bullying in united state

Date: July 16, 2021

To: Alexandra Serbinovskaya

From: Nathan Ritter, Brianna Willard, Abduallah Alajmi

Subject: Research and Data Analysis to Improve Professional Approaches to Bullying

Research and Data Analysis to Improve Professional Approaches to Bullying

A Proposal to Payne County Public Schools

Introduction

Public schools in America are host to a diverse and varying range of students, and while this is an inherently positive facet, it is expected that all types of students will experience or participate in discrimination or bullying either directly or indirectly. Victims of bullying typically have access to faculty dedicated to addressing it or counseling its consequences. Subsequently, it is imperative that these faculty remain informed and aware of which demographics are suffering from what types of bullying. As there is no cure-all method, it is imperative that faculty be aware and ready to aid victims of any background.

This proposal is an exploration into varying demographics of bullying and its victims, with the purpose of providing data on, as well as methods to combat, bullying in public schools. As it is important that public school faculty be ready to assist any victim, a variety of knowledge is a great boon, especially with increasing diversity in public schools. Providing more data will not only better arm counseling faculty, but anyone with a mind to offer a hand of aid to victims. If bullying is approached with preparation, we believe it will improve mental welfare of students of all ages across Payne County public schools.

We plan to investigate categorized demographical bullying cases through polls, published data, expert opinion, and varying established resources, and intend to deliver data to those in positions to use it in a beneficial manner. This data will also be made freely available in an effort to better inform the public on which peoples are being affected in which ways, that they may be ready to offer advice or assistance in a prepared manner, as not all bullying is immediately obvious.

Problem Description

A successful student often requires a healthy environment to thrive. A young adult is susceptible to a wide range of detrimental issues that have long-term effects on their success and happiness, with bullying often influencing them strongly. Statistical data published by PACER.org indicates that approximately one in five students will report having been bullied, and victims are at an increased risk of depression, anxiety, sleep deprivation, and academic failure. Further, a few select statistics are staggeringly large in certain demographics. Students who identify or are perceived as LGBTQ have a common chance of being bullied, consisting of:

· 70.1% of LGBTQ students were verbally bullied based on their sexual orientation or gender expression in 2018

· 48.7% of LGBTQ students were cyberbullied in 2018

· 59.5% claimed to feel unsafe at school due to their sexual orientation

There are a number of demographics with similar issues, and faculty responsible should stay informed of which groups experience what, and the frequency at which their bullying happens. Additionally, students must also be aware and informed as public schools should never feel like threatening or dangerous places to any student, and this can only hold true if those who attend work in concert with those who manage.

Client Analysis

Our clients for this report are anyone who might have the power to raise more awareness on bullying. By gathering, analyzing and collating data, we believe we can provide public school faculty with another set of tools to help secure a higher standard of student body mental health across public schools. This set of data will be presented in an accessible format for students and parents as well, and allows for a more informed and prepared public body that might combat bullying and help students of all types flourish.

Research Strategy

The primary goal of this exploration is to research and publish a set of data to public school faculty in an effort to provide preparation for and awareness of bullying in student bodies. Our research will be conducted as follows:

I. Research Goal 1: Determine Specific Need

A. Prior to advocating for another safe place for bullying victims to go to receive the attention and care they need to overcome their issues, it is first necessary to determine the specific need.

1. While the need may be extensive, it may also not be, which is to say, the current resources devoted to this issue may be enough to adequately address it.

2. However, the opposite may be true, and the resources dedicated to this issue may not be adequate to fully address it.

B. As part of determining need, it is also necessary to classify and characterize the specific need.

1. In other words, not all bullying is equal, and so it is useful to know if cyberbullying occurs more frequently than in-person bullying as well as the age, sex, gender, and other demographics associated with bullying.

2. Developing precise calculations can help ensure that any and all resources devoted to this problem actually go to resolving it.

II. Research Goal 2: Identifying Current Resources

A. Identify the current resources dedicated to this problem, as well as the source of these resources, the likelihood of greater resources (if necessary), and other factors surrounding resource allocation.

1. Identification of this sort will help the researchers understand any areas where resources fall short, as well as resource gaps and areas where resources may be greater than otherwise expected or anticipated.

2. Gathering and analyzing this information will put the need for a second center for bullying victims in sharper focus.

B. With this information, the researchers will also have a better idea of the direction in which to take this project.

III. Methods and Strategies

A. The first research strategy that the researchers will employ concerns perusing the secondary literature devoted to bullying and available resources.

1. This literature will come in the form of scholarly sources and those from reputable publications from Stillwater and Oklahoma, more generally.

2. The researchers will strive to procure the most accurate, current, and relevant secondary sources from databases like Jstor, ERIC, and publications like The Oklahoman, Stillwater News Press, and others.

3. Secondary sources will help give the researchers a thorough overview of this issue and its impact on young people.

Project Schedule and Milestones

Organization and scheduling of the project will be conducted small-scale using GroupMe and Google Docs. As the group is relatively small, we have little trouble remaining informed and in contact. To facilitate project completion, we have drafted a timeline of milestones the adhere to, while individual responsibility is discussed prior.

Project Deadlines:

· Internal Proposal due: July 16

· Draft expert interview questions: July 19

· Email selected expert interview: July 20

· Assemble and distribute survey: July 20

· Close survey by: July 21

· EAR rough draft due: July 22

· EAR due: July 28

Team Qualifications

As our team consists only of three members and the timeframe of the project is relatively short, we have not elected a formal leader, and instead have distributed project responsibility loosely through general agreement.

Team Management

Subsequently, responsibilities for each member are decided between milestones, as group size allows for it. Every member understands the weight they carry is larger because the group is so small. We will use GroupMe as a primary means of communication, and utilize Google Docs to collate data and draft reports.

Risk Management

Few issues have risen that might hinder group productivity, but those that have are enough to be considered. All members of the group have other responsibilities that make scheduling difficult, which resulted in loose deadlines for project work instead of strict ones.

It is imperative that each member of the group understand that they carry much weight in the completion of the project, since there are only three members. Each member must actively contribute to the project.

While research can be done smoothly, we face the risk of surveys not being completed by enough people to provide sufficient data that supports our project. The instructor will be sending our survey to other members of the course, and this will provide guaranteed data to support the project. However, we would ideally have a large number of responses for the purpose of consistency.

Resources

Research and data collection will not require significant resources on the part of group members. Participation only requires a personal computer and cell phone that both have access to online networks. To create our survey, we will consider SurveyMonkey.com, which does not require payment, and allows for effective and swift survey creation. Google Docs will be used for collation and drafting, and is also free of charge. Finally, GroupMe will be our primary means of communication, and is also free.

Conclusion

We thank you for your time and consideration of our proposal. Our belief is that students attending public schools should not do so hesitantly, and they should have access to any resource they need to combat bullying of any nature. We offer this research at no cost to Payne County public schools, and is entirely a courtesy with the hope that it might positively impact the future of students at large and allow them to flourish. We hope that our proposal is considered, and that our research is well utilized to great public benefit.