Kelsey Maraan
UNIV 112
March 20, 2015
Word Count: 1579
UNIT 2 ESSAY
Bullying is an issue that has been very prominent and consistent in schools from
K-12 since the very first schools were built. It is something that is frowned upon in
society, but it has also been an impossible task to exterminate all incidents of bullying in
the world. A book by Breakstone, Dreiblatt, and Dreiblatt (2000) describes a bully as
someone who “hurts or frightens” other people who are physically weaker than them (p.
8). The book also defines bullying as “behavior that ridicules, humiliates or harms
another person” on multiple occurrences (Breakstone, Dreiblatt, & Dreiblatt, 2000, p. 8).
As defined by Bauman (2008), bullying is a “subset of aggression with three
components” (p. 363). These components include the bully possessing an “intent to
harm,” this harm occurring on more than one occasion, and the bully having an advantage
of power over the victim (Bauman, 2008, p. 363). With these two different definitions
from separate sources and years, it is clear that the definition of bullying was defined and
has stayed consistent since the year 2000. Bauman (2008) also points out that intent and
repetition are hard to detect, because they must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis (p.
363). Intent is often covered up because bullies claim to be innocent, and actions cannot
be “dismissed” based on the “single occurrence” of an incident (Bauman, 2008, p. 363).
To sum this information up, the bully must hurt or harass the victim with the purpose of
hurting them either physically or mentally, and this must also happen on more than one
occasion for a situation to be considered a case of bullying. In general, the definition of
bullying is very similar throughout the U.S., but what must be learned is how to prevent
and stop the occurrence of bullying in the lives of youth every day.
Along with the presence of bullying, comes the question of what causes it. Is it
nearly impossible for certain people to avoid being taunted, teased, and victimized, or is
it the bully that makes the incident of bullying inevitable? Breakstone (2008) notes that
bullying occurs most often in schools where there is a “lack of adult supervision” during
any time when the students are not engaged in any educational or learning activities, or
where rules that prevent bullying are not “consistently enforced” (Dreiblatt & Dreiblatt,
p. 15). This means that unless a teacher makes an effort to make the classroom a bullyfree environment with rules and consequences, some form of bullying will occur. A study
was conducted that analyzed the relationship between a child who is obese, and the
presence of bullying in that child’s school life. One scholar who was a part of this study
was Danielle Appugliese. She got her degree from Boston University and has published
several articles about the effects of weight and obesity in young lives with colleagues
from the University of Michigan. Appugliese (2010), along with her colleagues involved
in the study they found that, in the U.S., children ages eight to eleven years old that were
obese had greater odds of being victims of bullying over children who were not
overweight, “independent of the child’s gender, race, school demographic profile, social
skills, or academic achievement” (Lumeng, Forrest, Kaciroti, Corwyn, & Bradley,
e1304). This research proves that one source of victimization stems from the appearance
of a person.
While Danielle Appugliese is most experienced with the causes of why a victim is
chosen, Mary Cannon is well informed in the root of bullying within the bullies
themselves. From Appugliese’s view, it would be argued that a victim is involved in a
bully-victim relationship, because he/she is a common target based on their appearance,
ethnicity, or intelligence level. In the same situation, from Cannon’s view, it would be
argued that the presence of bullying is due to childhood trauma in the life of the victim
rather than appearances. She would also argue that the bully in the situation became a
bully because of childhood trauma as well.
Mary Cannon studied medicine at University College Dublin. She is an associate
professor of Psychiatry at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, consulting
psychiatrist at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, and research scientist. She has received the
Royal Academy of Medicine’s “Doctors Award” for Psychiatry, and is among the most
highly cited scientists in the world. In a 2008 study Cannon was involved in, they
analyzed adolescents and the relation between experiencing “childhood trauma” and
having “psychotic symptoms” later in life (p. 378). After getting that information, they
evaluated those who reported experiencing childhood trauma and how many were also
considered bullies in school. In this study, trauma during childhood included exposure to
domestic violence. Some examples of this would be witnessing their parents having
multiple “nasty” fights where they called each other names and threatened harm to each
other (Cannon, 2008, p. 379). It also included a history of being abused either sexually or
physically by parents. Psychotic symptoms were determined based on certain behaviors
and reports of psychiatric illnesses or mental illnesses in family history. The results of
Cannon’s 2008 study showed that “adolescents with psychotic symptoms were
significantly more likely to be bullies” when compared to those who did not have any
symptoms of psychosis (p. 380). This study found that 80% of children and adolescents
involved in bullying, whether they were the bully or the victim, had psychotic symptoms.
It can be concluded that from this information and from this study that childhood trauma
and psychosis within a child or adolescent is a key cause of or reason for bullying in that
child’s life (Cannon, 2008, pp. 362-375).
Since the causes of bullying have been defined, the next step is to research ways
to prevent and stop it. Some schools in the U.S. utilize programs, activities, and videos
with the purpose of reducing the occurrence of bullying. While these programs may
contribute to the efforts of prevention in schools, they do not have a great impact on the
presence of bullying. In a journal by Sheri Bauman, Ph.D. (2008), she emphasized that
while school systems attempt to aid the issue, children who are victims of bullying often
feel that teachers cannot help or protect them (p. 365). Doctor Bauman is a licensed
psychologist, as well as a professor and director of the School Counseling master’s
degree program at the University of Arizona. Before earning her doctorate, she worked in
public schools for thirty years, eighteen of those as a school counselor. In her journal,
Bauman (2008) also wrote that in elementary schools, only 18% of teachers “intervened”
in incidents, and 40% of students said that teachers did nothing when an incident was
reported (p.365). With that said, a study done by Bauman and Rigby in 2006 reported that
elementary school counselors are the most “logical” people to handle bullying situations
and reduce them (p. 365). Breakstone (2000) also gives ways of conflict resolution:
“define the problem or conflict,” collaborate ideas on how to solve the problem, “weigh
the pros and cons” of the ideas given, come up with a plan, and then create a second
“backup” plan (Dreiblatt & Dreiblatt, p. 20). This procedure offers a way to resolve
problems between friends or even a bully and victim in a calm way without punishing the
bully in a harsh manner.
Bullying in schools has been a problem faced by a variety of children for many
years. It has caused children to be scared to go to school, a loss of self-esteem,
depression, and many other negative life-changing effects. Almost all children and adults
in the world are aware of this. Although there are many studies that can prove what
causes one to become a victim or a bully, most do not know is how to stop bullying
altogether. Some solutions are suggested in this paper to help situations of bullying in
schools. As suggested by the study conducted by Sheri Bauman (2008), school
counselors should be the ones to handle cases of bullying in schools, because they can be
seen as the leader in bully prevention by faculty and students (p. 365). This will cause
victims to feel safer and they will have someone trustworthy to rely on. It will also cause
bullies to think twice about bullying, because they know whom they would have to
answer to if they got in trouble. Another way to prevent bullying at the root of the
problem would be for parents to be more aware of what their children are witnessing.
Parents should keep any fights or nasty disputes out of the sight of their children.
Breakstone (2008) wrote in his book a quote spoken at a school assembly by
Chamberlain that said, “Bullying is a complex phenomenon. It’s not something that will
go away with an easy, one-shot solution” (Dreiblatt & Dreiblatt, p. 15). With these
combined methods of prevention, incidents of bullying will not suddenly stop, but it can
decrease gradually over the years until it is virtually absent from the world.
References
Bauman S. (2008). The Role of Elementary School Counselors in Reducing School
Bullying. The Elementary School Journal, 108, 362-375.
Breakstone, S. Dreiblatt, K., & Dreiblatt, M. (2000). How to Stop Bullying and Social
Aggression. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.
Kelleher, I., Harley M., Lynch, F., Arseneault, L., Fitzpatrick, C., & Cannon, M. (2008).
Associations between childhood trauma, bullying and psychotic symptoms among
a school-based adolescent sample. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 193, 378382.
Lumeng, J.C., Forrest, P., Appugliese, D.P., Kaciroti, N., Corwyn, R.F., & Bradley, R.H.
(2010). Weight Status as a Predictor of Being Bullied in Third Through Sixth
Grades. Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, 125, e1301-e1307.