Dasia+Lewis

Dasia Lewis Ms Doherty Junior English Language Composition

**__Bullying In Schools And Imposing Harsher Consquences __** On Jan, 14 2010 Anne O’Brien walked into her home like any normal mother would and went to find her daughter, but instead of a greeting she found 15 year old Phoebe Prince dead. She had hung herself and committed suicide. Bullying had token a toll on the young teen. She had dealt with cyber bullying and in person encounters while in school. She had battled with it for several months and struggled to keep a solid foundation. School counselors had been notified of the ongoing feud between the girls. They failed to give the proper discipline to stop the bullying that later lead to Phoebe’s death. //( McCabe, Kathy. "Teen suicide prompts a look at bullying). //Its incidents like these that should be avoided. This is a serious tragedy. Now because of the negative effects that bullying can have on its victims, school boards and administrations should impose harsher consequences to eliminate the violence and fear that bulling instills in other teens.

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Bullying is defined as “when a person or persons is picked on over and over again by an individual or group with more power. Either in terms of strength or social standing. (Dealing// with Bullying) //” It happens all around the world. It has also has become one of the leading social issues in our society today. Teen suicide, gun violence, and many other violent acts are directly connected to bullying. as Most kids who bully do so because they crave power and attention. Statistics reported stated that kids who bully were more likely to have been neglected or victims of bullying at home. They used school and bullying other children to release their frustration and gain back that control.  //(Fujimura ,) // In their need for power, kids who bully try to find the weakest people, the ones who look different or appear fragile, they then try and strip them of their confidence and positive self image. The people who become the targets to the bully’s attacks usually don’t fight back. They’re way too scared to step up because the bully has used his power to keep victims under his wing. Bullying creates a hostile school environment which may affect even children who are not directly bullied, who may fear being bullied and become distracted from their studies and other pursuits. Some teen’s grades start to drop because their minds become focused on the bully. Others drop out and some become so stressed they begin to have health problems. For example, in the article dealing  with Bullying by “//Kids Health”// //a girl named Amber began to have stomach pains and diarrhea. She went to the hospital and her doctor diagnosed her with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, a digestive condition. It was due to the stress that came from being bullied throughout the ninth grade. (// //Dealing with Bullying // ) // Not only does bullying affect your health and school progress, it can also cause its victims to begin to act in a threatening manner or turn to suicide and even commit horrific acts like murder like in the Columbine murder case. ( ////<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Kessman, Scott. "High School Bullying: Society and the Media Continue to Ignore Bullies, and Forget Columbine //<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">). // Columbine was a case of pure tragedy. Two teen boys who had been extremely capable came to Columbine High School on April 20th, 1999 in Colorado and killed 12 students, one teacher, and injured 21 other people. The two boys, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold then came together and committed suicide. This tragic incident was directly connected to the bullying they had endured for several years. // // Incidents like Columbine should never have to happen with all the support schools today have. But statistics found by author //// Barbara Williamse //// showed that 2.8 million students reported being pushed, sh**o**ved, tripped, and spat on in hallways; 1.5million students reported being threatened by some kind of bully and 1million students reported having their property destroyed by the bully. ( //// Bullying epidemic in schools online) //// This means many of the kids could very well be on their way to massacring students at another school. media type="custom" key="9794410" // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Although some look at bullying as just part of a child’s growing experience, there’s a point when it crosses the line. It’s important to face this problem. It’s been ignored for a long time. It has spiraled out of control and kids are beginning to destroy themselves and commit acts that can effect them for the rest of there lives. We want our teens to grow up with love and respect for others. By not facing the problem, we’re teaching them that bullying is okay and that’s far from the truth. Bullies are destroying other kid’s lives and there needs to be consequences for their actions! In an interview with a Brockton student Ryan Alteri he said that he’d seen the violent physical and verbal abuse of other kids. Being that he’d been bullied his self he knew how it felt. He stated that it had made him very self oriented and anti social. I asked him what he thought the best solution in his eyes would be, he stated “I believe the best solution is straight jail time, it should be against the law to treat someone so harshly.” ( // Alteri, Ryan. Personal interview. 27 May 2011. //// ) // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Although many solutions that are being tried, there working with little success. One solution that is being tried at the (//Brockton high school//) in Brockton MA is the Cell Phone Text-a Tip line. This solution gives kids the chance to alert authorities about the bullying. They are able to take matters into the own hands and help out by reporting what they see. After they text the tip, the school will receive it and the school will investigate matters using the info they receive to resolve the problem. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">This solution is good, but how many kids are really going to take the time to sit and text a tip to an anonymous source? Enjoy the drama and some feel e they don’t have to be involved if it isn’t happening to them. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">One solution the government came up with is the Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti Harassment Act. This is a national act that makes it mandatory for any school employee to report any kind of harassment or bullying they see (Even a janitor must report harassment). They must first verbally report what they witnessed to any school official, and then a written report will be filed about the incident. If they don’t follow through with the statement and it is later found that they had known about the bullying and witnessed the whole thing, they could possibly lose there job. The report must be written within 2 days of the incident. After the written the report has been filed an investigation will be launched. This must be conducted within twenty four hours of the report and finish in ten days. The superintendent will then be notified as well as parents of the teens who were involved. A meeting will be set up at the school to discuss the findings. If anything is found, parents of the victim can request a hearing within ten days of the meeting and settle the disputes with the other children. (//Bullying Epidemic in Schools Online//). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Even though these solutions may help in some bullying problems, they still don’t consist of any hard consequences that can help eliminate bullying. Therefore, my solution is to impose a many more consequences and get law enforcement and school officials involved for the kids who bully others while in school. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">If someone is caught bullying a child, parents should be notified right away. After the bullies parents are notified, the victim’s parents and then law enforcement should be notified. Then a meeting should be held. During the meeting, the victim should be given the choice to press charges against the bully. If he chooses to, he should give his statement to the law enforcement officer that’s there at the time. Then it’s up to the court to determine what the child’s consequence should be. If the victim chooses not to press charges, the bully gets a free pass. If caught again, the bully should get a predetermined automatic consequence such as community service, detention or suspension for more than 5 days. To come back to school, the bully will need to have a written apology for the student he attacked and a contract that will give him three days suspension for every time he’s caught bullying another student. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">I believe my solution will work the best because these are serious consequences. No one wants to mess up there record at such a young age neither do they want automatic failure for something they could’ve controlled. My solution will reduce the number of kids who bully others in school. They’ll think twice before acting on that impulse to push, shove, and kick another student. They may even try to find alternative like talking to a guidance counselor or consulting with someone they trust to relieve their anger, which is a good thing because now the kid they want to attack is safe and the bully can get some help for his problems. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Some kids just don’t have the capacity to realize how their awful words and actions affect others. Kids need to be reprimanded for their actions. they also need to be taught how to understand how their behavior impinges on other students. School officials need to come together and enforce consequences that can bring bullying to a standstill.

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 * ** Alteri, Ryan. Personal interview. 27 May 2011 **
 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Kessman, Scott. "High School Bullying: Society and the Media Continue to Ignore Bullies, and Forget Columbine - Associated Content from Yahoo! - associatedcontent.com." //Associated Content from Yahoo! - associatedcontent.com//. Version 60287. Kessman Scott, 19 Sept. 2006. Web. 11 May 2011. < **[|**http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/60287/high_school_bullying_society_and**]**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">> **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">**“Dealing With Bullying." //Kids Health - the Web's most visited site about children's health//. The Nemours Foundation, n.d. Web. 17 May 2011. <** [|**http://kidshealth.org/teen/school_jobs/bullying/bullies.html**]
 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">McCabe, Kathy . "Teen suicide prompts a look at bullying." //Boston Globe// 24 Jan. 2010: 3. **[|**//http://www.boston.com//**]**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">. Web. 19 May 2011. **
 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Fujimura, Sara Francis. "Grabbing the Bully by Hte Horns." Elibary **


 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">ProQuest, 01 Apr. 2004. Web. 24 May 2011. < **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">[|**http://eLibrary**] **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">. Web>. **

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