Bullying Children In Elementary School

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Bullying in our schools today seems to be a problem that is nothing new it has been around for quite some time. Bullying is defined as an “aggressive behavior distinguished by unequal power and the intention to cause physical, social, or emotional harm to others” (Olweus, 1991; Smith" (Hirschstein, Van Schoiack Edstrom, Frey, Snell & Mackenzie, 2007). Researchers break down bullying into three categories: physical (hitting, kicking, etc.), verbal (name-calling, teasing, etc.), and psychological (social exclusion, extortion, coercion, and rumor-spreading). (Wilson, 2006) In today’s world there are many ways besides at school and the work place that people are bullied. The use of technology has increased the ways people can be bullied. Bullying can also occur through the use of cell phones, computer use through e-mail, blogs or chat rooms. The warning signs of bullying should not be ignored, therefore it is important to truly understand the affects that bullying holds on children. During my research I found that children can be bullied for many reasons which many include: how fast or slow they learn, choice of lifestyles, height (too tall or too short), race, religion, where they live, their style of clothing or hairstyle, the way they speak, wearing glasses or braces, their disability or for no reason at all. One example of bulling is from a February 2008 news story about a kid named Larry King. He was murdered for being gay. It said in People Magazine that another kid killed Larry by shooting him in the head twice. The police think that Larry asked another boy to be his valentine. (Hewitt, 2008) That shows how intolerant someone can be just because of someone's choice of lifestyle. Currently there are only six states that do not have anti bullying laws. These states are District of Columbia, Hawaii, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

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