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  • Essay / Bullying in Today's Society - 910

    Timea SzaboBullying and its possible effects on children in today's society Bullying is a growing concern in a society where status and the exercise of power over another human being are increasingly important in the development of social circles. Dan Olweus (Norwegian researcher and founder of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program) defines it as “aggressive behavior that is intentional and involves an imbalance of power. Most often, this is repeated over time” (Violencepreventionworks.org). School victimization is a particularly sensitive topic that has only truly become public in the last half century, as more and more researchers and psychologists have highlighted its short- and long-term negative effects on targeted individuals. Since then, this issue has been the subject of numerous investigations and many programs have been developed in an effort to combat and prevent the many forms of bullying that exist today. The negative effects of such abusive behavior are varied and can differ greatly from one individual to another. However, three main consequences can be associated with school bullying, namely: school avoidance, depression/anxiety and even suicide attempts. According to Jaana Juvonen, "we cannot fix low academic performance by ignoring bullying, because the two are often linked." Her study examines the academic performance of 2,300 middle school students and finds direct correlations between low performance and high achievement. It's easy to understand how, for a child of this age, marginalization and abuse (whether verbal, physical or emotional) can lead to lower academic performance and low self-esteem. negative behavior persists, the targeted individual might also develop a number of rules against bullying that should be implemented not only on an individual level, but also on a classroom and school-level as well. , states Dan Olweus, "has the responsibility to stop bullying behavior and create a safe learning environment for all students. He suggests a program that constantly monitors abusive behavior, promotes kindness, acceptance." differences and raises awareness among teachers, school staff, parents and children about bullying and response strategies. Source 1: Juvonen, Jaana. Bullying experiences and compromised academic performance across middle school levels. The Journal of Early Adolescence. February 2011: 152-173 Source 2: Hinduja, S. & Patchin, JW Bullying, Cyberbullying and Suicide. Suicide Research Archives (14), 2010: 206-221. Source 3: Olweus, Dan. What we know and what we can do. Cambridge MA: Blackwell Publishers, 1993.