The Issue of Bullying in Middle School

Introduction 

School bullying is an issue of grave concern today. In early childhood, bullying is one of the common manifestations of violence in the peer context. Approximately thirty-three per cent of students have been subjected to intimidation at least once in their middle school years by their peers ( Costantino et al. 2018 ). A proper definition of bullying is contingent on three primary criteria’s which are recurrence, intentionality, and disparity in power. Therefore, harassment refers to the systematic exploitation of power by peers. Recent studies suggest that bullying takes places with the absence of adult supervision. Most parents often do not know whether their children are being bullied. Likewise, some teachers may not be aware of such forms of violence while the ones that have witnessed it may choose to ignore these cruel practices. Notably, bullying starts as early as preschool and reaches its peak during middle school. Even though bullying is overlooked by many in the society, it adversely affects students’ academic performances, their development, as well as their psychological and emotional well-being.

Purpose 

This research has a number of core aims and objectives. The first aim is to accurately define bullying and promote an understanding of what it entails. Secondly, the study is also targeted at identifying the gender that is most active in bullying, and the reasons for the gender discrepancies in relation to participation in harassment. In addition, the study also aims at determining the risk factors for bullying and victimization, as well as the diverse impacts of this practice to the victims. Notably, this research is highly significant especially to educational studies since it provides information that can be used in the development of strategies to combat bullying in middle school.

Research Questions 

The research is guided by three critical questions. These are:

What factors motivate harassment and victimization?

What are the factors behind the discrepancies in gender participation in bullying?

What are the academic, psychological and emotional effects of bullying on the victims?

Literature Review 

Bullying involves a dynamic relationship between the victim and the offender. In this interaction, the bully’s power augments while that of the one who has been bullied decreases. Hence, the victim is unable to respond and deal with the problem. According to Menesini & Salmivalli (2017), this inequality of power is attributed to the differences in physical strength, as well as the social status held by an individual within a particular social group. Similarly, power is also obtained by the one who knows the other student’s vulnerabilities which he/she uses against the victim. Bullying entails, a wide range of activities such as name-calling, threats, beating, destructing the victim’s property, social exclusion, as well as spreading rumours (Holt et al. 2015). Generally, these actions range from verbal attacks, physical abuse, as well as relational or social aggression. 

Menesini & Salmivalli (2017) further argues that there is a significant discrepancy with regards to gender participation in bullying. Usually, most cases of bullying are launched by boys as opposed to girls. Nonetheless, other studies prove contrary to this since they have found little difference between bullying in both boys and girls. Furthermore, physical forms of victimization, based on the studies are more common in boys, while relational or verbal bullying is often used by girls. Notably, strong boys impose physical harm on vulnerable ones since they are masculine enough to do so and this is the primary way in which they establish their dominance. Boy s promote fear by using their physical strength. Concurrently, respect is earned through one’s ability to conquer in a physical fight. On the other hand, girls are relatively weaker than boys and cannot, therefore, establish their dominance using physical abuse. Hence, they dominate others the only way they know how, which is by spreading rumours and humiliating those that they consider freaks and do not like. 

Iossi Silva et al. (2013) studies prejudice and argue that the risk of victimization is different across student groups. Middle-school learners with disabilities, those who come from an ethnic minority as well as sexual minority families, as well as those who are obese are the primary victims of bullying. It is rare for skinny, beautiful, and famous students to be bullied. Likewise, pupils from dominant ethnic groups such as those of native white origin to be bullied. The same case applies to learners who come from prominent families. Menesini & Salmivalli (2017) argue that middle-school special education learners are more likely to be bullied than students without disabilities. Likewise, autistic students are at significant risk of being bullied when compared to the healthy ones. Notably, students who are different from the others due to various medical conditions and the fact that they come from other ethnicities are regarded freaks. Middle-school students have little or no understanding of health-related issues. Hence, any student that is different from them is abnormal, or rather a freak.

Many studies have attempted to identify the risk factors for bullying. Indeed, this brutal and mean behaviour is driven by aggressive personality patterns. A child’s general inclination to aggress is directly associated with bullying. Hong & Espelage (2012) argue that the attitudes and cognitions that motivate aggression, as well as decreased empathy levels towards other peers, is directly linked with high levels of aggression and bullying. Bullies are depicted as people who are deficient of social skills, have low self-esteem, and deficits in social information processing, as well as other adjustment problems. 

Nonetheless, other scholars perceive bullying as functional adaptive conduct that occasions benefits. Empirical studies have been unsuccessful in clarifying this issue mostly because they fail to recognize the heterogeneity of child and adolescent bullies. Most bullies have a history of victimization and are therefore referred to as bully-victims while others have no experiences of victimization and are consequently known as non-victimized bullies (Shetgiri, 2013). Bully-victims are usually maladjusted as opposed to pure bullies. Low self-esteem results in aggression. Nonetheless, recent studies also attribute bullying to narcissism, callous-emotional traits, and heightened senses of entitlement. Bullies increase their self-assurance when they act belligerently. Likewise, they also anticipate positive results, such as peer approval by bullying others. 

On the other hand, victimization is directly linked to factors such as depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. Additionally, middle-school students facing interpersonal difficulties such as the lack of acceptance among peers, rejection, and the lack of friends is also associated with victimization. Moreover, learners with externalizing problems and decreased levels of prosocial behaviour are at high risk of being maltreated. Furthermore, children are also bullied based on the kinds of friends they have and hang around with. It has further been noted that many students are bullied because they hang out with students who are the primary targets of bullies Protective friends minimize the possibility of being bullied. Most victims of bullying have shy, anxious, physically weak, and disliked friends. Seeking reliable, confident friends can protect one from bullies. Nonetheless, students who have been bullied hang out with others who have also been bullied. Studies further indicate that bullying not only happens in the school alone but also in other places such as the neighbourhoods. 

Bullying has a lot of impacts on middle-school students. According to Al-Raqqad et al. (2017), these students are unable to contrite in class due to the emotional shock that has been imposed on them. Furthermore, they are unable to participate in the classroom, for instance, to ask questions relating to what has been taught, since they fear to be bullied. These children continuously live in fear and develop a negative attitude towards the school, since it is where they usually encounter bullies. Concurrently, their academic performances decline. Furthermore, middle students who have been bullied have a high probability of suffering from various psychosomatic conditions (Fullchange & Furlong, 2016). The most prevalent of these ailments is depression, which can persist even in later adulthood. According to Wolke & Lereya (2015), most of these students become isolated, delusional, and even suicidal. Others sustain serious emotional afflictions and require extensive guidance and counselling to recover. Bullying significantly decreases the quality of children’s life. 

Conclusions and Recommendations 

Bullying is detrimental to students’ performance and their overall well-being. Anti-bullying interventions are required to protect students from physical, emotional, and mental harm. Intensive and longstanding whole-school programmers involving parents, students’, teachers, and other educational stakeholders are recommended to rid schools of the bullying plague. According to Donoghue et al. (2014), the programs should be targeted at augmenting the awareness of onlookers and promoting the levels of student’s compassion and self-efficacy to stand up for their victimized colleagues, as opposed to supporting bullies. The programs should further be executed with infidelity and parents should be engaged extensively to strengthen the effects. Parental involvement ensures that effective disciplinary measures are taken for those accused of bullying. Concurrently, anti-bullying norms would be promoted in schools, neighbourhoods, and communities. Teachers should also ensure that they stress their anti-bullying attitudes continuously in class, to discourage this heinous practice. Concurrently, the cases of middle -school bullying would decrease. 

References

Al-Raqqad, H. K., Al-Bourini, E. S., Al Talahin, F. M., & Aranki, R. M. E. (2017). The Impact of School Bullying On Students’ Academic Achievement from Teachers Point of View.  International Education Studies ,  10 (6), 44. 

Costantino, C., Ventura, G., Marotta, C., Bono, S. E., Arcidiacono, E., Gambino, C. R., ... & Sannasardo, P. (2018). Prevalence of the bullying phenomenon in a schools sample of Palermo, Sicily: a pre-post intervention observational study among teachers.  Acta Bio Medica Atenei Parmensis ,  89 (3), 443-451. 

Donoghue, C., Almeida, A., Brandwein, D., Rocha, G., & Callahan, I. (2014). Coping with Verbal and Social Bullying in Middle School.  International Journal of Emotional Education ,  6 (2), 40-53. 

Fullchange, A., & Furlong, M. J. (2016). An exploration of the effects of bullying victimization from a complete mental health perspective.  Sage Open ,  6 (1), 2158244015623593. 

Iossi Silva, M. A., Pereira, B., Mendonça, D., Nunes, B., & Oliveira, W. A. D. (2013). The involvement of girls and boys with bullying: an analysis of gender differences.  International journal of environmental research and public health ,  10 (12), 6820-6831. 

Holt, M. K., Vivolo-Kantor, A. M., Polanin, J. R., Holland, K. M., DeGue, S., Matjasko, J. L., ... & Reid, G. (2015). Bullying and suicidal ideation and behaviours: 

A meta-analysis.  Paediatrics ,  135 (2), e496-e509. 

Hong, J. S., & Espelage, D. L. (2012). A review of research on bullying and peer victimization in school: An ecological system analysis.  Aggression and violent behaviour ,  17 (4), 311-322. 

Menesini, E., & Salmivalli, C. (2017). Bullying in schools: the state of knowledge and effective interventions.  Psychology, health & medicine ,  22 (sup1), 240-253. 

Shetgiri, R. (2013). Bullying and victimization among children.  Advances in paediatrics ,  60 (1), 33. 

Wolke, D., & Lereya, S. T. (2015). Long-term effects of bullying.  Archives of disease in childhood ,  100 (9), 879-885.