Bullying in the UK
By Alejandro Jiménez & Pablo Frías
Index
Introduction
……… pag.2
Real situations of Bullying
……… pag.3
Actual situation in UK
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pag.4
Solutions
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pag.6
Rules of Bullying
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pag.7
Possible Projects
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pag.9
Bibliography
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Pag.10
Introduction Bullying: is the use of force to abuse or intimidate others. The victim of bullying is sometimes referred to as a "target".
Bullying cases: 1.
Cyberbullying
2.
Disability bullying
3.
Gay bullying
4.
Military bullying
5.
Prison bullying
6.
School bullying
7.
Sexual bullying
8.
Workplace bullying
Real situations Marian Wilde , GreatSchools Staff An eighth-grader approaches a sixth-grader in a crowded girls' locker room. The older girl says to the younger, "Those are some ugly shoes you've got there." Then, in front of everyone, she takes out a permanent marker and slashes Xs on the younger girl's shoes, ruining them. The bystanders stare and shake their heads, but do not intervene or try to discourage the bully.
Megan Gillan, 15, Cyberbullying Tragic teenager Megan Gillan took an overdose and died after she was bullied on the internet. At her inquest this week, heartbroken parents Mark and Margaret told how Megan, 15, was targeted by bullies on social networking site Bebo.
Georgia Woods, 13 Georgia lives in Dartford, Kent. She now helps others who have been bullied online after going through it herself. When I started secondary school I got on with lots of people. But I fell out with one of my friends and everyone seemed to turn against me. The bullies at school started leaving nasty messages on Bebo, calling me fat or ugly. They created online groups to join called “I hate Georgia Woods� and called me a s*** or a w****. At first I thought it would blow over but after a couple of weeks I started to get worried.
3. Actual situation in the UK •
56% of students have personally felt some sort of bullying at school. Between 4th and 8th grade in particular, 90% of students are victims of bullying.
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The most common reason cited for being harassed is a student's appearance or body size. 2 out of 5 teens feel that they are bullied because of the way that they look.
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9 out of 10 LGBT youth reported being verbally harassed at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation.
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1 in 4 teachers see nothing wrong with bullying and will only intervene 4% percent of the time.
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A victim of bullying is twice as likely to take his or her own life compared to someone who is not a victim.
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One out of 10 students drop out of school because they are bullied.
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Physical bullying peak in middle school and declines in high school. Verbal abuse rates remain constant from elementary to high school.
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Researchers feel that bullying should not be treated as part of growing up (with the attitude “kids will be kids").
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41% of principals say they have programs designed to create a safe environment for LGBT students, but only 1/3 of principals say that LGBT students would feel safe at their school.
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7% of students who experience harassment in school never report the incident to the school. 10% of those who do not report stay quiet because they do not believe that teachers or staff can do anything. As a result, more than a quarter of students feel that school is an unsafe place to be.
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Schools with easily understood rules of conduct, smaller class sizes and fair discipline practices report less violence than those without such features.
Solutions 1. Call the superintendent and all of the school board members (if you request a meeting, they must honor it). 2. Visit your local law enforcement for ideas (sometimes a calm objective, yet unofficial visit from an officer will get a bully's attention and they will stop). 3. Inquire about protection at the local/county civil rights office. They will call your school quickly and begin a thorough investigation. 4. Talk to an attorney who specializes in children's issues or bullying. Google is your friend here. 5. Consider switching schools. Most states have laws that dictate, if the public school cannot provide a safe learning environment, they must pay for another school out of district including your child's transportation.
Rules governing bullying 1. Create a Safe and Supportive Environment Establish a culture of inclusion and respect that welcomes all students Monitor bullying “hot spots” in and around the building. Set a tone of respect in the classroom. 2. Manage Classrooms to Prevent Bullying Develop rules with students so they set their own climate of respect and responsibility, and reinforce the rules by making expectations clear and keeping requests simple, direct and specific. 3. Stop Bullying on the Spot Intervene immediately. It’s OK to get another adult to help. Don’t talk to the kids involved together, only separately, and don’t make the kids involved apologize or patch up relations on the spot. 4. Find Out What Happened Get the facts, keep all the children involved separate, listen without blaming and don’t call the act “bullying” while you are trying to understand what happened. 5. Support the Kids Involved All kids involved in bullying—whether they are bullied, bully others, or see bullying—can be affected. It is important to support all kids involved to make sure the bullying doesn’t continue and effects can be minimized.
Possible Projects •
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The most important step to take prior to approaching your school or district's leadership and school board, is to form a well-rounded committee of concerned parents, bullying experts, attorneys, community leaders, teachers and counsellors. From there, study the issue before presenting the size of the problem or potential solutions to the school leaders. Once organized, the keys to success are collaboration, compromise and patience. Project Anti-Bully is a social network that raises awareness of the prevalence of bullying in schools globally. Their research has shown that 86% of students daily are being bullied in school and are suffering mental, emotional, and physical consequences. It is their mission to help raise awareness of bullying globally.
Conclusion Pablo Frías thinks that bullying shouldn´t exist because at our age and at older ages we need to concentrate at our studies because that will decide our future. Alejandro Jiménez thinks that bullying is not the way to solve problems. You have to talk with the person you have an argument and solve it without bullying him or her.
Bibliography
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http://www.greatschools.org/parenting/bullying/593-thebully-and-the-bystander.gs
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http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/woman/real_life/256 4956/Three-victims-talk-about-cyber-bullying.html
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http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-aboutschool-bullying
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http://www.solutionsforbullying.com/FAQs.html
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http://www.ed.gov/blog/2012/04/top-5-ways-educators-canstop-bullies/
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http://www.projectbully.com/