Many say bullying is not a big deal and that is has the same effect on people is has for years and say as a society we have just become weaker but they have failed to realize that is not true. Bullying has had such an effect of society that many believe that agencies should focus more on protecting the victims of bullying, with more policies and procedures set into place to give the victims of bullying more rights and help. This paper will help you understand what policies and procedures and laws are already set into place to help the victims of bullying as well as get a better understanding of how much of an effect bullying really has on people and just why they need these policies to help them.
Protection Against Bullying Via Policies and Procedures For years Bullying has been a part of society and has been dealt with promptly. But recently Bullying has gained a reputation due to the extreme results on some children and teens alike it can have(HHS 2012 ). Bullying has many negative results including major impacts on mental health, Drug use, and suicide(HHS 2012). These impacts are very similar to the impacts that other types of crime have, and should be treated comparably due to the major effects it has. Policies and procedures should be set into place to deal with those that bully and those that are bullied. Children that have been bullied may not know that other than their school counselors, there are other agencies that help victims of bullying and laws that protect against the perpetrator that bullied them. This literature considers that protection against bullying with policies and procedures is not a well known or thought of concept and will attempt to solve this problem by responding to the following questions: 1.What is bullying and what kind of results can it have on children and teens? 2. Should bullying be considered a crime?
Understanding these questions will help professionals and policymakers better understand why policies and procedures should be set into places to help victims of bullying.
What is bullying and what kind of results can it have on children and teens
According to stopbullying.gov "Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Both kids who are bullied and who bully others may have serious, lasting problems"(HHS 2012). 64 percent of children who are bullied do not report it; only 36 percent of them report the bullying. (HHS 2012). Bullying victims have low self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-worth and in result declining grades( HHS 2012). Bullying victims can have physical and emotional symptoms such as headaches, stomachaches, anxiety, and depression. Just like any other type of Physical or emotional harm this can affect you throughout your whole life by weakening your self confidence and leaving you to always feel unsafe( ). Some who are bullied can turn to extremely violent behavior in 1990 12 out of 15 school shooting cases the shooters have a history of being bullied(PACER 2013 ).
Should bullying be considered a crime? There are not any official federal laws that specifically apply to bullying. This is because in cases that bullying based on race, color, nationality or sex it sometimes overlaps with harassment and if that is the case then schools are actually legally obligated to address it(HHS 2012 ). Bullying at school creates a hostile environment and is serious because it limits the students ability to participate in school and can directly affect their education. Being that bullying is mainly among underage school children then it is hard to directly punish those who bully, so making bullying a crime may be ineffective. This professional predicts that after extensive research on the policies and procedures set into place he will find that there are many policies and procedures that already protect