptance. For boys, they need to prove that they are indeed the ‘real deal’ by sexually harassing girls. This is often to prove that they are now mature. It also gives the aggressor the excitement or the thrill of it, while at the same time help in covering up one’s esteem issues (Smith, n.d).
The other new kind of bullying is the prejudicial bullying, which is based on bullying along the lines of discrimination. This discrimination can be based on race or religion, or any definitive demographic aspect, including one’s sexual orientation. For example, one might be bullied since he or she is a black, or gay, or lesbian (Dulmus & Sowers, n.d).Such kinds of bullying are usually a combination of emotional, verbal and physical bullying aimed at an individual. In middle school, such a form of bullying usually takes up a format whereby an individual is particularly singled out for harassment. This can have very serious impacts, especially if one is harassed based on his or her race or religion. It can open the door for the development of hatred along these lines, and later on as the student matures crime along these lines too.
Relational bullying on the other hand can be termed as a special type of emotional bullying. It happens mostly in the social arena, where the perpetrator aims to gain social mileage through embarrassing the target, in an attempt to isolate him or her. Such bullies can strike anywhere that the target takes for social activities, including social groups and even sports. Their main aim is to increase their popularity at the expense of the victim. The victim might experience intimidation or aversion by his or her peers, as a result. Generally, girls seem to be the main players when it comes to relational bullying.
The reason why relational bullying is usually very prevalent in middle school is due to the fact that during this age, tweens usually have a more developed social aspect in them, but a rather underdeveloped or immature emotional stature. This forms a cocktail for the most ideal breeding of dangerous behavior (Sanders & Phye, 2007).As compared to earlier developmental stages; an individual in middle school usually has acquired greater interpersonal skills that enable him or her to have the flexibility to fit in a certain social circle. Relational bullies therefore, have a very advanced level of understanding these social dynamics.
Middle school is a very interesting stage of one’s life. The stage offers both sides of an individual, the soft, laid-back side, and the other crude side. The tweens, as they are called, are usually very selfish while at the same time extremely sensitive. They easily and quickly react to anything that looks like a threat to them. These individuals can easily lash out even when there is no actual need or importance for doing so (Newman & Newmann, 2012).
4. Characteristics of Bullies
4.1 Age, gender and bullying
The prevalence and type of bullying has been shown to change as one goes through the different levels of education. The gender as well, matters when looking at the same. Generally, there is a marked increase in the rate percentage of verbal as well as physical bullying in the earlier years of an individual compared to the later years, where cyber bullying takes more prevalence(Kirby,2014).In the united states, and in particular, the District of Columbia, it was found that one in every five students got bullied in the year 2013.Out of this statistic, girls were found to be twice more likely to be bullied, as compared to boys(Kirby,2014).Girls suffered mostly from verbal, relational or sexual bullying, while on the other hand, boys suffered mainly from physical bullying.
Bullies are in most cases usually seen as individuals who are just out of order or hell-bent on causing intimidation .One major characteristic of bullies is that they have an aggressive personality, and they also have a high likelihood of displaying such aggression when faced with different situations. They have a characteristically high affinity to aggression, as they lack self restraint to keep off from such (McCabe & Martin, 2005).From a more general perspective, it is notable that bullies are usually older and even stronger physically, than their victims.
A bully usually lacks any sense of empathy or remorse for others or the acts he or she commits, respectively. These individuals are literally out to cause suffering and havoc to their victims, without even the slightest ounce of guilt or sense of humanity, over how their targets feel about it. They have selfish ambitions that are entirely based on themselves and not the targets. This lack of empathy is what makes bullies to be termed as mean. Due to their short temper, a bully will often focus on the intimidation of others, be it in the form of threats or by the virtue of reputation (Dulmus & Sowers, n.d).They are usually very egoistic and like being looked up to.
A bully is easily irritable, hence hot tempered. They can get enraged out of absolutely nothing, or something very petty. As earlier discussed, their tendency to anger is one of the most obvious characteristics that they possess. A bully will tend to tease other people in a way that is both hurting and annoying. This is in line with the earlier point, that they are selfish. The ease of irritation of these bullies will push them into committing acts of aggression (Sanders & Phye, 2007).
Due to their background, bullies tend to be rude and disrespectful to adults. They always feel that they are entitled to everything, and that the acts they commit are not supposed to be questioned. As a result, they increasingly grow defiant t any efforts by adults to control them, and can even get aggressive. Middle school is a complicated stage, since here, an individual is at a crossroads between childhood and adulthood. When it therefore comes to the case of a bully, a lot of factors are invoved, as there is the aspect of adolescence combined with the characteristics of a buly. This even increases the defiant behavior of a bully.
4.2 Family structure and bullying
The background of bullies is also a pointer in explaining their characteristics. According to Perren (2005), the families where bullies come from usually display a lack of cohesion or unity. The families seem to be in a state of power struggle and this plays into the minds of these individuals. They soon grow up believing that the only way to gain control is through domineering. Additionally, since they have grow up within such an environmental context, they see it as quite normal to use force to get whatever they want even in school. All these goes down to the lack of proper parental teaching or control over the children, which exposes them to taking up negative aspects of the society.
Such individuals usually lack basic etiquette and lack the simple manners too. They do not know how to get attention or support from even their own friends. This is what makes them resort to the use of force or intimidation. Due to a breakdown in some aspects of their upbringing, bullies tend to have no personal drive or character; neither do they have any personal control of their own. They instead feel in control from the control of others. For middle school students, the condition is even worse, since most of the bullies will continuously feel under...