Early Childhood Education

This lesson was about bullying, mainly about cyberbullying. We were required to watch a video over a little boy committing suicide because of bullying. We had to answer questions over several questions about our opinions on bullying and what it means to us. We had to describe how we would respond to a bullying situation if we witnessed it as a teacher. Later, we were required to do a research question over a topic that was related to our lesson.

EDUC 2110 – Lesson 13 – Bullying

Evaluation

Video Questions

Why do you think Ryan committed suicide?

Ryan was constantly bullied at school until his dad gave him permission to handle the situation himself, if necessary. The bullying soon stopped. Ryan then came to cyberbullying, in which I think made him commit suicide. A popular girl at school played a joke on him, thinking it was funny. Ryan then talked to his friend about suicide and soon went through with it. He was humiliated over all the jokes and ugly name calling that was being made about him and seen no other way out, except suicide.

Bullying Questions

What does bullying mean to you? What are some examples of bullying?

Bullying is a repeated, unwanted, aggressive behavior that is usually among school aged children. It could lead to harm or depression to the victim. Bullying to me can happen at any age. It’s hurtful and can be harmful to others. I do not like bullying and it will not be acceptable in my future classroom, and will not be acceptable now when I do see it. Bullying is when someone is constantly tormenting a person, physically or emotionally, just to get a rise out of them.

What is the difference between teasing and bullying? Describe.

When I think of teasing, I think of a playful behavior towards someone, rather than a serious one. I feel as if someone is teasing with another that they have a sarcastic tone and the other will know that they are teasing. Bullying is aggressive behavior, throwing around mean and hurtful comments to another trying to hurt their feelings. Even though I think there is a difference between the two, they can both be very hurtful if the person doesn’t know if the other is teasing or not.

How does bullying affect a person physically and emotionally? Why do you think some students continue to bully others even when they know how much their victims are hurting?

If someone is bullying another, the victim could either be getting beat up physically and it could leave marks and visible bruises, or it could damage their emotions. Bullying can lead to the victim thinking that they’re not good enough and that no one will ever love them. I think the main reason some students continue to bully others is because they feel alone themselves and want the attention from their peers at school. If they are the “bad kid” everyone watches them and that’s how they get recognized.

Why do some victims refuse to tell someone about a bullying incident? If you were a bullying victim, would you tell your parents or a teacher? Why or why not?

I think some victims refuse to tell someone about a bullying incident because they are afraid that the bullying will worsen, or the person whom they are telling won’t help. If I were a bullying victim, I think that I would definitely want to go to my parent(s) or a favorite teacher to let them know what’s going on because I trust them that they would help me with the situation. I would rather take the chance of telling someone than to let it the bully get away with it.

Have you ever witnessed a bullying incident in your school? What were the circumstances? How was the situation resolved? As a witness, do you think you had a responsibility to intervene? Why or why not?

I’ve witnessed several bullying incidents that involved a close family member of mine. He’s always been bullied throughout his entire life. One day we were on the bus ride home and this high school girl was picking on him. He called my name, as I told him to before if he needed my help, and I realized what was going on. I intervened of course and took up for him. Words were fired and she later apologized for it.

How does your school staff handle bullying incidents (warning, detention, suspension, etc.)? Do you agree with the school’s measures? Why or why not?

We had a very good principle that would take care of any situation that he could and if there was bullying he would handle the problem. Most of the time bullies were handled by giving a warning and then detention, or even calling of the parents. We didn’t have much bullying in our school that I can remember, or that I witnessed, but they were often handled all the same way. I agree with the school’s measures. I believe that if the bullying were putting the victims life in danger, than the principle would have suspended the students if need be.

What is “cyberbullying?” Provide an example of cyberbullying.

Cyberbullying is social media, or anything technological related, bullying. Cyberbullying is just as bad as bullying, and could possibly get to the point when it’s even worse. A cyberbullying example would be a couple of teenagers (any age) with social media. One person is getting picked on by the others, which soon leads to that person crying, depressed, and thinking about suicide after being called “ugly” and “fat”. After a person reads messages like that over and over again, they soon start to believe it themselves.

Should teachers, staff and administration take some type of course or program to learn more about bullying?

Oh, definitely. All teachers, staff and administrators should be very well educated on bullying and how to handle the bullying situations. I think all schools should give a course to teachers at least once every year to help them reminisce what their students are going through each and every day. Teachers should be taught to be open, ready to listen, and take action if a student comes to them with a bullying problem. 

How would you, as a teacher, respond if you witnessed bullying?

As a person who doesn’t tolerate bullying in any way, I believe it would be hard for me to respond to a bullying situation without getting mad. I feel like it would be appropriate for me to intervene and take both of the students to the office and have the principle and I talk to both of them to figure out what to do next.

Summary

Bullying lesson always get my blood boiling just because I don’t like when others choose to be mean and hurtful to others, but I like having these lessons to get me ready to see what I’m going to when I become a teacher in the future.

Research Question

What’s the proper way for teachers to respond to bullying?

Reference(s): http://www.teachers.net/gazette/DEC02/voors.html

Research Analysis

There are about five steps that a teacher can take to help with bullying in his or her classroom.

1. Talk about it: Bullying happens to be something that is often not dealt with enough in the school systems. It’s important to talk about it with your students at the beginning of the year and throughout the year with them. Let them know it won’t be acceptable.

2. Look for it and confront it when you witness it – every time: Too often teachers ignore bullying because they say “kids will be kids”, “it’s a joke”, or “sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you”. These aren’t true saying and they shouldn’t just be overlooked when a child is being bullied. Students need to know that their teacher is there to help them and be there for them, and to follow through with a situation if need be.

3. Teach bystanders how to safely intervene: Usually when students see someone being bullied, they just stand around and watch. Schools need to teach bystanders that it’s okay to step in and to take up for someone who is being bullied. Yes, it takes courage, but if the school is teaching that it’s good behavior and students start to act on it, schools will become much greater.

4. Model good anger management: Teachers are going to want to yell and scream at their students if they’re not listening, but if we’re going to talk the talk, we have to walk the walk. Teachers need to find a good way to handle their stress and to keep their anger inside without letting it explode onto their students.

5. Confront enabling when you see or hear it from other adults: If teachers hear other adults putting down others, like students or other adults, they need to learn to confront them and let them know that if the students’ behavior isn’t acceptable then neither should the adults’.

Research Summary

My research has taught me a lot about bullying how to handle bullying and what to tell my future students about bullying. I agree with all the steps that my research has given me and I will do anything to put forth these steps into my classroom when I become a teacher.