As cases of bullying continue to be witnessed and recorded in the most institutions, various institutions have been forced to re-evaluate their strategies and methods separating those that deliver positive results from those that do not deliver. It is with these evaluations that efforts would be channeled towards appropriate methods which will ensure that more positive results are delivered by these institutions. This paper is with modest efforts in analyzing the appropriate strategies that best suit institutions in helping management and controlling bullying that occurs in most institutions hence making it possible to appropriately control this element. It provides a comprehensive analysis of appropriate strategies and those that are inappropriate as far as the deliverance of positive results is concerned.
Introduction
Bullying is one of the common problems that still affect learning institutions affecting both students and institutions’ level of performances. This is because when it occurs, the target children or students suffer both psychologically and physically drawing their attention from education into identification of ways of enduring the pain their bullies causes (Aldridge, 305). These have drawn the attention of different bodies, individuals and governments that have channeled their efforts towards helping get rid of these cases institutions undergo through implying various strategies have been adopted without a proper analysis of the impacts on the various institution as far as bullying is concerned. This has been the explanation why bullying has never become extinct despite the numerous efforts and resources that have been channeled towards having its root causes managed and controlled. These efforts greatly depend on efforts channeled towards having other different stakeholders other than the children themselves help root out bullying as well as children themselves (Packman et al). Whereas joint efforts from students and other stakeholders have been incorporated in management and prevention of bullying, emphasis and more efforts towards stakeholders such as the schools themselves, teachers and parent deliver more benefits with regards to reducing bullying case in schools than efforts and programs directed towards having children manage to bully themselves.
As bullying continues to draw the attention of many scholars, many efforts have regarded this phenomenon as that that will be greatly impacted to portray positive results if external stakeholders play their role perfectly in ensuring that minimal bullying acts happen in learning institutions (Heinrichs, 198). Having stakeholders such the entire learning institution, schools, administrators, teachers and parents work hand in hand in ensuring the learning environment does not favor existence of bullies bear more benefits especially regarding individual student’s inability to possess various capabilities to be able them ensure they create a learning environment that is conducive and free from bullies (Ahmed, 348). Therefore with the idea that external stakeholder groups roles being key to ensuring that bullying in schools is becoming extinct, various strategies that ought to be adopted by these different stakeholders have been proposed in relation to how they will impact directly to individual students or as a group in relation to each other.
Well-established, state, federal and international laws are effective methods that hold various learning institutions responsible for any bullying activities that occur in their institutions. Most learning institutions tend to be relaxed in the establishment of mechanisms and ways that ensure that students appropriately interact with each other in those institutions leaving students to be able to sort issues amongst them (Lam et al, 56). State, federal and international policies and laws provide various guidelines that comprehensively outline various measures that institutions ought to abide by such as controlling the admission of children in schools. For instance policies and laws regarding child abuse and neglect reporting statutes with regards to cases of suspected child mistreatment have totally changed the perspective of administrators on children who arrive in schools with unexplained injuries. Certain state and federal policies demand certain conditions to be fulfilled before children are transferred from one school to another in efforts to limit admission of bullies as well as students that are misbehaved in schools. In addition to that state laws that aimed at providing school-based resources such as school resource officers as well as mental counselors greatly ensure that all institutions have well-equipped resources that enable students comfortably exist in learning institution with bullying cases appropriately handled (Morrison, 373). Therefore holding various schools liable for any bullying cases that happen within their institutions regardless of their mechanisms to prevent these cases enables schools to adapt appropriately adopting new ones and effectively implementing them having its stakeholder especially its staff be committed to having these case reduced.
Another method that appropriately helps in curbing learning institutions’ bullying by stakeholders is the adopting and implementation of bullying prevention training, seminars, and workshops to equip teachers parents and other administrators with mechanisms to ensure they are able to root out bullying incidences in learning institutions (Ahmed, 356). Most studies indicate that bullying rose to its highest levels due to ignorance among teachers on the ways in to curb some cases that were peaking up alongside the inappropriate mechanisms that most teachers were applying expecting to have the behavior extinct. However, most of these cases happened without their knowledge since students who became victims rarely exposed themselves for appropriate measures to be initiated. Therefore with a well-equipped staff on the causes, development and preventions mechanisms on bullying, the various mechanisms such as maximum supervision of children are enabled leaving no room for the existence of these cases (Lam et al, 60). In addition to that, these teachers ensure that any cases that tend to occur without being exposed by students themselves are sported and appropriate curative strategies are identified by these same members of staff hence helping to root out the behavior.
Adoption of zero tolerance initiative in institutions through the enactment of strict rules as well as punishment to any offender has been one of the commonly used methods that have had various students in institutions transform (Morrison, 378). These rules and punishment create fear and tension among bullies in these institutions implying that it limits and prohibits them from mistreatment of their fellow students due to the consequences that are likely be faced when identified or sported. The zero tolerance creates an environment in which all stakeholders within and outside the learning institutions act as watchdogs in ensuring that all cases of bullying are reported to the school administrations which then imposes punishment to offenders through known mechanisms such as suspension and expulsion. These punishments appropriately root out individual students who distort the learning institutions with these bullying cases hence making it clear that it is an effective method (Limber and Mark). In addition to that, it gives the victims confidence against the threats of offenders to be able to seek justice and support from the appropriate stakeholders within the learning environment creating an environment that is nonconductive for the offenders in achieving their goals as far as bullying the weaker individuals in the learning environment is concerned.
However holding and making sure that stakeholders especially individuals institutions and teachers play a major role in ensuring that bullying is reduced have not always been effective strategies due to their nature of not completely addressing and reaching out to individual students either as victims or bullies, to ensure that they are able to be transformed (Ahmed, 360). Transformation in this case is an integral element since unlike engagement of stakeholders, student themselves make decisions without being forced to be able to help root out bullying amongst themselves and appropriately relate to one another. This is because it completely ensures that even those cases that are often left unexposed are either exposed or do not occur due to knowledge of the importance of building good interpersonal relationships with each other. Increased cases of bullying mostly occur due to ignorance among individual students as well as poor upbringing in the home environment which are extended through their lives until to institutions (Green, 334). Therefore the effective methods that have had to impact greatly on reducing bullying institutions have been those that are directed to individual students creating room for having the students identify bullying as a norm and transforming them especially the bullies into well-behaved students. These methods are as follows.
Well established and known conflict resolutions strategies within the institutions which enabled students to be able to raise their various claims and interests amongst each other and appropriate solutions established without leaving any party offended. In most institutions, conflict resolutions strategies are inappropriate and sometimes unavailable as part and parcel of the abilities amongst students implying that different students greatly discriminate each other without appropriate strategies to be initiated to help prevent the continuity of the phenomena in these institutions (Green, 335). With appropriate conflicts resolutions known between individual students, students become key plays in mediating and generation of solutions amongst themselves whereby without the presence of their teachers and mentors they are able to solve conflicts among them. In addition to that this ends up creating good interpersonal relationships between them which enables them to be able to relate to each other appropriately preventing future occurrence of more bullying. In addition to that, when conflict resolution is bestowed on stakeholders such as teachers and administrators as a whole, it creates fear among the victims implying that actions taken by the two parties may only be made to impress these stakeholders hence existence of bullying in their absence, an indication that is an ineffective strategy to prevent more bullying in learning institutions (Aldridge, 306). Therefore enforcement and emphasis on the direct involvement of individual students through training them on appropriate conflict resolution strategies enable them to be able to root out any bullying in schools making it an appropriate strategy in helping root bullying in learning institutions.
Conducting comprehensive education by education of bullying-related topic such as its effects and causes as well on the importance of good relations between individual students is another effective method that deals with directly transforming the students into those that behave appropriately while at learning institutions hence reduction in bullying cases (Ahmed, 369). When students are able to approach various matters such as multiple perceptive they are likely to develop other areas of interests rather than bullying each other within the institution. Various teachings aimed at helping to root out these cases greatly helps in ensuring that students interact with each other appropriately. Topics such as empathy and kindness when taught by educator within the learning institutions improve the ability of all students and not only to bullies making them to sympathize with the conditions of each other within the learning institutions as a whole hence institutions. For instance, those students having disabilities within the institutions, empathy and kindness topics when taught in institutions greatly help in ensuring that they are able to taken care of within these institutions hence creating the learning institutions conducive for learning (Heinrichs, 204). These also extends to understanding different characteristics of students such as those that are homosexuals as well as members of the LGBT community as a whole from being bullied due to a well-known institution on the existence of such groups in the society hence reducing bullying within the institution.
However methods that involve the active participation of stakeholders such as schools, teacher, staffs, and parents greatly aid in rooting the entire element of bullying in learning institutions due to the internal rigidness and inflexibility to change that exists between children towards transforming themselves into well-behaved individuals within these institutions (Lam et al, 70). This indicates there is great need for intervention by these stakeholders either through forcefully engaging, monitoring or having rules that will be used to strictly root those who are reluctant to change from these institutions. This is through having a well-established state, federal and international law and policies to be able to enable the extraction of these elements in schools through joint efforts of the stakeholder groups. With these joint efforts, the learning institutions which have been subject and inhabited by bullies will create an environment that does not support their existence implying that the unfavorable conditions such as monitoring and existence of strict rules will expose such individual students enabling them to be automatically transformed by these conditions (Heinrichs, 204). This leaves behind those that related favorably with each other hence enabling them to comfortable gain knowledge.
Conclusion
As most institutions and countries strive to have bullying extracted from their learning institutions, adoption of appropriate strategies ought to be more emphasized not only for the effective reduction and rooting out the behavior but also save their resources and time. It is clear that adopting of methods that aim at having stakeholders rather than the students themselves help root our bullying is integral due to the differences in nature and rigidness that exist among student especially the bullies in transforming ensuring the learning environment offers the best learning environment to these particular students. These strategies include having an efficient state, federal and international policies to make learning institution strive to meet the expectation, provision of skills on bullying to teachers and parents through training and seminars and declaring bullying as zero tolerant in the learning institutions hence creating an environment that is non-conducive for bullying within the learning institutions. These strategies greatly reduce these bullying cases.
Works cited
Ahmed, Eliza, and Valerie Braithwaite. "Forgiveness, reconciliation, and shame: Three key variables in reducing school bullying." Journal of Social Issues 62.2 (2006): 347-370.
Aldridge, Jerry. "Among the Periodicals: What Every Teacher Should Know about Bullying." Childhood Education 87.4 (2011): 304-306.
Green, Gregory. "Bullying: A concern for survival." Education 128.2 (2007): 333-337.
Heinrichs, Rebekah R. "A whole-school approach to bullying: Special considerations for children with exceptionalities." Intervention in School and Clinic 38.4 (2003): 195-204.
Lam, Debbie OB, and Arthur WH Liu. "The path through bullying—a process model from the inside story of bullies in Hong Kong secondary schools." Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal 24.1 (2007): 53-75.
Limber, Susan P., and Mark A. Small. "State laws and policies to address bullying in schools." School Psychology Review 32.3 (2003).
Morrison, Brenda. "School bullying and restorative justice: Toward a theoretical understanding of the role of respect, pride, and shame." Journal of social issues 62.2 (2006): 371-392.
Packman, Jill, et al. "We're Not Gonna Take It: A Student-Driven Anti-Bullying Approach." Education 125.4 (2005).
