Patterson 1
Narketta Patterson
Professor Davies
Psychology
November 7, 2012
Owleus Nearly one in five students in an average classroom in America is experiencing bullying in some way. A bully is defined as a blustering, quarrelsome, overbearing person who continually badgers and intimidates smaller or weaker people. This type of person can be found anywhere. Bullies dominate the playground, the workplace, and athletics. The Owleus program aims to eliminate all forms of bullying through alternative methods of intervention. Those methods have been shown to substantially reduce bullying problems. Today more than thirty states have enacted laws against these occurrences. By studying the effects of bullying and how Owleus combats this, one can certainly see how beneficial this program is. Bullying can take many different forms, and most times warning signs are ignored. Often enough, some forms of bullying such as emotional abuse are not respected and treated by those in authority. Bullying is not teasing. Verbal abuse can occur in the form of derogatory language and name calling. Both of these examples show a lack of respect for other individuals. Physical bullying, such as spitting, hitting, or kicking is easy to spot and should never be ignored. Some students suffer everyday having their money stolen which can take a toll physically and emotionally. Children who bully others by hitting or stealing usually get some type of emotional satisfaction at the expense of his victim. Sometimes bullying can take a severe turn and include violent attacks. In such a situation, it is dire that victim and their family get immediate
Patterson 2 professional help. One example, the Owleus program uses is when an insecure, shy student has been threatened with more bullying if the victim chooses to “tattle”. When this occurs it is extremely important to give the victim positive reinforcement and ensure that the harassment will not continue. The matter must not be swept under the rug but brought out into the open. Owleus insists it will help discourage the bully from further attacks and give the victim of sense of protection. It may also encourage bullies to be more constructive in their development. Parents can play a huge part in the problems and solutions of bullying. Children who show aggressive behavior to adults and their peers are more likely to later engage in criminality and alcohol abuse. Parents have to make it extremely clear that bullying is not acceptable or tolerable. If parents and the school take such action, children are much more likely to change their behavior. Favorable relationships between parents of victim and bully also develop. However, if there are already unhealthy circumstances, a conference with each individual’s family may be necessary before bringing both parties together. Many times bullying is displaying an inability or resistance to conform to rules. With that being said, Owleus states it is important to appreciation and praise when these rules are followed. One thing the Owleus programs points out is that the majority of bullying is done when there are no grownups around. Parents should get to know who their child is associating with and their typical activities. By spending time with their children and their friends, they encourage healthy relationships between all. This also promotes openness between parent and child, and the child is more likely to report any strange behavior. Of course too much of anything can be a bad thing. Overprotective parents can have negative effects on children, such as isolation. This could
Patterson 3 cause them to involuntarily stop the process of making new friends. This could definitely lead to more bullying and would probably cause more harm than good.
Sometimes improvement of social skills can lead to a change in behavior for
