THE ADVERSE EFFECTS OF BULLYING ON

SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN TRINIDAD AND

TOBAGO


Name: Vanoi Wilkinson
Subject: Communication Studies
Project: Internal Assessment for CAPE
Period: March, 2014

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE NUMBER
GENERAL INTRODUCTION-1
REFLECTION..2
ANALYSIS.7
CONCLUSION8
APPENDIX...9
BIBLIOGRAPHY15





GENERAL INTRODUCTION

The theme of this Internal Assessment is School Bullying and is entitled, The Adverse Effects
of Bullying on Secondary School Students in Trinidad and Tobago. The purpose of my research
is to educate secondary students and the wider society on the general aspects of bullying.
In the Expository, the first of three sections focuses on the theme of school bullying where I
generated and distributed questioners to secondary students in Trinidad and Tobago and I used
two articles on the same topic. I also presented a seven minute speech relating to the several
causes, consequences and resolutions of bullying. In my Reflection the monologue entitled The
Real Victim focuses on the consequences of bullying which accounted from my inspiration. The
Analysis addresses communicative behaviours and attitudes to language. The theme explored in
the project was chosen since I had personally observed a friend being destroyed by a bully both
physically and mentally. In Sociology issues regarding bullying are explored in social, mental
and physical terms, analyzing both the bully and their victims. Lastly the research conducted in
this project will help me to understand the psychology of victims and bullies and will help me in
my future profession of becoming a psychologist.
Word Count: 200 words






1

REFLECTION

PREFACE

The theme of this Reflective is school bullying and it is named The Real Victim. I have chosen
this genre because I intended to show in my Reflection that the two characters Fred (the bully)
and Ricky (the victim) would both undergo a negative change as a result of bullying.
The purpose of this Reflection is to emphasize the negative effect bullying can have on both the
bully and the victim as in this case even the bully turns out to have a life of pain which is ironic.
The intended audience would consist of both male and female secondary students of eleven to
eighteen years of age, teachers of mainly secondary schools, parents of students that attend
secondary schools but also relates to the wider society of Trinidad and Tobago. The creation of
the main characters was used to interest this target group.
This piece would be best suited in the newspapers. This piece could also be turned into a video
presentation to enhance visual imagery to best relate to the intended audience.
The main idea of this piece is that the bully is only surrounded by negative impacts on
individuals whether you are a victim or the bully.
Word Count: 200 words





2

THE REAL VICTIM

Fred was a child who developed in a life of aggression and destitution. Growing up with a
mother who was on drugs and a father who was a drunkard made life very difficult for him. He
later started taking out all this hurt and aggression on others and in his school he became known
as the school bully and became one of the most feared persons in school, John was Freds friend
and Ricky was the victim.
One day while in school, Fred and his friend John encountered one of their daily victims sitting
in class eating when they walked in.......

Fred: Hey Ricky, yuh bring mi money? And this time I dont want any long talk
Ricky: Im sorry, but I do not know what you are talking about
John: chico estpido
Fred: Apparently he needs some help remembering
(Fred, the bully, then walks over and stands next to Ricky)
Ricky: Please, dont hit me! My mother didnt give me any money today
Fred: What? Yuh gotta be joking! I fed up of having to tell yuh I wah mi money
Tomorrow if yuh dont bring the money watch and yuh will see wat will happen
Yuh better find a way to get mi money even if yuh have to steal it from your modda

Ricky: No? Why should I have to stand for this every day? Why should I give you my
money?
John: Que? Chico loco?
Fred: Close de door! let us teach him a lesson!
Ricky: Nooooooooooo!!!

3
(J ohn then walks over and closes the door, Fred then hits Ricky in his face with a force that
made him instantly hit the ground. J ohn joins Fred and continues to deliver multiple blows to
Ricky as Mr. Zahir a Mathematics Teacher burst through the classroom doors.)
Mr.Zahir: Get off him!
Fred: Sir...
Mr.Zahir: Be quiet Fred!
Fred: But we playing
Mr.Zahir: Is that why Ricky is lying on the ground unconscious. Go to the Principals office
now and
tell him to call an ambulance
(Mr.Zahir then stayed there and looked after Ricky until the ambulance came. The next day
Fred and J ohn were expelled from school.
Ten years later, while walking in Curepe Mr. Zahir saw a vagrant lying on the ground
begging for money. He then leaned down to give him some money when a sense of shock filled
his face)
Mr.Zahir: Fred is that you?
(Fred raised his head looking at him. He smile and said...)
Fred: Wats up Sir?
Mr.Zahir: What are you doing here son?
Fred: Dats wat happen when yuh dont finish school
Mr.Zahir: What do you mean? I heard after you were expelled you started going another
school
Fred: Well sir....I didnt make it I only lasted two months there I was being bullied
couldnt take
it anymore so I dropped out
Mr.Zahir: No, I cant believe that it happened to you. Isnt that ironic Fred?

4
Fred: Ironic? What yuh mean? Do you mean that I was accustomed being the bully
not the victim
Mr.Zahir: If only you had just continued along the right path as you were in form 2 may be
things
would have been different
Fred: HAHAHA! Yuh believe dat? I ok with how mi life turned out because I cah do
better
Mr.Zahir: I agree that, at that point in your life was extremely hard but you shouldnt let
that define
you. (Looking at him through heartwarming eyes).
Fred: I never understood how yuh could believe in me so much. Even that day when I
was
expelled I saw that you were pleading for me
Mr.Zahir: It is because I always knew you had the potential for greatness even when you
were acting
out and doing things that you shouldnt have.
Fred: Never mine about me I want to know whatever happen to Ricky. I cud imagine
that he would be a doctor by now
(Mr.Zahir then dipped his head and a single tear trickled down his cheeks).
Fred: Sir tells me please wat happen to him!!!
Mr.Zahir: He killed himself a day after you were expelled. His mother tried to convince
him
that it was going to be ok but I guess he just couldnt believe her
Fred: This cant be true! I honestly thought that he was going to grow up and become
better than all of us.
(Fred then starts to cry and looked up to the heavens saying...)
Fred: Sorrry! Sorry! Please forgive meeee!
(Despite Fred and John initially being the bullies and Ricky being the victim situations can arise
where the bullies can switch roles and become the victims. This makes us question who is the
5
real victim here? Despite Ricky losing his life Fred became the real victim as he ends up living a
life of misery).
Word Count: 796



















6
ANALYSIS

The topic chosen for my reflective is The Adverse Effects of Bullying on Secondary School
Children in Trinidad and Tobago and it is entitled, "The Real Victim" based on the theme of
school bullying. The main purpose of this monologue is to educate the public on who is the real
victim here. I have chosen to analyze the elements of Language Registers and Communicative
Behaviours.

Firstly, in this piece the Language Registers transitions from casual to formal. Casual when Fred
spoke to his peers and victims for example, he used informal registers while speaking to his
victim Ricky, Yuh bring mi money? and to formal when he comments on Mr. Zahirs
statement. I honestly thought that he was going to grow up and become better than all of us,
which shows he had a good command of Standard English. These shifts are necessary because of
the change in authority from speaking with his peers to the teacher. These shifts are called code
switching. Another example of an informal register was when Fred said, hahaha yuh really
believe dat. which showed the use of the slangs and informal registers, yuh and dat instead
of you and that, while Ricky, the victim spoke in proper Standard English, for example when
he said, Why should I have to stand for this every day?

Secondly, there was a variety of communicative behaviours in relations to the language. When
"John closed the door" John's actions portrayed that he wanted no individuals entering or leaving
the classroom. This emphasize that he and Fred were up to mischief. Another example of
communicative behaviour is when "Fred hits Ricky in his face with a force that made him
instantly hit the ground." This shows how bullying leads to violence. Lastly another example of
communicative behaviour is when "Mr.Zahir looked after Ricky" which indicated that he was
concerned and had a sense of authority.

Language Registers and Communicative Behaviours are two of the elements focused in this
analysis emphasizing the writer's point. These behaviours successfully grasp the reader and
create a sense of imagery to enhance the readers experience.
Word Count: 350
7
CONCLUSION


The main intention of this portfolio was to examine and educate on the topic, The adverse
effects of bullying on Secondary School students in Trinidad and Tobago also to give a forceful
delivery of the comprehensive information. It was further observed that one of these struggles
which students were face with were being regular victims to bullying. It can be concluded that
Bullying in Secondary Schools can in fact have psychological, physical, emotional and
academical effects on those individuals.
By executing this investigation and analyzing all the data and information about the effects
of bullying on secondary school students in Trinidad and Tobago. I profited from it as I learnt
that not only the victim suffer to consequences but also the bully. Furthermore, this experience
and information will help later on in my career field of phycology; at the moment Im well
equipped and ready to educate anyone about bullying.
In conclusion, does bullying have adverse effects on secondary school students in Trinidad
and Tobago? Yes! Seen from the collected data and information above, I highly recommend that
bullying in secondary schools in Trinidad and Tobago be condemned as it is seen as an
unacceptable act on the infringement on the rights of an individual.



Word Count: 202



8
APPENDIX
ARTICLE 1
Bullying here we go again
By Rawatee Maharaj-Sharma
Story Created: Apr 3, 2012 at 10:57 PM ECT
Story Updated: Apr 3, 2012 at 10:57 PM ECT
The recent incident involving a student of a well-known primary school in south Trinidad and his peers
has been reported as a case of bullying. behaviour of that sort is outrageous, repulsive and unacceptable
act of infringement on basic human rights. It's an act that must be aggressively condemned.
The issue of bullying is not a new phenomenon; in fact according to one researcher, bullying as we know
it today, has been around since 1825, a time when perhaps a name for the behaviour was not yet coined.
While the incident described above, as well as others such as the one posted on Facebook some months
ago, involved extreme physical and verbal attacks of one person on another, there are many other forms
of less intense or perhaps what might be called more subtle forms of violence that exist in the schools of
Trinidad and Tobago. Forcefully taking a child's lunch money or taxi fare, as well as taking his calculator,
or cellphone or perhaps his brand new laptop under threatening circumstances all qualify as bullying.
Over the years, the media have reported several instances of students being bullied for their brand name
sneakers, jackets and backpacks, all resulting in the students who are victims of bullying being afraid,
intimidated and in most instances physically harmed by their bully or bullies.
No matter what form bullying takes and whether or not there is physical harm inflicted on the victim, the
emotional, psychological and mental well-being of all the victims is severely compromised in some
cases totally destroyed. Psychologists will offer much expert reasoning for what makes someone a bully;
but what is far less understood is what makes someone a victim; and what can those in authority do to
bridge the obvious gap that exists between the bully and the victim.
A victim of bullying can be anyone male or female, academically brilliant or not, wealthy or poor,
even popular or not. The ironic thing about bullying is that it continues only for as long as the victim
and not the bully allows it to continue. Once the victim gives in to or accepts the victim's role, the
bully is empowered. Notwithstanding that, it is not easy for a victim to reject this role and oftentimes he
or she cannot do it alone. Furthermore, realising there really is a way out is sometimes the more difficult
hurdle to cross. The threats, the body language and the beatings all work in tandem to keep the victim in a
submissive mode and the bully in a domineering role.
Unfortunately, our school system does not make it easy for victims to seek help or even to make their
attacks known. I remember attending a school where detected incidents of bullying were dealt with in a
public forum the alleged bully and details of the bullying incidents were made public at school
assemblies. This approach had a negative effect on bullying. Once time elapsed and everyone forgot
about the specific incident, the bully rose again, often with greater wrath and vengeance than before.
My own experience with schools in T&T is that we do not have an effective system an explicit policy
on bullying in place to detect and further, to meaningfully address bullying.





9

We know it exists, and as principals and teachers, we talk a lot about it to our students with the hope that
our message will get through to the bullies and somehow inspire them to desist. What we do not do,
however, is speak with equal passion to the victims; to let them know what they should do, where they
should seek help, what help is available and how they can get out of the receiving end.
The solution has to begin at the school level; with proactive administrators and teachers who are willing
to go the extra mile to truly address this problem. I know of one school that has a "students' issue box" in
which students can write about anything that is bothering them and place it into the box, with one
condition the student write his or her name and contact number on the paper. The box is emptied
periodically and thoroughly checked by a designated group of teachers along with a guidance counsellor.
Indeed there will be some hoaxes, but if a genuine victim leaves a note in such a box, it just might be
possible to detect the onset of incidents like the recent rape of a secondary school girl and the stabbing of
another student. Furthermore, at this school, a structure exists which allows for victims to obtain help in a
private setting where the matter is discussed and the teachers and principal take it upon themselves to
monitor the situation discreetly and to intervene at an opportune time.
While this may sound simplistic; it is a starting point and it is interesting to note that at this particular
school, bullying has been totally eliminated. I am certain that with some degree of creativity, a bit of
innovation, deep thought and introspection and lots of commitment, other schools, principals and
teachers, can effectively address this problem.
Dr Rawatee Maharaj-Sharma is a lecturer at the School of Education, UWI, St Augustine


ARTICLE 2

Our children are in crisis
Sampson-Browne: Bullying contributing to violence
Published:
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Bullying in schools and communities is contributing to violence. Manager of Victim and Witness Support
Unit (T&TPS) Margaret Sampson-Browne made this comment in light of the murder of Waterloo
Secondary School student Renaldo Dixon, 14, of Bagna Trace, Chase Village, Chaguanas, on Monday.
He was stabbed several times by a Form Five student over a dispute involving a girl at school. Asked
what could have triggered the tragedy, Sampson-Browne said, We could only speculate its the end to a
bullying situation. There is bullying in our schools and communities. There are people who have had to
remove their children from schools because of bullying. They have had to relocate the child. It begs the
question: What is happening in the schools that this bullying cannot come to an end? It begs the question:
How equipped are our teachers to deal with bullying? It goes back to the Bible and the saying that what
has a beginning must have an end. And that was the end. There was no peaceful intervention.

Sampson-Browne said bullying has to be addressed because it could escalate. Other people could copy
or model bullying. It occurs between children as young as seven and eight. And it is worrisome. If you
dont address bullying it is going to get out of control. Bullying may be a subset of a lot of behaviours. If
a child sees bullying in the community, chances are he or she is going to practise it. And there is bullying
in the community. Adults are encouraging children into sexual activity. They are giving them
sweets. Everybody wants a March for Peace and when the walk comes to an end, what next? Without
mincing words, Sampson-Browne said, Our children are in crisis. How do we harvest marshmallows and
diamonds unless we do something Draconian.

10
Ramatali: Train teachers to deal with bullying
Zena Ramatali, president of the National Parent/Teachers Association (NPTA), said bullying needs to be
addressed by providing adequate training for teachers. In 2011, members of the NPTA had attended a
conference on bullying in Ohio, USA. Ramatali said they were deeply saddened by the Dixon incident. It
is sad to know a young boy engaged in a pre-meditated act; he took a knife to school. We need training
for our teachers because they are not trained to deal with teenagers and the proper manner in which they
could handle the different problems. Teachers need training to cope with children who are coming from
abandoned and abused homes. These are real life issues. Teachers are now dealing with children who are
being bullied. We dont have to wait until we have a situation of murder and somebody ends up in the
hospital.

Help young people manage their sexuality
Counselling psychologist Anna Maria Mora said it was important to help youth understand their
sexuality. Mora said: They are hot. We have to help them control the heat. Its natural to be attracted to
each other. Teenagers and young children dont understand the power of emotions. They are ruled by our
animal nature. Our basic nature is to be animalistic. We are warm-blooded. We are sexual beings. They
are reacting to their biology. We have to help them with sublimination and directing their sexual energy
into more social ways. Bullying and the whole power thing would have come into play. Whatever they
were doing, we dont know how they were negotiating this love interest. Jealousy reared its ugly head. If
we dont teach our young people to manage their sexuality, we would be quarrelling and fighting like
animals. And its a fight to death.

Its a toxic society
Psychologist Diane Douglas said parents have to be empowered to deal with children in a toxic society.
But empowering parents is difficult when the society has become toxic. We have blood in the streets all
the time. It becomes difficult when you have that reality in your face. We have had to deal with all sorts
of altercations in the schools. The society is a violent one. We are modelling certain behaviours for
children. When violence is all around you, it is not difficult to see it as an option.


What is bullying
Bullying is the use of force or coercion to abuse or intimidate others. The behaviour can be habitual and
involve an imbalance of social or physical power. It can include verbal harassment or threat, physical
assault or coercion and may be directed repeatedly towards particular victims, perhaps on grounds of
class, race, religion, gender, sexuality, appearance, behaviour or ability.
If bullying is done by a group, it is called mobbing. The victim of bullying has been referred to as a
target. Bullying consists of three basic types of abuseemotional, verbal and physical. (Courtesy
Wikipedia)







11

Questionnaire based on the adverse effects of bullying pertaining to secondary
students in Trinidad and Tobago.



1. What is your gender?
[ ] Male
[ ] Female
2. How old are you?
[ ] 10-14 [ ] 15-17 [ ]18-20
3. What type of school do you think bullying occur mostly in?
[ ] Female [ ] Male [ ] Mixed Schools
4. Do you feel that bullying is a problem in your school?

If YES state some forms of it which is prominent/rampant in your institution
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
[ ] I don't know

5. Do you feel that some students are scared to come to school because of bullying?
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
[ ] I don't know

6. If someone is harassing another student on the internet do you consider that bullying?
[ ] Yes
[ ] No

7. How often does bullying occur in the classroom?
[ ] Never
[ ] Sometimes
[ ] Often
[ ] Very often
12


8. How often does bullying occur on the way to school?
[ ] Never
[ ] Sometimes
[ ] Often
[ ] Very often

9. How often does bullying occur after school activities?
[ ] Never
[ ] Sometimes
[ ] Often
[ ]Very often


10. What reasons are students bullied for?
[ ] Race
[ ] Disability
[ ] Appearance
[ ] Sexual orientation

11. If you were being bullied who would you tell?
[ ] No one
[ ] School counselor
[ ] Friend
[ ] Teacher
[ ] Parent

12. If you see someone getting bullied, what do you do?
[ ] Ignore it
[ ] Cheer on the bully
[ ] Report it to an adult
[ ] Stand up to the bully
13


13. Do you feel comfortable reporting bullying?
[ ] Yes
[ ] No

14. Can the teachers do something more than they are doing now to prevent bullying at school?

______________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________


15. Give a briefing your own views towards bullying

______________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________















14

BIBLIOGRAHY

Bullying and the Individuals involved: Readings for the medical examiner assessing
cases of occupational bullying have affected some students to a different extent by
Ronald Hinchcliffe, Linda M. Luxon, Richard G. Williams 2001

Victims of Bullying By Roger Russell

West, P.D. and E.F. Evans, "The start of bullying, why must students be victims and
endure this hurt,"British Journal of School facts, 24:2: 89-103, April 1990.
Wuest, Judith and Grace Getty, "Bullies who are they Really?: A School Health
Promotion Program," Journal of School Health, 62:9: 436-438, November 1992.
Bahadon, Robert S. M.D., and Barbara A. Bohne, Ph.D., "Adverse Effects of Bullying on
Students,"American Family Physician, 47:5 1219-1226, April 1993.











15