Bullying: An Epidemic Still Plaguing Our Children

Children who tease each other playfully and engage in mutual, friendly banter are just being kids growing up together. But when does this cross the line and become bullying? In the past, people have referred to bullying as more of a right of passage most children have to go through at some point during their childhood. Parents have often scoffed at the complaints of their children and cast them off as needing to be “toughened up.” Boys, in particular, have been targeted for being “too sensitive” and have often been told to “be a man about it.” These common responses do nothing to alleviate the constant fear, anxiety, insecurity and misery that a child who is being bullied in school lives with every day. School can be difficult enough without the added worry and stress of being at the mercy of bullies. And moreover, children should not have to go to school in fear of what humiliations they will be subjected to that day. It is incumbent upon the adults in society to take action against bullying. The responsibility is not limited to the parents, but it also extends to the teachers, administrators and any other adults present in the school environment. A child has the right to go to school without being afraid. It is society’s duty to ensure this right is upheld and to protect those whose rights are being violated.

Bullying, according to an article posted on KidsHealth.org and reviewed by Michelle New, PhD, is “intentional tormenting in physical, verbal, or psychological ways.” The torment inflicted on the target victims comes in many different forms, such as verbal insults, threats, humiliation, name-calling, rumor spreading, physical abuse, shunning and isolation. There is also an emerging medium involving the latest technologies in which children are finding bullies lurking around every avenue. Cellular phones are used to leave harassing messages and to send mean, nasty, and often threatening text messages. Internet sites designed to promote communication between friends, like MySpace or online chat rooms, have become horrific new channels for derogatory statements, photos and multimedia creations to be displayed in order to further persecute and endlessly hunt these target victims. These forums have grown to be a safe haven for bullies to humiliate, threaten and maliciously tease their victims in a seemingly relentless pursuit to destroy every last shred of peace of mind these victims may have left. Today, society knows a different name and with it comes a new understanding; “Social cruelty” is the new term for bullying and it can be found in every school across America.

Many schools across the U.S. are attempting to deal with this problem in a variety of ways. Peer programs, parent involvement, and early intervention are just a few of the current solutions that are being put together in an effort to stop and prevent bullying. The Winneconne Community School District Middle School Counseling Department in Wisconsin is taking steps to bring about awareness of differences to its students by designating a day during the month of November to “Celebrating Diversity/Building Social Skills.” The Winneconne school district describes this event as, “An effort to raise awareness of acceptable and unacceptable social behavior. Winneconne Middle School participates in the national Teaching Tolerance Mix It Up at Lunch Day in November to confront social cruelty and promote inclusion. Diversity and multi-cultural activities include guest presenters, arts enrichment, and handicapped awareness. Students are informed about the consequences for harassment. Counselor classroom sessions on bullying, teasing, gossip/rumors, name-calling, and ostracism are often presented on Parents Days to increase open discussion of this topic. Opportunities for building self-esteem, respect and friendship and learning empathy and compassion are woven throughout the curricular and co-curricular programs including lunch bunches, Circle of Friends, Peer Helper Team, and SAP Groups.” This is an excellent example of teachers and administrators taking proactive measures to ensure their students are exposed to the moral responsibility they each bear in treating each other with dignity and respect. While schools are a primary focal point when addressing the issue of bullying, there is a new wave of innovation on the horizon in this area.

According to an article posted on ScienceDaily.com, a pan-European group known as Kaleidoscope, a network devoted to the research and innovation of technology-enhanced learning, has created a new tool to combat social cruelty, which is a role playing computer game. Rui Figueiredo, a scientist at the Institudo de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores in Portugal and one of the Kaleidoscope researchers involved in the project, says, “This 3-D interactive virtual environment provides a safe haven for individual children, where they witness bullying scenarios without being directly involved.” “FearNot!” is the title of the game and the premise is that each child player is an invisible friend of the victimized main character. The player narrates the storyline and influences the path of the game through the decisions they make when presented with various scenarios. The child bears the responsibility of determining the fate of the victim. Researchers from Germany, Portugal and the UK are currently conducting studies with “FearNot!” on more than 1,000 children throughout Europe and plan to present their findings at the upcoming Kaleidoscope 2007 Symposium, which will be held in Berlin, Germany, on November 26th and 27th.

The importance of addressing the topic of social cruelty cannot be overlooked or pushed aside. Recent events dealing with students bringing guns to school in an effort to literally wage war on their tormentors cannot be ignored. Victims are being pushed to their breaking points and when this happens the American people watch the horror unfold on television, as lives are shattered and scarred forever. People who have scoffed at the notion of bullying being a real issue in schools have been forced to rethink their perspectives as they question how children, and we must not forget that these individuals attacking their peers and teachers are still children, can be capable of such atrocities. The answer lies not in what the police find hidden in their bedrooms at home, but in paying closer attention to their past. A CNN.com article, written a few short months after the now infamous Columbine High School shooting, points the finger at bullying as a primary force in the actions of these young students against their peers. The article stresses the importance of addressing the issue of bullying by saying, “Recent school shootings across the country have put a spotlight on bullying. The shooters in those tragedies had said they'd been made to feel like social outcasts. [Dorothy] Espelage is concerned that ignoring bullying behavior is the same as condoning it.”

Dorothy Espelage, a psychologist and professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, lead a study that established a new perspective on the prevalence of bullying in middle schools. It was previously thought that only about 15 percent of the student body of a typical junior high school engaged in regular bullying behaviors. However, the findings of this study suggest the actual reality is closer to 80 percent. This is a significant increase from what researchers had formerly believed to be an accurate evaluation. This study links the prevalence of bullying to the increase in violent attacks on peers by the victims. A child who, from a young age, has been constantly victimized and relentlessly tormented by peers has years of suffering, anger, aggression and resentment that have been bubbling inside of them until it explodes outward. People respond with shock and unimaginable horror, and yet it too bears a responsibility. In turning a blind eye to the problems of social cruelty in schools, society is walking away from its accountability to the children of our nation and therefore is just as culpable as those who wield the guns.

The Kaleidoscope network is pioneering a shift in thinking as well as a new method in reaching children. By creating a video game to teach children values in regards to bullying, they are tapping a medium children already gravitate toward. This is crucial in communicating to children on a level they are comfortable with and, thus, to which they are more likely to respond positively. The importance of early intervention cannot be emphasized enough. Children must be taught to bear moral responsibility and accountability towards one another. It is the duty of the teachers and administrators in schools and parents at home, to instill these values within children. The responsibility rests upon the adults to be ever more vigilant and watchful so as to address any problems between students as quickly and effectively as possible. A new age of understanding, tolerance and acceptance of one another is dawning. Kaleidoscope is at the forefront in sending the message that social cruelty is a problem of epic proportions that warrants serious research in an attempt to find effective solutions.