Important Step in the Analysis of Bullying
The most important step in the student’s guide to research that I would need to analyze bullying is defining the topic. This is an important step because it involves full comprehension of the topic under study and determines how the other steps are conducted. For example, defining the topic allows the researcher to identify and evaluate the resources used in the study. First, it is important to understand the assignment and grasp all its requirements.
In this case, I would need to understand what the term bullying means and all concepts related to the word. Second, it would be important to get a general overview of the topic from other areas of study. Examples of reliable reference sources to review include textbooks, dictionaries, encyclopedia, magazines, peer-reviewed journals, and feature articles. The topic definition involves the breakdown of a subject matter into its constituent concepts for easier comprehension. Also, it involves listing keywords to make the evaluation of sources easy. For example, keywords related to bullying include peer pressure, socialization, delinquency, behavioral deviance, and criminal deviance.
How Bullying Relates To Agents of Socialization
Family, schools, peers, and the media are agents of socialization that have a lasting effect on children’s abilities to interact with other people in society. Bullying is a behavior that is learned through socialization. Children learn how to talk, act in different situations, react when provoked, and treat other people by observing their parents’ and peers’ behaviors. Family is the most important socialization agent because it teaches children the values, norms, and beliefs that are important for their survival in society. In her TEDx talk, Barbara Coloroso argues that bullying is multifaceted. She notes that the family plays a key role in the socialization of children.
For example, making racist or sexist comments disguised as jokes during family gatherings socializes children to bully their peers because of their ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. She notes that such occurrences condition children to view certain people in ways that encourage bullying. Parents should be role models to their children and instill in them positive values and beliefs that encourage them to treat everyone with dignity and respect. She argues that children should be taught how to think and what to think about. For example, if a student is asked by peers to join them in bullying another student, he/she should be able to ask why.
Parents’ and teachers’ role is to train children and young people on how to think and what to think about. In schools, peer pressure is a strong socialization force. Students behave in certain ways to gain acceptance from their peers. They bully other students to get recognition and respect from their friends. Coloroso argues that skepticism can mitigate the problem of bullying in schools and beyond. She believes that such crimes as genocide start in schoolyards where bullying takes place.
Children learn to hate each other and, as they grow older, embrace certain attitudes toward certain groups. Dehumanization starts in schoolyards, where some people are regarded as different and lesser human beings because of their skin color, race, or religion. Parents and teachers should ensure that children and young people are trained to accept and treat others with dignity, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation.