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Miss Georgina Wootton St Benedict ' s Catholic College Colchester, England, United Kingdom
Bullying is a problem throughout the world that every school has to deal with. There will be many questions asked in this essay but it ' s easier to ask them, and then to answer them. This is a serious issue in itself. There are so many aspects of bullying I will not be able to cover them all.
It states in Bullying Online (www.bullying.co.uk) that there are no official statistics for the number of pupils being bullied at any one time or for the numbers who kill themselves due to distress over bullying. These figures do not have to be officially recorded but it is believed that around 16-20 pupils in the UK commit suicide every year, so what about worldwide?
What is the definition of bullying? It states in the dictionary that it ' s one who hurts or intimidates a weaker person or persons. Everyone has their own interpretation of bullying and what type of bullying they class as serious and what they class as minor. But surely there isn ' t a type for minor bullying; as soon as someone thinks that they are being bullied, is there not a problem?
Why is there bullying? Often, in some cases, bullies may have had a hard time themselves, in which case they believe their behaviour is normal, as they don ' t know any different, perhaps because of violence in the home and the way they are brought up. This is something that the staff in charge of situations such as bullying should be able to find out. It could be that the bullies themselves don ' t feel safe, in which case they need as much support as the victim does. Sometimes it can be that the bully is jealous of the victim because, to their knowledge, the victim doesn ' t have as hard a life to deal with.
Also, in some cases, the bullies do not realise that what they are doing is wrong or even bothers the person they ' re doing it to; they just think it ' s some simple fun and when they are accused of being a bully, they can be quite offended and go into denial.
Bullies can be very clever, in that, firstly, they will do it in a place where they won ' t be seen to be doing anything wrong. A lot of children hide the fact that they ' re being bullied, this is normally because they ' re frightened of the consequences. This makes it harder for people to realise there ' s an issue, especially if the children are good at hiding their feelings. So, when a parent finds this out, it can be an extremely stressful and distressing experience. It ' s natural for a parent to feel anger, confusion and guilt. If the parent didn ' t realise, then this usually means that neither did the school. The class teacher/head of year isn ' t the child ' s constant companion and isn ' t a mind reader.
As soon as the school is shown there is a problem, it should take action straight away. There is so much media and publicity put into schools saying how they are in control of bullying and some schools state they are bully free, but how are they proving this? Is this actually possible? Are they asking the pupils of the school whether they feel safe? Has it even considered asking the pupils what they think should be done when bullying is recognised? Or are they just hoping they can hide the fact that bullying exists? Are they living up to the public image that they give?
Students should be able to have a voice to express their feelings and beliefs on what they think is right, such as some pupils may think that more support is needed in situations such as bullying, not just for the children but the parents and staff, too. This should perhaps come from an outsider, such as a counsellor, rather than someone in close proximity with the school. There should also be more communication between all parties involved. Sometimes, when the school is dealing with something, the parents and children need to know this is happening to put their minds at ease.
If the school finds out that a child is being bullied before the parents do, should they inform parents of what ' s going on? This is a question that should be looked at carefully because the children may not feel that this is a safe or necessary thing to do, so they should be able to decide with the guidance and support.
Also, how many times should a student have to go the teacher saying they have a problem before action is taken? I know from personal experience that sometimes it ' s hard to assure a teacher that there is an issue, whether it ' s small or big. Teachers sometimes won ' t accept that there's a problem until another student admits to seeing it as well. They always ask for evidence but in most cases this just isn ' t possible.
People talk about bullying in a school between student and student, what about between staff and student. How should this be dealt with? A student is probably more reluctant to tell someone in school about this happening as they may feel that they would be ignored and told that what they were saying was happening was ridiculous.
Bullying is a big part of all our lives, as it can happen at any age. We may be a victim of it, hear about it, see it, or have been the bully ourselves, but we are all going to come across it at some point. It doesn ' t stop just because you grow up; many adults are known to go through a lot of bullying, as well, especially in places of work. So, as young people, you should have the right to express your opinions and be able to share them, to let your views be known because you may come across bullying again at a later stage of your life and you need to know how to deal with it.
Bullying can affect people for a very long time; some can be traumatised, in which case schools should ensure that this is considered and check that enough support is being given. This should also include other people as well, such as the friends of the victim and the friends of the bully, as they may have been seriously affected by what has happened as well.
Students should club together to get support groups for everyone. For example, some schools have introduced peer counsellors. Maybe students need to talk to other people who have gone through the same thing. Pupils should be given talks on bullying to raise awareness. In a lot of schools they have certain teachers to deal with bullying, who go on courses. This is a good idea because they then have more of an understanding of what the child is going through.
It is important that every child is made to feel special because bullying can knock people ' s self esteem and it is so important that students feel confident in being able to use their talents. Even if it ' s not in a certain school subject; it might be outside of school that they play an instrument, for example, and this should be recognised and noted as being special.
As I stated in the introduction, there are some tough questions to answer, but answering them is not impossible, and we should attempt to answer them in order to make progress. This should be made part of schools ' challenges - to find out the answers to these questions. When finding these answers it should be through the voice of young people, as that is whom it concerns. Young people should be given the option to improve their education by having the chance to put their views across to the world and get them heard and understood. This essay was aiming at the fact that students should have a voice to express their thoughts and feelings such as those I have about how very strongly I feel on the issue surrounding bullying.
Miss Georgina Wootten is a pupil at St Benedict ' s Catholic College, which is the only Roman Catholic secondary school in Colchester, Essex, England. She writes: ' England is a democratic country, which has a lot of history and, because of the history of the country and the power it once possessed, the English language is known and spoken throughout the world. Our music industry is also renowned throughout the world. It has some beautiful countryside and some exciting and vibrant cities. It has a multicultural society, and as a result the cuisine is very varied. England also has a very sporty culture and lots of old quaint houses, which are often the focal point of the community. Some of its wildlife is rarely found in other countries ' .
Georgina is in her final year at school (year 11) and has been appointed as one of the prefects of the school. She is also sports captain for her form class and participates in her school netball team. She enjoys doing things such as dancing, especially tap, modern and ballet. She is a trained peer mentor for five Year 9 pupils. This involves speaking to them about their lives and any problems that they may wish to discuss with her in confidence. She chose to write about bullying as her subject, based on her experiences of situations in school, and that of others. She believes that it affects so many students around the world and it is one of the most important issues that should be discussed.
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