BULLYING IN SCHOOL

By Yakubu Umar Omede

Bullying is an act that occurs through physical, verbal and in a situation where power difference is present. A situation where the individual bullying the other person is physically and mentally stronger than the victim.

A person is being bullied when he or she is constantly exposed to negative actions on the part of one or more persons. Most children and adults are exposed to different forms of bullying due to the unequal balance of power and influence that is so common in youth relationships and peer groups.

Bullying in schools has become an issue that has raised many concerns in the society. Typical school bully has become more nuanced in recent years. It could be that you are bullying me, and you are popular, and i am no popular, and that difference makes it difficult for me to defend myself. Bullying is about the wrong choice the bully makes, not some perceived fault from the victim.

Often times, there are categories of children in school who are targets of bully. These are the type of kids that are:: Good at what they do, the creative and intelligent ones, ones with personal vulnerabilities, the ones with few or no Friends, the popular ones, the ones with illness or disabilities, people with different race etc.

A lot of time, people in school will be bullied because they get lots of positive attention from people. This attention could be anything ranging from academic excellence, excelling in sports etc. Bullies target these type of people because they either feel inferior or they worry about being overshadowed by the target's abilities. As a result, they bully them and hoping to make them feel insecure.

At school, these students go extra miles on school work, or they are fast learners and move through assignment and projects faster than the other students. They are often target for bullies.

It has been noted that children who are disabled are disproportionately affected by bullying abuse. This can include children who has autism, down syndrome, dwarfism, asthma and any other type of health conditions are victims of bully

Recently online, there has been a case of a 9 year old Australian school boy Quaden Bayles, who has been a victim of bully in his school because of his health condition(Dwarfism). His mother (Yarraka Bayles), posted a video of him on Facebook when he was crying because he was bullied in school. In my research, Quaden Bayles was diagnosed with achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism when he was just three days old. He was seen crying uncontrollably in the video and in his mother's exact words, "This is the impact that bullying has on a nine-year old kid that just want to go to school, get an education, and have fun, but every freaking day, something happens, another episode, another bullying, another taunt, another name calling". While watching the video, i was so disturbed and was moved to tears seeing the negative impact bullying has on an individual. It could be seen and heard in that clip that Quaden made comments about taking his own life, asking for a knife to stab himself in the heart as he also tries to strangle himself. That is the effect bullying has.

Bullying in school not only affects student's physical, emotional and psychological lives, it is also found to affect their academic achievements and their class works because children who are victimized experience negative emotional and psychological outcome that can inhibit their engagement in class and in turn affects their academic performance.

Bullying can be associated with significantly serious problems. Children who bully are at greater risk for engaging in delinquent acts including violence inside and outside school, dropping out of school and so on. Research has shown that individual who are persistently subjected to bullying are at risk of stress related illness which can sometimes lead to suicide.

Those who has been bullied can suffer from long term behavioral problems. It can cause depression, anxiety, low self esteem and can even cause illness. People who are bullied as children are at risk for having less of a supportive social network during adulthood and child victims of bully may have poorer physical health.

Either being a bully or the victim of bullying increases the risk of engaging in self harm as well as having suicidal thoughts just like the Quaden Bayles case. However, the risk of suicide attempt seem to be higher for girl victims because they are emotionally fragile. Bullying has nothing other than negative impact on the person being bullied.

In preventing this, parents who sense that their child is a subject of bully should take it seriously and encourage their child to talk about it. Remaining calm and reassuring them that he or she is not to blame for the victimization. For parents whose children bullies other people's children, they should talk to them and tell them about the effect it will have on the bullied kids and the consequences of their actions.

Schools and individuals in the classroom should be supportive of all children to prevent bullying. Also, since low self esteem tends to be a risk factor for becoming a victim, interventions that promotes confidence and self esteem are important ways to reduce the risk of being bullied. It is important to build their confidence with activities ranging from sports, theatrical performance, engaging in discussion etc.

Isolation is also a risk factor as a result of bullying, helping the person feel less alone by lending them a listening ear can go a long way towards preventing a person from being bullied.

In conclusion, bullying in schools is a widespread issue around the world and no community is immune from this problem. Effective prevention bullying programs must define bullying in a clear way to the community, and include students, school staffs, and parents as its team. In order to have a peaceful and safe environment for students to learn, students must learn how to communicate with each other, resolve conflicts and learn to be empathetic to others.

SPREAD THE MESSAGE

SAY NO TO BULLYING

Yakubu Umar Omede