BULLIES IN SCHOOL

Bullying is when a student or group of

students take advantage of another student
and are mean to him/her. Bullying occurs in
all areas of a school building, though it
happens most frequently in PE class
(physical education), at recess, in hallways
or during lunch hour and study hall.

Bullies often “pick on” or are mean to one

student with the help of other students who do not want to be the
next victim of the bully. People who get bullied or picked on are
often the kids who are considered strange or weird. It is hard for
them because they are already distant from their classmates.

Some children are bullies because they want to feel like they have
many friends, but perhaps they do not know how to make friends by
being nice to their classmates. Instead, they use bullying to bring
classmates to their side out of fear.

School shootings are often tied to bullying. A study found that in

more than 2 of 3 instances of school shootings, the shooters felt
they had been bullied. Some of them were bullied for many years.

In many schools there exist programs to help teach students about

cooperation and respect. Student leaders, elected by their peers,
are asked to be examples for their classmates and not participate in
bullying.

Some states in the U.S. have passed laws against bullying. In

California it is against the law to bully a student because of their
sexual orientation or gender, for example.