Bullying in Schools
Bullying in schools is a worldwide problem that can
have negative consequences for the general school climate and for the
right of students to learn in a safe environment without fear. Bullying
can also have negative lifelong consequences—both for students who bully
and for their victims. Although much of the formal research on bullying
has taken place in the Scandinavian countries, Great Britain, and
Japan, the problems associated with bullying have been noted and
discussed wherever formal schooling environments exist.
Bullying is comprised of direct behaviors such as
teasing, taunting, threatening, hitting, and stealing that are initiated
by one or more students against a victim. In addition to direct
attacks, bullying may also be more indirect by causing a student to be
socially isolated through intentional exclusion. While boys typically
engage in direct bullying methods, girls who bully are more apt to
utilize these more subtle indirect strategies, such as spreading rumors
and enforcing social isolation (Ahmad & Smith, 1994; Smith &
Sharp, 1994). Whether the bullying is direct or indirect, the key
component of bullying is that the physical or psychological intimidation
occurs repeatedly over time to create an ongoing pattern of harassment
and abuse (Batsche & Knoff, 1994; Olweus, 1993).
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