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Dakota Duncan Professor Jennifer Courtney English 2010 October 4, 2013

Schools & the Government Need Make More Efforts to Stop Bullying
Introduction Bullying is without a doubt a problem of today and while steps have been taken to try to stop it more still needs to be done. Over 3.2 students are victims of bullying each year.(Do Something.org, 2011) Since bullying is a problem that effects many children and teens in the school system the government and schools need to work together to stop this. Although bullying is not something new it is still something that is a problem and that needs to be addressed more successfully. It is known to affect a students self confidence, self esteem and self worth also bullying can also affect their school performance. The facts show just how big of a problem

bullying is for kids and teens. According to the campaign Do Something .Org 71 Percent of students report incidents of bullying as a problem in their school. (Do Something.org, 2011) While when it comes to older students approximately 160,000 teens skip school every day because of bullying. (Do Something.org, 2011) Since school bullying is a problem schools need to continue to intervene and in a more effective ways and the government also needs to step in to make a difference. While many argue that perhaps its the parents job to stop bullying from within this is not something that works. For many reasons this is not the most efficient way to stop bullying. For one thing they are not around the students in the environment that the bullying is taking place. Not to mention parents of both the bullied and the bully cannot remain objective to effectively work through the problem. The parents of the bullied see the pain bullying is causing their child which makes them subjective. While the parents of the bully often find it hard to actually admit their

child may be the problem. Therefore this leaves two different organizations to truly make a dent in the problem of in school bullying; the government and the school in which parents are sending their children. School Involvement Perhaps the organization that can make the most difference in anti bullying efforts is school involvement. If schools at all levels, teachers principals and superintendents, work together they can make a difference and possibly are one of the most crucial parts in the anti bullying effort. According to Do something .Org Over two thirds of student believe that their school responds poorly to bullying, with a high percentage of students believing that adult help is infrequent and ineffective. (Do Something.org, 2011) Not to mention One in four teachers see nothing wrong with bullying and will only intervene 4% of the time. (Do Something.org, 2011) Its a problem that students can obviously see that their schools are not making an effort. Not to mention many teacher turn the other cheek and make no attempt at all to

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stop bullying. So what school programs are in place? What is working? How can school involvement make a difference?

introduction R-time to schools. This article focuses on one district success implementing R-time into their schools. The article continues to describe why this unorthodox anti bullying campaign may be working Thats partly why it's effective, said Jill Darling, student assistance programs director for the Richardson school district....Paradoxically, she said, some school programs that focus specifically on bullying and on student groups that are often victimized experience an increase in bullying, at least in the short term.In R time, the kids just learn to get along," she said. (Weiss, 2010) This use of what is called R time is just one example of the many anti bullying campaigns schools have implemented and have become successful. Since the Richardson School district started using R time in 2008 the number in bullying has gone down. Another Richardson school, Springridge Elementary, also started using R time in 2008. The year before, 42 percent of discipline reports were related to bullying. In three years, that had dropped to 8 percent. (Weiss, 2010) This goes to

In many Texas schools an anti bullying campaign called R time has been starting to get used more often and seems to be successful. What is interesting though with R time it is unlike any other anti bullying campaign. According to an article that appeared in the Dallas Morning News R time is one of many antibullying and character education curriculums used in schools. But unlike most of those, R time spends almost no time specifically addressing bullying or what to do about it.(Weiss, 2010) This bullying campaign that started in England and has since made its way to Texas and the Midwest and statistics show is actually working. Schools have sent representatives and teachers over to Englad to conferences to learn and become certified. Once they become certified the come back to start

show just how big an influence a school can have in decreasing bullying among students. While schools are making an attempt to continue to stop bullying it is not enough and there is work the schools still needs to do. We need to see more successful uses of new campaigns in schools to fight bullying. Rtime being used in Texas schools is a good example of what schools can do to help stop bullying but what about local schools how they are applying different approaches? Most recently is the case of Union High school in Roosevelt, Utah and their football team. The coaches learned that many of the football players were involved in cyber bullying and immediately took action. The coaches took away their jerseys and said until every boy on the team showed they deserved a spot on the team, there was no longer a football team at all. This is another very unorthodox way to end bullying and so far has been very successful. Teenagers have been cleaning up area streets as part of new team-mandated community service work. They are attending

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character classes during hours when they previously would have been practicing. Just as importantly, the team's natural leaders are starting to realize that they need to be more vocal and step in to help those teammates who go astray.(Smith) The coaches made an example of these boys to show that bullying is wrong. They made them suffer the consequences of their poor decisions and then taught them what is right. Then they made them leaders for other students to look up to, so they can now be an example and fight against bullying themselves. Although the players on the football team only got in trouble for bullying one boy the teamed learned that this is not an acceptable behavior. This has been a very public event in the local community, so not only did the boys receive the message about bullying but now many other kids received this message as well. If more school leaders and schools took a stands like these Utah Coaches it could really help the fight to end bullying everywhere.

Government Involvement While schools are a big part of anti bullying efforts another group that can also make a difference and has become a part of the debate is the government. Since the Colorado shootings at Columbine High School in 1999, 49 states, including Illinois, have passed laws requiring schools to have anti-bullying policies and programs.(Healy, 2013) Though much of what the government has been doing in anti bullying efforts involves working with the schools they still have their own important role in stopping bullying. Though bullying is as old as classrooms, only in the past decade or so have states moved to address, legislatively, what once was simply the domain of schools. In 1999, only Georgia had an anti-bullying law. Now every state but Montana does. In the past 13 years, states have enacted nearly 130 anti-bullying measures, half of which came since 2008.(Toppo, 2013) After the school shootings at Columbine High School was linked to school bullying and many suicides since then have the same link the government, mostly at the state level,

decided to step in. One main ways the government has stepped in is by starting to consider bullies criminals. This is especially important in teen cases. If students realize that not only is bullying unacceptable but also a criminal act it should be able to detour a large number of students. An example of this is the case of Phoebe Prince. Perhaps the most notorious bullying case in recent years took place in South Hadley, Mass., where on Jan. 14, 2010, Phoebe Prince, also a high school freshman, hanged herself from a stairwell in her home. Police concluded that in the three months before her death, a small group of classmates had relentlessly bullied the 15-year-old.(Toppo, 2013) After this 6 students were looking at being charged as criminals. While some charges were dropped and most took plea deals, it still holds up of example of the negative affects a bully may suffer. While many argue that this may not be the answer because it is too extreme, it is an effective method because it shows that bullying is not tolerated while also showing real life consequences. It is reason like this the government can make a difference in the anti bullying effort.

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Conclusion Although in school bullying isnt the only kind of bullying that kids come across it is still a problem that effects many kids, and schools and the government need to work together to look to a future that ends bullying. The above provides examples of both the schools and government working to end bullying and have a positive outcome. A big problem with bullying is that not only are students getting away with it many people, like teachers, arent trying to stop it. Look at the example of the Union High School Coach he made a small stand against bullying and it reached much wider than his team. If both the school system and the government worked separately and together to end bullying it would be more effective than what is currently being done. Perhaps bullying may never be completely stopped and it is a part of life that unfortunately doesnt just halt when students graduate, but what is currently being done is not enough. Even if bullying cannot be stopped

completely it needs to be greatly minimized. Too many students are personally experiencing and feeling the effects of bullying, enough that the school system needs to keep working towards bully free schools with the help of the government. Whether it is adding more programs like R time into schools or making bullies true criminals or a combination, more needs to be done to stop the problem of bullying it is and epidemic that is sweeping the country.

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Works Cited

Do Something .Org 11Facts about Bullying 2011 N.P. Web 4 October 2013

Weiss, Jeffrey. "School Program Wards Off Bullying by Strengthening Bonds..." Dallas Morning News.17 Oct 2010: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 05 Oct 2013. Healy, Vikki Ortiz. "Schools Shift to Perks in Anti-Bullying Push." Chicago Tribune. 09 Sep 2013: 1. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 05 Oct 2013. Smith, Cameron. N.p. Utah coach suspends his entire team over poor discipline, cyberbullying . Web. 8 Oct 2013.

Toppo, Greg. "Bullies As Criminals." USA TODAY. 13 Jun 2012: A.1. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 05 Oct 2013.