Impact of Bullying

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Impact of Bullying CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION Introduction Bullying is defined as behavior toward another person that is premeditated, repetitive, and hurtful resulting in a disproportion of power between the bully and the object. Bullying can take many forms: physical, verbal, social, or emotional abuse. It can be overt or covert, as simple as derision or as complex as social exclusion. Bullying typically reaches its peak in the middle-school years but occurs at every grade level. Victims of bullying suffer from embarrassment, fear, and anxiety (Duffy, 2009). These emotions can escalate into depression, which can then lead to absenteeism, poor academic performance, and in the most extreme cases, suicide. The effects on a person’s self esteem can linger well into adulthood and even prevent someone from reaching his or her full potential and goals (Carter & Spencer, 2006). The issue of bullying is particularly important for students with exceptionalities and therefore for special educators. Bullies are children who need to feel powerful, and they have learned that bullying works. What distinguishes them from someone who teases occasionally is a pattern of repeated physical or psychological intimidation. Child bullies are at a greater risk for problems in the future. For example, by age thirty 25% of the adults who had been identified as bullies as children had a criminal record, as opposed to 5% of the adults who had not. Early intervention is essential (Duffy, 2009). Bullying certainly is not a new problem; it has existed for generations. Historically, many have seen it as a rite of passage, a type of de facto hazing. According to Dr. Peter Raffalli, a pediatric neurologist at the Children’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, this attitude is, in many cases, more dangerous than the bullies themselves (Dawkins, 2008). “No matter how you look at it,
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