english essay

Outline

Thesis: “Bullying is one of the most widely-spread and dangerous type of violence especially in high schools. It affects the victims’ psychological and emotional state adversely and may cause terrible long term effects. Bullying in schools has never ended despite the efforts by various partners, students who participate often torment their peers and family; the behavior follows them their entire life."

Introduction

Violence experienced in almost all schools has over the time had adverse effects especially on the students’ moral behavior which shape their future lives. The schools constitute some of the places which have become the breeding ground for violence such as bullying among students. The efforts put by various schools’ stakeholders to offering a lasting remedy does not seem to bear the expected results. It increases at an alarming rate (Cornell, Dewey, et al., pg. 32). Therefore, the following research paper finds how the issue found its place in schools and its consequences among students. It is also interested in assessing the current statistics to show how it has affected different schools.

Background

First, bullying involves one form of violence that is initiated by one or more students against another who becomes the victim. It comprises of all forms of physical or psychological intimidation or harm. Bullying could be direct acts such as teasing, threatening or hitting. Also, it involves indirect actions such as spreading rumors or the general social isolation of a person with a malicious intention.

Bullying is a frequent form of violence in schools and involves harmful acts that cause psychological, emotional, social or physical harassment among students. It is often carried out by the senior students who harass the newly admitted students. The new students seem naïve and therefore, they are the weakest ones to bullying. Statistics indicate that there about four million students who become victims of school bullying annually. The act of bullying causes adverse effects on students. For example, it destroys the school environment making it unfriendly and unbearable for most students (Kwan, Grace and Marko, pg. 47). Therefore, it requires a collaborative effort and strategies that would eliminate it especially within the confines of learning.

Negative outcomes of bullying in schools

As pointed out, bullying has many adverse effects that derail the student’s learning despite the parents’ substantial investment regarding tuition fees. Some of the negative consequences established are discussed as follows.

Changing student's personality

During admission that marks a student’s entry in school, there are often great desires and expectations that they hold and would want to accomplish in the course of learning. For example, it is indicated that during admission, most students seem optimistic and hope to achieve their dreams and also meet new friends. However, after joining, they meet senior students who intimidate and threaten them. As a result, their desire and interest towards school and learning change all of a sudden (Polanin, Dorothy and Therese, pg. 87). Since some of them are naïve and face constant intimidation from senior students, their personality about school gets adversely affected.

Dismal academic performance

When the friendly environment that supports and encourages learning becomes altered, the concentration for learning is greatly affected. According to the research, bullying in schools creates an atmosphere of fear for students and makes everything around to be disgusting. For example, the school set up becomes like a small prison where a person’s freedom has been curtailed. Therefore, students are not motivated to study as they struggle and wonder why they face such kinds of harassments, especially from their fellow students. As a result, they end up performing dismally because they cannot concentrate and pay attention due to fear and lack of motivation.

Increased school drop outs

When a particular environment does provide a good support system required, the inhabitants tend to move in search of a better place (Valdebenito, Sara, Maria and Manuel, pg. 339). In the same way, the research findings indicate that bullying in schools creates an unfriendly and unbearable place for many students. Some students have never gone through any harassment from home and would not adapt or tolerate bullying anywhere. For example, they have lived not knowing that stealing exists. As a result, when they cannot tolerate stealing and beating from other students, they have no other alternative but quit school. They may not join any other school as they still suspect there will be bullying.

Low self-esteem

The environment where an individual has been raised has a significant contribution on his or her self-esteem. By self-esteem, it refers to how an individual feel about himself or herself, for example, if a person has a high self-esteem then he or she will feel a sense of value and importance and behave confidently (Polanin et al., pg. 204). Therefore, bullying in schools has been discovered to make some students feel that they are weak and not liked or appreciated. For example, a student can force his classmate to clean his or her clothes. As a result, students who are victims develop a low self-esteem and lack confidence in what he or she does or says before people.

Dysfunctional families in future

Lastly, every effect in a person’s life leads to subsequent repercussions. The experience could either make him or her or destroy his or her next life. For example, bullying in schools creates an unfriendly place for learning, causes harassment and demotivates a student’s morale. As a result, a student will change her or his perspective about education, lose confidence and finally drops out of school. As a result, they join the society without any clear picture of what they should do. The result is that; they get married and have their family. The families led by people who never finished school often will face many challenges such as fighting and lack of stable finances to support the basic needs. When an amicable remedy is not found, then the cycle of dysfunctional families continues. It creates a cycle of poverty and increases the dependency ratio in the society.

Suicide

According to the research, some of the adverse effects of bullying in schools among students are permanent thus cannot be reversed. For example, bullying makes some students develop suicidal feelings. It is also a fatal outcome resulting from bullying in schools. Some individuals exposed to bullying become distressed, terrified, or depressed (Valdebenito et al., pg. 342). They lose a sense of self-worth and have no reason to live thus they strangle themselves to death. Some of these students do not have parental support systems to encourage them.

Positive Effects of Bullying in Schools

Anything that has side effects will also result in some benefits though the benefits are entirely outweighed by the adverse consequences. Therefore, apart from the negative impacts bullying in schools has caused, it can have positive effects in schools. For example, the act of bullying may enable individuals to stand up and become bold, voice their concerns or defend themselves (Polanin, Dorothy and Therese, pg. 221). This way, it makes victimized students enforce equal rights for all the students irrespective of their seniority, age and year of admission. Also, bullying enables some bullies to support their individual interests and enhance their outlook. Bullies could get recruited to demanding jobs such as the military to defend the nations against external attacks.

Statistical Data of the Outcomes in Schools

The current statistics indicates that school crime supplement of deaths among students can be attributed to mental, physical and emotional torture resulting from school bullies. For example, an estimated fourteen percent of high school students have considered suicide as a way avoiding bullying while fifteen percent has attempted to commit suicide. Additionally, according to studies conducted by Yale University, victims of bullying in various schools are about three times more likely to consider suicide as a way of escaping the issue. The British survey also has revealed that almost half of suicides among school students are associated with bullying among students (Kwan et al., pg. 87). The trend is worrying, and it is high time that a suitable plan designed to curb the menace in learning institutions.

Conclusion

Finally, bullying in the schools as highlighted is a big challenge for students that go through it since it interferes with their self-esteem and leads to the loss of their confidence and, in extreme cases it causes suicidal feelings that make some succumb to death. Also, the long-term effects of bullying in school cause many individuals to have dysfunctional families. There are more worrying effects of bullying other than suicide and behavior change and occur uniquely among the victims. The school management needs to come up with appropriate disciplinary measures and actions to curb bullying in schools.

Works Cited

Cornell, Dewey, et al. "Perceived prevalence of teasing and bullying predicts high school dropout rates." Journal of Educational Psychology 105.1 (2013): 138.

Kwan, Grace Chi En, and Marko M. Skoric. "Facebook bullying: An extension of battles in school." Computers in Human Behavior 29.1 (2013): 16-25.

Polanin, Joshua R., Dorothy L. Espelage, and Therese D. Pigott. "A meta-analysis of school-based bullying prevention programs' effects on bystander intervention behavior." School Psychology Review 41.1 (2012): 47.

Valdebenito, Sara, Maria Ttofi, and Manuel Eisner. "Prevalence rates of drug use among school bullies and victims: A systematic review and meta-analysis of cross-sectional studies." Aggression and Violent Behavior 23 (2015): 137-146.