"You appear in a god-forsaken alley. Then, you look down, only to find yourself engulfed in a growing shadow that looms upon you ominously. Sensing impending doom, you crane your neck towards the source of this eclipse. To your utter petrification, you see the dark silhouette some sumo-sized behemoth of a man, towering above your puny stature, looking as though he could devour you up that very instance. "
Bullying
The first article explains what bullying is. On a small scale, simple things like causally joking about someone, or 'just-for-laughs' racist jokes can be acts of bullying. On a medium scale, we have the 'public enemy number one' effect, where someone is generally discriminated for being notorious for something like being fat, or being teachers' pets. However, the worst in the scale usually occurs when teens take things into their own hands as a result. For example: the Columbine Shootings of 1991.
I used to have this attention-seeker of a friend in primary school. However, I soon started to observe him change drastically. It was then that he told me one day that a new member had just been born into the family. I immediately realised that the change was due to the attention problem again. His parents were probably giving him even less attention then, and it must have gotten on his nerves. This frustration was then vented out as aggression, in terms of verbal abuse, and at times, physical abuse. He had become a bully.
This is a personal experience, and is a very suitable example as to how bullying does not necessarily have to be large-scale, yet still affect people. It also shows how bullying is not uncommon in schools today. In my opinion, bullying is a vicious cycle. It all starts with someone turning into a bully because of very emotional circumstances, and this causes victims to turn bullies too. Peer pressure from neighbourhood gangs and school gangs convert good innocents into chauvinistic, uncouth, uncivilised, smoking, gangsters who are a disgrace to themselves, those around them, and to their society. Fear of losing out in society, not being socially accepted, and not getting enough attention also turn people into sadists who find pleasure in the suffering for others.
The solution? As seen in article two, one must bully-proof oneself. One way is to retailiate--this usually paves the way for the vicious cycle that I have just mentioned about. Another way is to basically have confidence in oneself. Being able to tolerate 'friendly' but demeaning remarks, being able to stand up to those who claim superiority to one, are a couple of examples that illustrate the positive effects of sef-confidence and improved self-esteem. If all the victims of bullying could be like in the second way, then all the bullies would lose their masks that hide their true insecurity. This would make them drop bullying. For victim to bully converts, counselling can be sought to help one solve his or her emotional problems, but this time at the expense of noone. Schools are implementing strict disciplinary measures, and counsellig services too to ensure both the psychological and physical well being of their students.
Why not eradicate this "virulent mutation" from the face of this Earth, annihilate hatred, and work towards a more utopian educational community?
(534 words)
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
News Article 2
The second article i am going to use for my referrence is the one entitled
"Bully-Proof Your Child", which was published on the Today paper (February 16-17 issue) under the "Xtra Perspective" section, written by Chrispina Roberts.
"Bully-Proof Your Child", which was published on the Today paper (February 16-17 issue) under the "Xtra Perspective" section, written by Chrispina Roberts.
News Article 1
Get real on bullying
Section:
Review
Publication:
The Straits Times 24/01/2008
Page:
28
No. of words:
436
BULLYING among schoolchildren here is an affliction that has to be understood and controlled or it can get horribly out of hand. One study of 4,000 students cited in Parliament this week by Dr Lily Neo, MP for Jalan Besar GRC, claimed an astounding 95 per cent rate. The Education Ministry found in reported cases last year an incidence of 3.7 per cent per 1,000 pupils. The Health Promotion Board put the figure at between 21 and 32 per cent. The vast statistical differences hint at imprecise understanding of what bullying behaviour is or should be. Still, the pathology looks serious. To victims, being subjected to taunts constantly is a living hell. The authorities, school volunteers, parents and students themselves first need to agree on where they consider the line to have been crossed – perhaps when behaviour causes a person physical, psychological and emotional distress. Studies elsewhere have pointed to fairly common causes – lack of social skills, envy and resentment, short temper, addiction to aggressive conduct, and preservation of self-image. Adolescent gangs often resort to bullying in schools. Bullying may have particular cultural roots, as in Japan. It results from intolerance of differences in a largely homogeneous society. Not fitting in could even be fatal; shame from ijime (bullying) is one reason youth suicide is a social phenomenon. A Japanese government survey found 125,000 reported school bullying cases a year. Other Asian countries share the Japanese drive to do well in school and career, often leading to the "exam hell" stress that drives students to aberrant behaviour. Working parents with little time for child-rearing risk discovering their latchkey kids have become bullies or victims of bullies. Conversely, mollycoddling could turn children into spoilt bullies if they do not get their way in school as they are used to at home. Excessive enforcement of strict school rules could provoke a bullying backlash among rebellious teenagers.Singapore students presumably face a few of these risks. Some have turned to help hotlines to cope with their stress. New cases include cyber-bullying – harassment by electronic means, including blogging, anonymous e-mail and digital video. The clip that Dr Neo said she saw was a particularly vicious combination of conventional bullying and cyber-bullying. Recording and uploading the clip on the Internet, the perpetrators extended the victim's humiliation. This phenomenon called "happy slapping" – which, despite its name, includes molestation and rape as well as violent physical assault – is spreading fast and wide. Even as they get to grips with bullying, schools and parents have to be vigilant against its new and more virulent mutations
Section:
Review
Publication:
The Straits Times 24/01/2008
Page:
28
No. of words:
436
BULLYING among schoolchildren here is an affliction that has to be understood and controlled or it can get horribly out of hand. One study of 4,000 students cited in Parliament this week by Dr Lily Neo, MP for Jalan Besar GRC, claimed an astounding 95 per cent rate. The Education Ministry found in reported cases last year an incidence of 3.7 per cent per 1,000 pupils. The Health Promotion Board put the figure at between 21 and 32 per cent. The vast statistical differences hint at imprecise understanding of what bullying behaviour is or should be. Still, the pathology looks serious. To victims, being subjected to taunts constantly is a living hell. The authorities, school volunteers, parents and students themselves first need to agree on where they consider the line to have been crossed – perhaps when behaviour causes a person physical, psychological and emotional distress. Studies elsewhere have pointed to fairly common causes – lack of social skills, envy and resentment, short temper, addiction to aggressive conduct, and preservation of self-image. Adolescent gangs often resort to bullying in schools. Bullying may have particular cultural roots, as in Japan. It results from intolerance of differences in a largely homogeneous society. Not fitting in could even be fatal; shame from ijime (bullying) is one reason youth suicide is a social phenomenon. A Japanese government survey found 125,000 reported school bullying cases a year. Other Asian countries share the Japanese drive to do well in school and career, often leading to the "exam hell" stress that drives students to aberrant behaviour. Working parents with little time for child-rearing risk discovering their latchkey kids have become bullies or victims of bullies. Conversely, mollycoddling could turn children into spoilt bullies if they do not get their way in school as they are used to at home. Excessive enforcement of strict school rules could provoke a bullying backlash among rebellious teenagers.Singapore students presumably face a few of these risks. Some have turned to help hotlines to cope with their stress. New cases include cyber-bullying – harassment by electronic means, including blogging, anonymous e-mail and digital video. The clip that Dr Neo said she saw was a particularly vicious combination of conventional bullying and cyber-bullying. Recording and uploading the clip on the Internet, the perpetrators extended the victim's humiliation. This phenomenon called "happy slapping" – which, despite its name, includes molestation and rape as well as violent physical assault – is spreading fast and wide. Even as they get to grips with bullying, schools and parents have to be vigilant against its new and more virulent mutations
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