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Bullyingessayyoung
Bullyingessayyoung
Ms. Sanchez
ERWC Period 4
2 February 2017
Unsuccessful Endeavors
It seems as if bullying has always been a problem among all humans, and especially in
children at school. Many programs have been enforced by government, and despite some
positive results, nothing has provided a true solution yet. Some may say that there will never be a
true solution, but there is no harm in striving towards a solution if the right measures are taken.
New ideas and methods must be enforced in order to move towards that solution. Bullying
should be addressed by programs that encourages peers to stop bullying, addresses the
Putting an emphasis on peer confrontation in bullying programs will help the bullying
is necessary. According to psychology lecturer Sven Morch, teens today will only respect the
relationships that they have with their friends. Unfortunately, most adolescents do not respect
authority and will not listen to their teachers, but they will listen to their friends. The solution to
bullying is in the hands of the bystander. If one friend tells another to stop bullying, then they are
way more likely to respect their opinion and realize that they are bullying. University of
Copenhagen lecturer Morch also stated that part of todays youths are so caught up in their own
self-centeredness that no authorities exist in their minds(Karkov). Reaching the mind of teen is
a hard task in todays works, but new measures must be taken because the methods enforced
the root of the problem. Bullying is now classified as a mental health problem according to the
Federal Center for Disease Control and Prevention. This is a newer piece of information that not
many people are aware of. Students may take bullying more serious when they realize the extent
of the problem. Present day anti-bullying programs are ineffective because they address
symptoms and not underlying causes (Brackett, Divecha). Bullying can be more preventable
when students are more educated in terms of emotional and social learning. Students must also
learn to take these programs more seriously. Studies shows that successful education in social
and emotional learning can enhance ones overall education, while lower emotional intelligence
draws correlation with drug and alcohol use, anxiety and depression. To conclude, dealing with
Investing in expensive anti bully programs is not the best solution. In Bracketts article in
the Hartford Courant, he claims that these ineffective programs are costing about $6 billion per
year. If these programs are not completely effective, billions of dollars should be spent on
something that will work instead. A study in 2013 found that students who attended schools
with bullying-prevention programs were more likely to have reported experiencing victimization
themselves(Oglesby). These programs are possibly causing more wrong than right. Zero
tolerance programs lead to suspensions and expulsions. In a Huffington Post article by Carolyn
Laub, she writes about how students that are expelled are significantly more likely to get caught
up in the juvenile justice system. This is the idea that deviance will lead to more deviance. If we
harshly punish the bully, that will discourage them and lead to more deviance.
Todays anti bullying programs have instilled the wrong view of bullying to the students
and parents. A student survey showed that 57% percent of students do not help the victim when
being bullied. Strict policies have made students want to get as far away from bullying as
possible to avoid punishment. Parents and adults are usually unaware of the bullying
problem(Banks 141). Because the parents are unaware, it leaves their children feeling like
nobody can help them. School personnel will also view some bullying as a right of passage in
school (Banks 141). This mindset makes the government paid programs almost pointless if the
We must realize that our present-day methods to solve the bullying problem are not
successful. We need to experiment with and adopt new methods in order to move closer to the
Works Cited
Emdin, Christopher. "Why Current Anti-Bullying Initiatives Don't Work." The Huffington Post.
Laub, Carolyn. "Why Zero Tolerance Is Not the Solution to School Bullying." The Huffington
CSU Expository Reading and Writing Course Advisory Committee. "Bullying: A Research
Project." Expository Reading and Writing Course. Long Beach: California State UP, 2013. 141. Print.