Bullying Petition

Jen's Bullying Petition:
I took action is signing the petition of the National Bullying Prevention Center.  After I signed this petition for bullying it made me feel good.  I want to make a difference and I want to stop bullying.  After reading all of the sad stories on this national website, it made me think about why and how someone could be so cruel.  Some of the stories young children in their early teens are sharing are just heart breaking stories.  In reading these stories it really made me want to do even more than just signing a petition to prevent the bullying, it made me want to help each individual that is suffering.  This action connects with democratic values in all different ways.  This is a step in the right direction in preventing bullying in school systems.  This is a place where people can talk about it and get things off their chest.  I believe social justice should be taught in the classroom.  Even if the children are young, they may not have to be introduced to really dramatic topics but other subjects are completely appropriate.  I think if children learn about social justice they will understand the world better and really have a sense of reality.  Like I said before, when students are young teaching social justice in classrooms does not have to be covering cruel topics.  Subjects such as food and hunger to an extent, I think is appropriate for even the young students.  It is not too harsh for them to handle.  "Struggle for social justice is central to our nations history... Concerns about the common good and the rights of the individual, no matter how humble in social standing, transcends politics and holds a definitive place in the realms of morality, ethics and federal law, and therefore in the world of teaching social studies".  I think social justice is quite important to address in school systems.  It is important for students to understand the way the world works.  There are so many ways to approach the topics of this quote and I think each grade has a certain approach.  Each age level should not be addressed in the same way of course.  A first grader will not completely understand what a fifth grader will.

Meagan's Bullying Petition:
I went on the National Bullying Prevention Center’s website and I took action by  signing the petition to end bullying. It made me feel good and bad at the same time. All I was doing was signing a piece of paper instead of actually taking an action. I think that it would be more beneficial and self rewarding to have discussion groups with children where they can vent and talk about anything revolving around the issues of bullying. I feel that my name is just one name on a list that is trying to voice an opinion but instead it is just a signature. I feel that I could get a better response with voicing my opinion rather than signing a piece of paper. Signing the petition made me realize that it is the first step towards anti-bullying. Taking this action allows you to represent your own individual opinion on the issue which is beneficial in connecting democratic values. I believe that social justice should be taught in every grade level to every student in order to promote a more accurate world. The falsified and glamorous information that we learn as child is learned to be all false hopes and ambitions. It is beneficial to discuss social justices geared towards the appropriate age level in order for children to properly understand the world around us. You are embracing the child for the real world when you start introducing certain topics at appropriate ages. For example, you can start with hunger, homelessness, or child labor law issues in the younger grades in order to start the awareness of the social justices that surround us in our everyday lives. Overall, I think social justice is an extremely important concept to teach/integrate into the classroom. It is important for the children to know and understand what actually happens in the real world. It is important to approach these issues gradually in the early grade levels and then more in depth in the later years.


Kristin's Bullying Petition: 
            I took action against bullying by signing the National Bullying Prevention Center’s petition to end bullying. Even though I just filled out my information and signed the petition I still feel as though I have contributed to the efforts to stop bullying. Even something as simple as signing a petition can help support others and help save others from being bullied. I know that bullying is wrong and children need help and need to understand that bullying in wrong too for real change to happen. I watched a video that children created on the Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention Center website where children described there feelings about bullying. Numerous children said they wanted to help stop bullying, but they don’t know how or they’re afraid to get involved. If children are taught and understand how to speak up and how to help others that are being bullied, then bullying will be reduced greatly. Also if bullies understand that it is not “cool” to bully and they do not receive the attention they want, then they will stop bullying and children can be saved before anything else spirals out of control. I am glad that children know that bullying is a serious issue that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.

I believe that education is an instrument for the public good. School is where children learn their academics, but they also learn social skills that will take them through life, so why shouldn’t they learn about social justice issues? Children need learn about what is going on in the world and be the generation to help fix these barriers and issues to create a more equal society. School is where children learn information, and make sense of it so they are able to apply it to their lives outside of the classroom. Teachers should be teaching students about social justice issues so that children can make more informed decisions in their lives about crucial issues.

I think that the quote about social justice is accurate in that teaching social studies needs to discuss the common good for people, peoples rights, morality, ethics and the law. All of those concepts steam from what social studies is all about, our society how and what affects us as human beings living in the world today. Our nations history clearly shows that social justice is an issue forever. In teaching social studies students should learn about our nations history with social justice issues so we can learn from the past and prevent any backtracking in the improvement of society. 

A Safe School Environment: Anti-Bullying

There are a few critical attributes that are very serious to cover with bullying.  The first critical attribute is dealing with popularity and the power of struggles in the school system.  The second is the self-esteem levels in children being bullied and also doing the bullying.  The third is the bullying golden rule which gives you three strikes until you are considered an actual bully.

Popularity and the power of struggles in the school systems is a very important attribute.  The way society has been viewed for a long time now shows bullying as an image of the big kid ragging on a child who is a lot smaller.  More recently in schools you see mean girls and bullying involved with girls as well as boys.  A lot of the reasons a child bullies is because of the way they look or act.  Usually the bullies are more popular than the one who is actually getting bullied.  There has been many instances in the news where popularity played a huge role in bullying cases.  If these cases are no addressed they can become extremely dangerous.
The self-esteem levels in children should not be taken lightly.  The children doing the bullying usually has a higher self-esteem than the one who is being bullied.  Usually this child that is being bullied has a lot less self-esteem than essentially everyone else.  The reason for this could be they feel helpless.  When a child is being bullied they feel as though they cant do anything to stop it because they are so small in the situation.  It is critical to monitor self-esteem levels with children because it can tell you a lot.
The bullying golden rule of three strikes is critical.  If a child is reported in three different situations as bullying they are labeled as a bully.  This is so important to be accurate with bullying incidents because some situations may not even be a type of bullying and the child may have just been defending himself or a friend.  These "chances" the child who is being the bully gets before they are actually addressed as a bully give them a change to realize its wrong or actually realize they made a mistake.  They could have had a bad day and the outcome is bullying that they regret doing later.  If this attribute is dealt with in the school system by teachers and faculty, bullying instances could start to decrease in that specific school system.

Informational Knowledge- It is important for the students to know and understand the definition and the outcomes of bullying. The Merriam Webster dictionary defines it as, “a blustering browbeating person; especially: one habitually cruel to others who are weaker” (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bully) It is important for students to understand why bullying happens and the effects that it has on one’s self esteem. Some reasons that students are bullied revolve around physical attributes (self-esteem issues), personal preferences, or just to make one feel inferior (popularity issues). There are two ways to bully someone, face to face and cyber bullying. It is important to understand that it is hurtful whether someone is making fun of you to your face or through electronics.

Procedural Knowledge- This would be used to indicate and bring action to an anti-bullying system in which promotes self-esteem. There are many ways to incorporate an anti-bullying system in every school. Some schools have signs that are posted throughout the schools that contain a list of rules in which the children have made, you can have a discussion group on which children can discuss their experiences of either being bullied or being the bully, creating or signing petitions, or a buddy system. These are ways to actively involve the students with the issue to help promote ways to minimize bullying. Also, having a program that promotes self-esteem could influence a decrease in bullying. It would help these students feel more confident with themselves which overall would  reduce the chances for bullying.




Concepts of Bullying to Understand

• Who is a Bully?
• Bullies are people that are habitually mean to others on purpose. As stated before, bullies get 3 strikes before they are considered a bully. 

• Types of Bullying
• Cyber Bullying- through the computer, telephone, anything virtual where the bullying is not occurring in person
• Direct-  being mean to someone in person
• Indirect- excluding someone on purpose but not directly saying or being mean 

• Most Bullies have an underling issue for why they are bullying others, giving them attention and working with them to change can help prevent them from bullying others

For our service learning service project we are considering doing a service learning binder.  We want to put together a binder that will have some good resources to turn to if you are being bullied or know of a bullying incident that is going on.  We want to have a variety of areas that children feel they can go to.  One of the places we would like to make connections and start contact sheets with is the North Reading School Districts Bullying Prevention and Intervention Program. The Wakefield School Districts Bullying Policies. We will also contact the Bullying Prevention School Assembaly Program  to learn more information about the "Choose Character Over Bullying" Assemblies they hold at elementary and middle schools.

Bullying Interview

Jen's Interview:  I interviewed my friend Brenna on the topic of bullying.  She also goes to Salem State University to study early childhood education.

Do you think the problem of bullying is important?

Yes, I think bullying is extremely important and should not be taken lightly.  There should be a policy in every school system and the policy should be strict.  Areas where bullying tends to happen, there should be a lot more supervision.  Also, teachers shouldn't hesitate to report an incident of bullying.

What policy does the government now have to deal with bullying?

I believe the government enforces a policy of bullying and has programs in a lot of different school systems.  The policy says that all teachers should report any incident of bullying and this act should not be taken lightly.  This is a serious issue and should be taken very serious.  

What are the advantages of this government policy for bullying?

It gives students the opportunity to feel safe and know that bullying will not be tollerated.  Students will feel comfortable confronting a teacher about any bullying that is going on because they know that the teacher will do something about it and not just look the other way.  

What are the disadvantages of this government policy for bullying?

Some students will still keep any bullying issues to themselves because they don't want to be made fun of any more.  If students' keep instances such as this to themselves, the situation could escalate and become very dangerous.  

How might this policy be improved?

There could be more programs at schools that promote the bullying act.  There should be support groups for parents and students so they can be aware of what can be done and how dangerous it can be to neglect bullying situations.  

I learned a lot from this interviewing process.  It was interesting to see someone else's point of view on the subject.  It seems as though a lot of people really have the same beliefs about the problem of bullying.  I can't picture talking to someone who would tell me they don't think bullying is an issue.  Everyone I have talked to have lots to say on the topic and I found myself agreeing with my friend Brenna during the interview.  

Meagans Interview  

I interviewed my father, Robert.

 

Question: Were you ever bullied in school?
Answer: Yes, I was always bullied for having red hair, freckles, glasses, and a stutter. It was awful and I hated school. I never participated in extracurricular activities because I hated being around other kids.





Question: Do you think that bullying is an important issue? Why or why not?
Answer: Yes, I believe it is an important issue that should be discussed as early as kindergarten. If they become educated of the causes and effects of bullying, the amount that goes on might be reduced.



Question: Do you think others in our community think bullying is an important issue? Why or why not?
Answer: I don’t believe the community as a whole thinks that bullying is important because only stories I hear are unfortunately the ones that end in suicide. Although, recently I have seen more talk about it.



(He did not know about the policy so I had him read over our blog.



Question: What are the advantages of the government’s policy on bullying?
Answer: It protects the children that are being bullied.



Question: What are the disadvantages of the government’s policy on bullying?
Answer: It might often be confused with kids just harmlessly joking/fooling around with each other.



Question: How might this policy be improved?
Answer: Like previously mentioned, I feel that children should be educated in bullying from the moment they start school, it is their first interaction with other students.



Question: What disagreements, if any, about the policy exist in this community?
Answer: I don’t see any disagreements although I am intrigued to see how this policy plays out.

           

This interview made me realize that bullying something that my father had faced everyday up through middle school until his hair started turning brown and he made a name for himself. He felt that he had to take karate in order to be able to protect himself when he was bullied. Bullying is a major concern and it needs to be broadcasted more in order to start preventing it.

Bullying Interview

Kristin's Bullying Interview

I interviewed my friend Lisa, she is a college student studying psychology.

Question: Do you think that bullying is an important issue? Why or why not?

Answer: Bullying is an important problem that needs to be addressed in schools because so many children get bullied in schools and some are even committing suicide because of bullying.

Question: Do you think others in our community think bullying is an important issue? Why or why not?

Answer: I think a select few people in the community think this is an important problem. There are more topics and issues going on in the world. The news doesn’t talk about bullying as much as it is occurring. Also some people do not have children so they do not really care or pay attention that the issue.

Question: What are the advantages of the government’s policy on bullying?

Answer: The policy helps kids realize that this is a serious issue that is not going to be taken lightly.

Question: What are the disadvantages of the government’s policy on bullying?

Answer: Kids may not want to come forward about bullying because they now know that other kids will get into more serious trouble and other kids do not want to look like a rat and then risk being bullied even more.

Question: How might this policy be improved?

Answer: I think that the state should make guidelines and specific consequences regarding bullying because some schools can be too hard on children and others too easy. The consequences need to be on a more level scale in the state and on a national level.

Question: Were you ever bullied in school?

Answer: I don’t really remember but probably, nothing that has affected me significantly though. I think that all younger kids bully or have been bullied in some way or another. Younger children do not know better really and want the attention.

Question: What age group do you feel bullies the most?

Answer: I think it all depends. I think that girls start to bullying much earlier than boys. Guys bully more when they are between the ages of 10 and 15. They are insecure and want attention from girls or to be thought of as popular by their peers. I also think that popular kids bullied, but the smart kids bullied a lot too in my experience. If you were not as smart as others in your class, they would bully you and think you are dumb.

Question: Do you think bullying has gotten worse or getting over the years?

Answer: Worse because of the Internet. Also parents stick up for their children too much know. If children have problems they run straight to their parents now, before children would work their problems out themselves. Also now I think bullying has gotten much worse because so many people committing suicide because they have been bullied.

Doing this interview has taught me that bullying is a real problem that affects so many people and so many communities. Lisa grew up in a very different community than I did, and we both have witnessed bullying when we were growing up. Bullying is everywhere and needs to be stopped. I have also learned that bullying has gotten worse than when I was younger, and probably will continue to get worse if the government, schools, parents and children do not work together to prevent bullying.