Prevalence And Types Of School Bullying

Name Instructor Course Date School Bullying Introduction School Bullying is a social and moral dilemma that exhibits short term and long term repercussions on physical as well as mental health of the victim. The issue of bullying prevails over all the institutions, but it is more prevalent in the School systems of US (Frazier, and Ehiorobo). It is not unreported that the victims of bullying take extreme measures to stop the excruciating pain caused by it. These measures, in most of the cases, being suicide. Recently, a fifteen-year-old immigrant took her life to overcome the excessive tormenting by her bullies (Frazier, and Ehiorobo). Considering the long term and short term implications of bullying, it is comprehensible why it has become a topic public and political importance. School bullying is a grave issue, one that should be dealt with consistency by adopting a holistic framework Prevalence of Bullying According to studies bullying is considered as a subgroup of the relational anger and violence, categorized to intentional, repetitive, and abuse of power. The main difference between bullying and other types of aggression is the abuse of authority. These characteristics are approved by the US disease Center, APA (American Psychological Association) and National Association of School Psychologists. Nonetheless, in assessing bullying, these elements are not focused, making it harder to distinguish between bullying and other aggression issues (Hymel, and Swearer). The reported prevalence ratio of bullying differs significantly in studies. It is indicated that almost 10% to 33% of the students are a victim of peers whereas 5% to 13% of students admitted to being a bully. This vast difference is reflective of dissimilar assessment approach by the difference in gender, circumstances, and principles. Usually, a large number of boys reported being a bully in comparison to girls. Alternatively, most of the girls reported being peer victims. Although bullying is present since preschool, it is the highest in the middle school, whereas it diminishes by the end of high school (Hymel, and Swearer). Types of Bullying There are many types of bullying; physical bullying involves utilizing physical force to harm others; verbal bullying involves taunts and threats; social bullying includes degradation and slander, and cyberbullying involves harassments through electronic media. The most common and prevalent form is social and verbal bullying, and unfortunately, are mostly overlooked. Undoubtedly, the gravest form of bullying is cyberbullying and physical bullying that needs to be dealt with immediately (Hymel, and Swearer). Recently, in 2015, a Chinese high school student was beaten, burned with cigarettes and stripped naked. Although the legal charges are pressed against the offenders, it would under no circumstances be equivalent to the suffering endured by the girl. The gravity of the torture is marked as “the reminiscent of Lord of Flies” by the California Judge (PELISEK). One cannot assert what bullied children live through. The trauma becomes a part of their being and eats them. The pain, the struggle never ends for them and haunts them for their entire life. Aftermath of Bullying The grave consequences of bullying cannot be overlooked. A trauma faced by a child can significantly impede his developmental growth. As children are entirely dependent on their caregivers, not biologically grown up and their concepts of the circumstances stand not completely developed, their reactions to the incidents are quite innovative and require supporting involvement. The traumatic stress endured by a child, be it through bullying or any other incident, negatively impacts the developing process as well as the functioning of the brain (Frazier, and Ehiorobo). The aftermaths of the trauma will be extremely distressing if the child does not have family support. Completely different behavioral issues can arise when the child tries to comprehend the traumatic incidents. More so, in some cases, the child will isolate himself from the traumatic experience and soak themselves up with attitude generating negative attention. These behavioral adoptions can be encapsulating the probabilities of growth and development, ignored by the child to protect himself (Frazier, and Ehiorobo). Bullying and Psychopathological Behavior Accordingly, a widely debated connotation is the relationship between bullying and psychopathological behavior. The extensive debates put forth two hypotheses: Firstly, the preexisting psychopathologic attitude results in consequent bullying, and Secondly, bullying can result in psychopathological behavior in the future. The first theory was evidenced by the studies that show that children with internalizing problem showed a higher rate of involvement in bullying, in comparison to children without these issues. The second supposition was backed by studies that reported deteriorated behaviors, expressive and psychosocial working of the children who suffered bullying (Kim et al.). The determination of the causal relationship between School bullying and Psychopathologic behavior is essential to devise a holistic framework to overcome bullying. It has been indicated by studies that all types of Psychopathological behavior, inclusive of social issues, hostility, and behavioral difficulties, are not the cause of bullying. Quite alternatively, these are the consequences. The causal relation is reinforced by the pre-existing antecedences of bullying and the strong point on the issue by the institution. School Bullying is drawn parallel to youth violence, making it a matter of utter attention. It i...