Bullying is a dominant issue arising in
schools. This issue relates to tolerance. Should bullying be tolerated within
schools? Many students education has been affected by bullying as it lowers
their self-esteem causing them to dislike coming to school. According to a newspaper
article have read, “up to half of all students in Year 9 were either being
bullied or bullying others needed to be addressed”. This clearly shows that
bullying affects many students. Bullying will need to be stopped in order for
students to gain a better education. In the article opposition leader Barry
O’Farrell said “new counseling and students support positions would be provided
as a response to the recent increase in incidents involving violence and
bullying”. Bullying not only affects the
students but also affects the community. The government will need to come up
with legislation that everyone agrees on in order to counter bullying.
The main cause of bullying is ethnicity, this is because people have
different cultures and there is lack of understanding of each cultures leading
to bullying. Society has placed a major emphasis on whiteness. The idea of whiteness is part of critical
scholarship that is not meant as an attack on ‘White people’ but rather: “an
assault on the socially constructed and constantly reinforced power of White
identifications and interests” (Gillborn, 2008: 33). The white culture is the
dominant culture within society. Many students who are from minority groups are
discriminated against due to them not fitting in society. Within the article Mr
O’Farrell has stated “parents have made it clear that they are alarmed about
the spate of school yard incidents in recent weeks”. To overcome this alarm the
government has announced a supporting student plan, which will trial 50 new
student support officers in NSW schools which will cost $13 million over four
years.
With the growth of technology bullying has
become easier than ever before. Children are not only bullied at school but
outside of school also. As stated in Griffith article “the alarming number of
teenage suicides associated with cyber bullying on Facebook, together with
Facebook’s apparent failure in some cases to remove harmful posts, has fuelled
concern it is incapable of self regulation. This demonstrates that Facebook and
Twitter are too lenient in removing harmful post making it easier for people to
bully other people. The government has fallen behind with legislation in
regards to cyber bullying. Bullying has
occurred for many years but there has been little change in putting a stop to
it.
References:
- Gillborn,
D. (2008). Racism and education: Coincidence or conspiracy? New
York and London: Routledge.
- Griffith,
C. (2013). Tony Abbott urged to tackle cyber bullies. The Australian
retrieved on 17/09/13
·
NSW Liberals Announce School Bullying Plan. The Age retrieved on the 18/09/13(2013)http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-national/nsw-liberals-announce-school-bullying-plan-20110306-1bj95.html
This is a very interesting blog post, very relevant to today's society.
ReplyDeleteYes there is an ongoing issue of bullying in schools, however it has been increasing over the advancement of technology. I also believe that the laptop supply to students in the junior years of high school, can be partly blamed for this. In a sense that EVERY student now has access to the internet not only at home, but at school (where there parents are unable to witness what they are doing). Therefore schools should strictly monitor every students action on the internet during school time.
The culture aspect of bullying is evident today, I was able to witness this sort of alienation of other students due to their 'outcast' culture. This included their ethnicity. These plans implemented by the government, may play a role in minimising the issue of bullying, but does not guarantee a large decrease, plans created should be established to target specific students,
rather than the creation of general legislation. Counselors should be involved if needed.