Friday, May 11, 2012

Definition of Bullying and Hazing...

Table of contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Definition of bullying
  3. Types of bullying
  4. Effects of bullying on people
  5. Characteristics of bullies
  6. School bullying

· Dangers of bullying at school,
· Cyber bullying,
· Hazing.
7. Conclusion.


INTRODUCTION

In general terms, Bullying is the act of intentionally causing harm to others. Bullying can take the form of:
· verbal harassment,
· physical assault, or
· emotional abuse, which includes coercion and manipulation.

Bullying in school and the workplace is also referred to as peer abuse.
Bullying is usually done to coerce others by fear or threat.
Bullies can pick on people bigger or smaller than their size.
Bullies hurt people verbally and physically.
Ironically, bullies themselves could have been bullied at home by their siblings, parents or other relatives; also bullies could have been bullied earlier in their lives. Adult bullies might have been bullied by their colleagues, or relatives.
Bullying is often described as a form of harassment perpetrated by an abuser who possesses more physical and/or social power and dominance than the victim.
The victim of bullying is sometimes referred to as target.
Bullying can occur not only in schools, but also in the workplace, home, church, neighborhoods, the military, in college, and anywhere where people interact socially.
Furthermore, anyone can be a victim of bullying, not only children.

Definition

Bullying is an act of repeated aggressive behavior in order to intentionally hurt another person, physically or mentally.

Bullying is characterized by an individual behaving in a certain way to gain power over another person.
Behaviors may include:
· name calling,
· verbal or written abuse,
· exclusion from activities,
· exclusion from social situations,
· physical abuse, or
· coercion.

Bullies may behave this way to be perceived as popular or tough or just to get attention. They may bully out of jealousy or be acting out because they themselves are bullied.

Types of bullying

According to the USA National Center for Education Statistics, bullying activities could be broken into two categories:

1. Direct bullying, and
2. Indirect bullying or social aggression.

Direct bullying involves a great deal of:




· physical aggression such as shoving and poking,
· throwing things,
· slapping,
· choking,
· punching and kicking,
· beating,
· stabbing,
· pulling hair,
· scratching,
· biting,
· scraping and
· pinching.




Indirect bullying is characterized by threatening the victim into social isolation. This isolation is achieved through a wide variety of techniques, including:

· spreading gossip, lies, rumors,
· name-calling,
· silent treatment,
· staring,
· giggling, laughing or mocking at the victim,
· refusing to socialize with the victim,
· bullying other people who wish to socialize with the victim, and
· criticizing the victim's manner of dress, race religion,disability, appearance height, weight et cetera.

Effects of bullying on people

The effects of bullying can be serious and even fatal. Victims of bullying, children and adult, are at risk of"
· stress related illness,
· suffer from short and long term emotional and behavioral problems,
· loneliness,
· depression and anxiety,
· low self-steem,
· weight loss or weight gain, and even
· suicide.

Characteristics of bullies

In general, bullies have personalities that are authoritarian, they feel a strong need to control or dominate others, sometomes they have prejudices against certain groups of people. Some bullies harass others driven by envy, resentment or because they have low self-steem, and to hide their own fears or shame. Bullies want to feel better about themselves by making other people feel bad.

One effective way to prevent child to become a bully or to be a victim of bullying is by:

1. Challenging aggressive behavior in childhood and at home, and
2. By showing the child that abusive behavior is bad and will not be tolerated.

Failure to address aggressive behavior in young children, may cause them to grow up and get involved in, or participate of:
· domestic abuse,
· street violence,
· criminal activity,
· gang activity and
· inadequacy when socializing in the real world.

School bullying

Bullying in school is a very serious problem and the cause of other related issues observed in school students.
In schools, bullying usually occurs in all areas of school, anywhere in or around the school building. Bullying occurrs more often in PE, recess, the hallways and in school buses or while waiting for the school buses.

Bullying in school sometimes consists of a group of students taking advantage of, or isolating one student in particular and gaining the loyalty of bystanders who want to avoid becoming the next victim.

These bullies will taunt and tease their target before physically bullying the target. Targets of bullying in school are often pupils who are considered strange or different by other students.
Some children bully at one point, because they have been bullied in the past.
Some children buly, because they do not have the social skills to develop friendsship with other staudents and classmates.

Most students in schools do not perceive bullying as something bad, negative or unacceptable as much as adults do.

Some students have come to accept bullying as "normal" and part of going to school.
Sometimes students perceive bullying as an spectators sport, they enjoy it and entertain themselves by watching bullies victimize their targets.

Dangers of bullying at school

When bullying is not addressed at school, several problems are created. These problems may include, but are not limited to:



· Gang activity,
· Drug use,
· School desertion,
· Low grades,
· Fights in hallways, classrooms and school buses,
· Violence between teen couples,
· Teen pregnancy,
· Weapons in school,
· Thefts in school property,
· Destruction of property,
· Stabbings, and
· School shootings.




It has been proved that school shotings are a bullying-related phenomenon. Research shows that 2 out of three school shooters are victims of bullying, they are targets, who felt themselves to be persecuted, bullied, threatened, attacked, or injured by others prior to the school shooting.

In recent years, bullying is schools have reaised a great deal of concern, school staff have been actively involved in erradicating bulying from their schools. Several Anti-bullying programs have been created and designed to prevent bullying by teaching students cooperation among themselves their parents and teachers. Additionally, school staff wants to change the perception that bullying is OK and normal in schools; students now receive training on definition, types and effects of bullying, as well as the consequences of bullying, not only in school, but everywhere.

Cyberbullying



In recent years, since the invention of the Internet, and its ease of access, students in schools have been using a different type of bullying, Cyberbullying.

In few words, cyberbullying is bullying through the use of internet services and systems. Bullying can occur by one student directly attacking the target via e-mail, blogs, chat or text messaging.
Another way of cyberbullying is by isolating the target, by ignoring, blocking, or making fun of the internet participation by the target. Additionally, cyberbullyies usually bully indirectly their target, by posting rumors, lies, threat on school related chats, blogs, e-mail, cyber-boards et cetera.

Cyberbullying should be considered equal as traditional bullying, and all definitions, types, and measures should apply to cyberbullies.

Hazing



Hazing is the ritualistic testing of an individual, which may take the form of harassment, abuse, or humiliation. Hazing is sometimes considered to be a rite of passage, or an initiation into a new group of individuals.

Hazing is sometimes observed in some schools, between students in upper grades toward students in lower grades, or toward newcomers to the school or into sports teams.

Hazing is , and should be addressed as bullying. Hazing is dangerous and inappropriate.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, bullying is a real problem we face not only in schools, but in other social settings as well. Bullying in schools should be taken seriously by staff, students, parents and other organizations such as police and community leaders. Additionally, it is imperative to take immediate action and to create measures to erradicate it, prevent it and educate students on bullying. Preventing bullying should be a cooperative effort, aimed to avoid the direct and indirect effects of bullying, as well as the short and long term consequences of this dangerous behavior.
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What is hazing?

Hazing is any action taken or situation created intentionally:

  • that causes embarrassment, harassment or ridicule
  • risks emotional and/or physical harm
  • to members of an group or team
  • whether new or not
  • regardless of the person's willingness to participate

Still confused? Ask yourself these questions:

  • Would I feel comfortable participating in this activity if my parents were watching?
  • Would we get in trouble if the Dean of Students walked by?
  • Am I being asked to keep these activities a secret?
  • Am I doing anything illegal?
  • Does participation violate my values or those of my organization?
  • Is it causing emotional distress or stress of any kind to myself or others?
  • If someone were injured, would I feel comfortable being investigated by the insurance carrier?
  • When I apply for jobs, can I take the onus of having a criminal arrest on my record?

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