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Question One

Joshua leads a quiet life. He has not dated before and rarely goes out with his peers. Due

to his antisocial life, Joshua faces harassment from his peers. They think that Joshua is gay and

spread the rumor around college. His attempts to curb the harassment is not fruitful since he

continues to receive rude comments regarding his sexual orientation. The school administration

is not able to curb the situation due to lack of harassment policies put in place. The harassers

goes ahead to send pornographic literature to Joshua mail among other activities. Joshuas

parents and teachers are worried about the impact of the harassment on his security. However,

they have failed to follow a legal means of solving the problem.

Question Two

A student can become a subject harassment by peers if they fear exploring their

surrounding environment. When students fail to explore their environment, they react strangely

to their peers, have low self-esteem, and undermined confidence. Due to these, they may fail to

react to defend themselves whenever they are faced with challenges like harassment by their

peers. In addition, when students have a history of insecure attachments, the may have problems

in interacting with their peers, picking fights to defend themselves, or being bold enough to

explain how they feel about situations or issues (Connolly 407). In addition, students who
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appear vulnerable are often harassed, teased, or ridiculed by their peers. As a result, such

students feel scared and threatened. In some situations, students who lack socialization skills

have very few friends. Therefore, students will be harassed by their peers because they have no

one to come to their rescue. In the process, other students join the attack making the whole

situation more badly. However, some students fall victim of harassment and bullying due to their

eagerness of joining a particular group of students. They may dont mind falling victims of any

kind of abuse from their peers so long as they join the group.

Question Three

Joshua did a mistake by ignoring the spreading rumor associating him with gays.

Although he thought that his peers will stop spreading the rumor, he should have reacted at the

beginning by explaining himself to his peers to avoid the misconception (Connolly 407). In

addition, he should have faced the specific individuals who tries to harass him that he wants

them to stop. Since he had no friends, he should have approached the authorities at the earliest

time possible to make his problem known. Although any attempt to punish the perpetrators didnt

make the situation any better, Joshua should have reminded the School principal and other

teachers of their failure in helping to curb the situation. In addition, he should have socialized

with his peers and made a few friends. By doing so, he could have got some few friends to stand

by him and help him talk to the perpetrators so to let his peers know how he feels and how their

actions bother him (Leaper 170). Since several complaints launched by his parents to the school

principal were fruitless, Joshua should have talked to somebody in a higher rank. For example,

talking to the school board chairman could have helped in managing the situation better.

Question Four
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Unlike any other persons, Joshuas teachers had roles to play in stopping him from being

harassed. To begin with, they should have found it important to talk to the students about

harassment and why it should be avoided. By doing this, the students could have familiarize with

the school policies regarding harassment (Turner 12). In addition, they should have discussed the

incidences of harassment with the culprits and inform them as to why they must desist from the

act before punishing them. Teachers could have also confronted the harassers, demand for

explanation as to why they act negatively towards Joshua, and make it clear to them that such

acts are not tolerate any more. Teachers could advice the school administer to suspend some of

the harassers to serve as example to other students on the seriousness of the problem (Salmivalli

288). They could also advice Joshua on how to seek legal action, now that the situation was

getting out of hand.

Question Five

The level of harassment is steadily rising from boos, jeers, and rude remarks to

pornographic literature. In addition, Joshua is feeling worthless and weak which is a sign of

depression. At this point, Joshuas parents and the school administration need to seek legal

actions to help in curbing the situation. Joshuas parent should hire a lawyer to help investigate

and document the evidences of the harassments so to help in filing the court case. In addition, the

attorney will advise the family on the best legal steps to take before filling the case in court (Yell

et al 22). Acts by Joshuas peers to slash his tires, paint rainbow on his rear window, derogatory

remarks, and pornographic literature sent to his email are signs of escalating harassments. Joshua

should report such activities to the police and use such evidences to defend himself in a court of

law. It is also evident that Joshua is withdrawn and his grades are drastically falling. He needs to

find support from professional counsellors. Proper counselling will help Joshua face the
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harassment from a different perspective as well as feel empowered. A good example would be

joining an organization that fights against harassment and discrimination (Leaper 170). Joshua

may become proactive and revive in his academic and co-curricular performance. The school

administration on the other hand have to formulate strict policies that will help in curbing

harassment and discrimination. In addition, all the students who are involved in Joshuas

harassment should be expelled from the school to serve as an example to the rest who may want

to harass their peers.

Question Six

Victimization may have adverse effects on Joshuas psychological and social life. Joshua

is likely to undergo serious trauma, frustration, and stress which may lead to extreme

psychological damage. The impact of the harassment on his academic and career life may be

huge. His performance is already worsening and this may have a significant impact on his future

career (Yell et al 22). On the other hand, the harassment may escalate further and they may

harass Joshua physically. Since the situation started as boors and rude remarks to sending

pornographic literature, it may turn physical if not properly managed at this point. In addition, if

Joshua is not attended to by a professional counsellor, then he may end up committing suicide

due to psychological damage the harassment have on him.

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Works Cited

Connolly, Jennifer, et al. "Evaluation of a youth-led program for preventing bullying, sexual

harassment, and dating aggression in middle schools." The Journal of Early

Adolescence 35.3 (2015): 403-434.

Leaper, Campbell. "Do I Belong?: Gender, Peer Groups, and STEM Achievement." International

Journal of Gender, Science and Technology 7.2 (2015): 166-179.

Salmivalli, Christina. "Participant roles in bullying: How can peer bystanders be utilized in

interventions?." Theory Into Practice 53.4 (2014): 286-292.

Turner, Heather A., et al. "Assessing the impact of harassment by peers: Incident characteristics

and outcomes in a national sample of youth." Journal of School Violence 16.1 (2017): 1-

24.

Yell, Mitchell L., et al. "Bullying and harassment of students with disabilities in schools: Legal

considerations and policy formation." Remedial and Special Education 37.5 (2016): 274-

284.