A child’s healthy development is contingent on the school climate. The presence of a friendly and safe atmosphere is critical for active learning as well as psychological and emotional well-being. Bullying creates a hostile environment which is not ideal for education. Teasing, taunting, hitting, threatening, spreading rumors, and stealing are all forms of harassment which can jeopardize the quality of a child’s life. Strategies to eradicate this heinous trend should be developed to protect children from any physical, emotional, and mental harm.
Recent Occurrences
Recently, Mallory Grossman, a twelve-year-old female student committed suicide as a result of being bullied. According to Schmidt (2017), the youngster was taunted through texts, posts on Instagram, and snapchats. Her offenders kept calling her a loser who had no friends. At one point, they even advised her to kills herself. Mallory was allegedly tormented continuously by a multitude of sixth-grade girls in the school hallways, making her life in school unbearable. Her grades gradually declined, and she experienced continuous headaches and stomach pains at home. She was finally found dead, after killing herself, to escape her miserable life.
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A nine-year-old lad from Colorado committed suicide in 2018 soon after he identified himself as gay. According to Nedelman (2018), the boy’s mother claimed that her son had been a victim of bullying in school even before he realized that he was gay. Her son frequently reported instances of verbal and physical abuse by a group of boys in the school. Nonetheless, the offenders became meaner when the boy confessed to being gay. Jamel, the young boy, lived in misery due to the harsh realities of his life. The police later confirmed that Jamel had killed himself. In another case, two students aged twelve were arrested by Law enforcers in Panama City Beach Florida after a student committed suicide due to cyberbullying. According to Lynch (2018), one of the plaintiffs claimed that she spread rumors that Gabriela, the victim, had an STD. Furthermore, she also verbally abused her and threatened to disclose some personal and overly sensitive details about the young lady’s life. Ultimately, Gabbie ended her own life.
The Primary Concern
Bullying affects individuals emotional and psychological well-being. Studies have discovered a link between bullying and increased cases of depression and suicide. According to Menesini & Salmivalli (2017), a pproximately twenty-six to fifty-six percent of students globally experience bullying in a single year. Hence, every six or seventeen out of thirty youngsters in a single class are either victims or perpetrators of this heinous practice. Any involvement in bullying is directly linked to poor mental and physical health, as well as participation in various risky behaviors ( Menesini & Salmivalli, 2017). Teens who experience this type of violence are likely to become depressed or anxious. Additionally, they perform mediocrely in school and lack a sense of belonging. They are unsocial and exhibit suicidal tendencies. Bullying generally decreases the quality of life in students.
Secondary Concerns
Educational staffs, as well as law enforcers, have taken steps to stop bullying in school. Notably, most of the strategies used have led to other secondary concerns. Most of the perpetrators of this act do so to establish their dominance in schools. Additionally, they involve themselves in such actions so that they can fit into certain social groups. Hence, the majority of these students utter harsh words and do mean things in an attempt to achieve this goal. Nonetheless, most of them have no intention of causing any severe harm to others. Notably, the interventions that have been used have led to the conviction of many students, who have been confined in Juvenile detentions as a result. The interventions have given rise to a considerable number of prisoners. Concomittantly, these students are unable to continue their education and the exposure to such hostile environments has led to the prevalence of delinquency. Generally, the lives of these students are destroyed the moment they set foot in juvenile prisons. Young offenders are more likely to commit other crimes once released, and most of them end up serving life sentences. Undeniably, these are the secondary issues that arise due to the interventions.
Problem Category
Bullying can be categorized as a critical problem for leadership. The presence of bullies in schools makes people question the type of leadership in the institution. Generally, bullying indicates flawed leadership. Effective leaders can modify the behavior of their subordinates through various strategies such as classical conditioning ( Kelly & Pohl, 2018) . Consequently, negative reactions are eliminated and positive ones retained. The prevalence of bullying in educational institutions calls for a change in the leadership styles used.
The relevance of the Problem
The study of this problem is significant since it creates an understanding of the health effects of bullying. Additionally, it is also deepening human understanding of the factors that motivate bullying, as well as the strategies that can be used to inhibit this behavior and retain more desirable ones.
Suggestions of a Leadership Response
Leaders can use their influence to promote positive behaviors among students. Notably, students are inspired and motivated by their leaders. Therefore, it is common for learners to emulate their actions, whether they are positive or not. Instructors and other dominant people in the school setup should act as role models, treating everyone with a lot of courtesy and respect for their uniqueness. They should refrain from making negative comments that may lead to student victimization, as well as using vulgar names to refer to pupils. In addition, these professionals should condemn bullying and use positive and negative reinforcement to eliminate it ( Kelly & Pohl, 2018 ). The development of educational programs that create awareness on the impact of bullying is also a critical step for eradicating this harmful practice. It is through these actions that the school would transform into a secure place.
References
Kelly, J., & Pohl, B. (2018, March). Using Structured Positive and Negative Reinforcement to Change Student Behavior in Educational Settings in order to Achieve Student Academic Success. In Multidisciplinary Journal for Education, Social and Technological Sciences (Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 17-29). Universitat Politècnica de València.
Lynch, J., (2018). Cyberbullying in suicide. CNN. Retrieved from
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/01/23/us/florida-cyberstalking-charges-girl- suicide/index.html
Menesini, E., & Salmivalli, C. (2017). Bullying in schools: the state of knowledge and effective interventions. Psychology, health & medicine , 22 (sup1), 240-253.
Schmidt, S., (2017). After months of bullying, her parents say, a 12-year-old New Jersey girl killed herself. They blame the school. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/08/02/after-months-of- bullying-a-12-year-old-new-jersey-girl-killed-herself-her-parents-blame-the- school/?utm_term=.116a48f1bd2c
Nedelman, M., (2018). 9-year-old died by suicide after he was bullied, mom says. CNN. Retrieved from
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/28/health/preteen-suicide-jamel-myles/index.html
