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All schools should implement bullying awareness programs

Bullying in schools occurs so much to the extent of one thinking that it is a norm. Bullying is an activity that occurs within and outside the confinements of schools, but a majority of the cases happens in the absence of elders. Bullying is an act of torturing others physically or psychologically. In schools, it occurs by students inflicting physical pain on others, abusing or mocking them. In addition, the activity can also be carried out emotionally, where students isolate themselves from other students. In turn, the stigmatized students end up being victims of bullying. Bullying has detrimental effects to both the culprit exercising the act and the victim of the same. Subsequently, it is of considerable concern that schools formulate bullying awareness programs to harness the ever-growing bullying habit that eats into schools and endangers the future of many students.

Research shows that children who take advantage of others and bully them have high chances of turning to criminal activities when they grow up. Moreover, the research also informs readers that the bullying effect may be transferred to spouses when one grows up. It is also shocking to learn that bullies may end up becoming child abusers in future. In this case, it calls for action to prevent bullying from prevailing in schools as the effects impact many people in the society (Kobus, web). Bullying awareness programs measure up to be an ideal channel through which many schools and authorities can stop bullying in schools. These programs employ various strategies to spread bullying awareness and educate people on means of preventing bullying occurrences.

On that note, the following are means through which these programs work. One of the means is by providing online help through websites. The programs can be accessed through the internet where the websites feed a lot of information to the readers. In such websites, the programs provide educative information in regards to the bullying topic. The information tends to provide information on how one may notice a bullying victim or a bully. This information is helpful to both parents and the authoritative figures in schools. In addition, the programs also offer the most appropriate approach for the victims and the executors as a precaution to avoid the situation from becoming worse. The online help is also accessible to students, mainly the victims of bullying. They acquire information on the course of action to undertake when being bullied from the websites (Kobus, web). Furthermore, through the websites, they also have a chance of handling the problem in a discreet way as they can access the material at their own time.

Moreover, bullying awareness programs can also be implemented in schools and the communities other than just on the internet. This can be executed by making physical visits to schools, presenting talks on the subject, and providing different solutions to undertake in order to curb the problem. This way many students are provided with a chance to learn the effects bullying can have on an individual, whether one is the bully or the victim. On that note, schools can easily implement bullying awareness programs in their systems (Langevin, web). In addition, the programs also offer psychiatric services to take care of the already affected students. This way, students, especially the victims, are offered a proper way of dealing with trauma and other negative effects obtained from bullying. Counseling is also a part of the program and students receive psychological help as they deal with their situations. The pieces of advice indeed help the students face their fears appropriately and prevent harmful retaliations from the victims towards the bullies.

The bullying awareness programs should offer a way of shielding the weak students from facing bullies. This is quite beneficial for students since it would avoid them from experiencing effects such as mental breakdown, poor performances in schools and skipping school. Students’ concentration in class tends to be heightened by various factors such as peace of mind. Having a program offering such protection, many students will be comfortable thus increasing their concentration (Langevin, web).

Including teachers in the programs is a significant step to take within schools and towards the students. Teachers are the authoritative figures in schools and thus fear and respect to them from students comes naturally. In turn, including teachers in the bullying awareness programs is a tremendous step as this is bound to make the system effective. This is because teachers are aware of the students’ behavior and it is the best way to implement the programs. In addition, the teachers are in a position to employ the systems effectively because they are always present at school.

Additionally, schools have to make sure that they implement their bullying programs within the boundaries of the state and federal laws. Different states have varying laws that concern the bullying issue and it is the schools’ responsibilities to acquaint with them as they forge their bullying awareness programs forward (Langevin, web). Moreover, the schools’ programs can involve accessing free federal and non-federal resources that aid in eradicating bullying. These resources are inclusive of training materials, tool kits and tips on how to deal with bullying. This offer extra materials to utilize while implementing the bullying awareness programs. Moreover, the program ensures to address the most appropriate means of dealing with bullying. In this case, the procedure one needs to follow, after experiencing a case of bullying and the consequences of bullying other students. In addition, it is necessary to accord all cases of bullying the same amount of seriousness as with time, many carry it out in different ways and for different reasons. For example, some students bully others based on the victim’s way of dressing, their looks, skin color or gender. Consequently, bullies end up enacting different ways of torturing other students. It is also crucial for the program to accommodate bullies and find ways of assisting them. The process may involve finding out the reasons that fuel their acts (Kobus, web). For example, one may be a bully because of a prior experience as the victim of the horrendous act. In turn, because of anger developed from such acts, they feel the urge to apply the same to other students. Others are bullies because of harsh treatments at their homes. This may be from their parents, siblings or relatives. Hence, this fuels the students to act the same on other students.

Once the source of bullying has been established, a solution can be easily formulated, and this may include different approaches. One of the approaches is to notify the source of bullying, for example, calling the parents and addressing the main issue that is affecting their child. In addition, it may also include offering solutions to parents and guidelines that assist parents in guiding their children. The programs should have a means of including parents and guardians in their quest to eradicate bullying in schools. This way the programs become a routine carried out not only in school but also at home. Subsequently, this ensures that the programs are concretely instilled in students, and it becomes their way of life.

Programs that enlighten people on bullying act as a way of eradicating the torturous acts in schools. Nonetheless, their spreading is the core idea that propels the programs. This is because the key is to ensure many people become aware of the program. Consequently, this spreads knowledge on the means of dealing with bullying in schools. Thus, the programs can also include the use of pamphlets and flyers to spread the news and their contents among different people. Moreover, the programs can also include the use of seminars that help spread the word of their existence and act as means of dealing with bullying. Punishment is not the only solution to deal with bullying and such bullying awareness programs offer a lenient and effective measure to undertake. The program is not an assurance that it will offer the most promising results, but it is bound to reduce bullying incidences. However, it is an easy means to implement as it is effectively rolled out in schools, which are the main institutions that house bullies. On the other hand, such programs speak of means to deal with bullying whilst using available tools in schools, for example, use of counseling as a tool to deal with bullying.

Works cited

Kobus Kevin. “Bullying awareness and prevention.” Toronto Catholic school board. (2006) : n. pag. Web. 3 December 2012.

Langevin Marilyn. “A stuttering education and bullying awareness and prevention.” Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools Vol.43 344-358 July 2012. Web. 3 December 2012.