School Bullies

School Bullies

Everyday on the playgrounds of America, young children are physically threatened, socially harassed, and embarrassed all because of bullies. Children watch hopelessly as other students get bullied in the halls. Most of the time bullies pick on children weaker then them, just to make them feel better about themselves. Sadly, most Americans have either witnessed bullying or even qualified as a school bully themselves. Although school violence is a major problem in high schools, it begins during the early stages in elementary schools with school bullying, but there are many ways to prevent this.

Many Americans views on bullying are that it is just a part of the recess playground culture, however it is deeper than that. Bullying has many long term effects as well. Bullying is the first stage of school violence. Therefore, in trying to minimize school violence, administrators should start with school bullies. Bullying can begin as early as pre-school but more commonly it starts in elementary school. A recent survey found that bullying and teasing were the greatest concerns among eight to eleven year olds. Also, amongst twelve to fifteen year olds, it was a bigger concern then alcohol, drugs, sex, and racism. (Canady 1). Male bullies tend to be more physical when bullying, while psychological bullying and spreading rumors are mainly among female bullies. Bullies tend to be aggressive, quick tempered, and lack sympathy. The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development estimated that 1.6 million children in grades 6-10 were affected weekly by bullying in the United States. Of those, thirteen percent were bullies. Seventy-five to eighty percent of students witnessed bullying within the last year (Canady 1). The victims of bullies tend to be nervous and careful. They are generally physically weaker then their peers and most of the time they are socially isolated.

A lot of times teachers and administrators see the problem of bullying at school and never get involved until it is to late, when it is more then just a small playground problem. Some may say that this is the parents' problem, but children beginning at elementary school up until graduating from high school spend more then half of their day at school with teacher and staff. In order to adjust this problem, maybe school staff should enforce equality from kindergarten and even pre-school. In doing so, there could be school-wide anti-bullying policies, in addition to school activities and even individual work and counseling with the bullied and bullies. In the participating schools reported involved in this program, they had a seventeen percent decrease in the number of bullied children. Also, a seven percent drop in bullies at the school. (Coloroso 44). Bulling can also be prevented with outside programs just like alcohol abuse prevention programs, which have helped so many people in the past and are still going strong.

The consequences of bullying among the victims are reported as sleep deficiency, headaches and stomach pains. In a case of extreme bullying, children are afraid to go to school which can interfere with their academic accomplishments. They can also suffer from depression and very low self-esteem. Being a victim of bullying also increases your risk of suicide. Evidence shows that the school violence act in Littleton, Colorado was related to bullying.

As incoming freshman to Columbine High School, both murders Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris were considered computer geeks. Most of their free time was spent at the library playing games on the computers. The two boys were often the target for all the bullies at their school. During lunch time, the school jocks would kick their chairs, push them down, and constantly throw food at them. One of the boy's friend, named Brooks Brown, stated that "The teachers would see the outcast kids being bullied and they would look the other way" (Brown 50). The boys learned early on not to fight back because it would lead to more physical harassment in the future. Over the years at Columbine the bulling became worse everyday, the boys would consistently get beaten up in the locker room by the school jocks. The football players would throw glass bottles at them (Brown 20). It is a fact, that if humans bottle up their feelings and emotions to long with out seeking help or telling anyone, they will eventually lash out. Experts say that because of the extreme bulling in this case and the neglect from school administrators to fix the situation led the two boys to take actions into their own hands. When the massacre took place in the library, Dylan yelled out to all the jocks to stand up. This is proof that he had something against them. Could it be because that they tormented him all through his schooling?

On February 14th 2001, a young boy named Jeremy Getman who attended a high school in New York tried to smuggle in a duffle bag full of guns to school. He was determined to put an end to the bullies at his school. People constantly made fun of him and he was sick of it. Jeremy probably felt very alone, like no one liked him and