Bullying in the schools may include things like physical abuse, insults or alienation of a victim from the popular peer groups. The victims are mainly those students who lack confidence and do not have many friends. Bullying is happening in very many schools but it is one of the problems that are not seriously dealt with. It can lead to many terrible consequences such as the victims becoming traumatized and frightened while the offenders get enough courage and confidence to move on with their unpleasant acts.
Statistics show that out of ten students in the elementary schools, nine of them are victims of bullying. In 2009, it was reported that most students were experiencing physical and emotional bullying. This horrible act occurs direct through harming the victims physically or threatening them. Indirect bullying occurs when the victim is segregated from the peer group or through spread of rumors.
The researchers use questionnaires to identify the number of students who undergo this risk since they are reliable (Richard and Calvet 155). As the authors have noted, “We know that both bullies and victims tend to suffer higher levels of depression and other mental health problems throughout their lives” (Richards and Calvet 155).
MA has got anti-bullying laws that are very powerful in the country. It has got firm conditions that should be followed by all schools, whether private or public, so that the students can be protected from being bullied even when it includes the use of words only (SUMC 12). The first law states that bullying is any kind of repeated hostility towards a student. This means that it can either be verbal or written as long as it results to harming the victim physically or emotionally, destroying his property or disregarding the victim’s rights.
Secondly, the law states that the every school must have an anti-bullying policy. The policy should include: the procedure followed by students in reporting the cases of bullying, the kind of punishments to be administered to the bully and the processes followed by the school in responding and finding out bullying reports. Besides, the law states that every school must teach all the students about bullying.
This means that it should be incorporated in the curriculum, and the techniques to deal with bullies as well as teaching students on the differences that exist among them which may lead to bullying. Furthermore, the law states that training should be done to the teachers as well as the other members of staff on how to deal with bullying and the law also needs the schools to report cases of bullying to the administration.
This law aims at preventing and stopping bullying in schools since the staff members are trained on how to do research findings on bullying, which includes identifying the types of students who are likely to fall in the class of being bullied. Finally, the law states that the parents’ or guardians’ victims should be made aware of their children’s bullying.
Massachusetts signed the law on anti-bullying in 2010 after it was passed by the house as the strictest law in the country. The law has been passed in very many countries and Massachusetts was the 42nd state to pass it (Schaffer 231). On the other hand, the law has got some weaknesses because the disciplinary actions in the schools are not the same.
The district schools have been given much freedom to decide on how to punish those students who engage in the horrible act. The law should also provide guidance on how the schools should carry out procedures when investigating and reporting bullying cases.
Works Cited
Richards, Robert and Calvet Clay. Columbine Fallout: The Long-Term Effects on Free Expression Take Hold in Public Schools. Expression Take Hold in Public School, 83. 1089(2003).
Schaffer, Noah. Fighting Back Against ‘Bullying. Mass. Lawyers Weekly, 2007.
Stanford University Medical Center (SUMC). School Bullying Affects Majority Of Elementary Students. Science Daily. 2011. Web.