School climate effects students and faculty, and the topic and act of bullying has generated a national conversation about its impact on teaching and learning. Bullying is an unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Both kids who are bullied and who bully others may have serious, lasting problems. No single factor puts a child at risk of being bullied or bulling others. Depending on the environment, some groups such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender youth, youth with disabilities, and socially isolated youth, may be at an increased risk of being bullied.
Types of bullying include physical, verbal, covert, and cyber bullying. Physical bullying includes hitting, kicking, tripping, pinching, pushing, or damaging property. Verbal bullying includes name calling, insults, teasing, intimidation, and racist remarks. Covert bullying includes lying/spreading rumors, and mimicking. Lastly, cyber bullying, which has become popular with the increase in use of social media, includes digital technologies. Bullying, believe it or not, can occur during or after school hours. While most cases of bullying happens in the school building, a percentage can also happen in places such as the playground, the bus, or the Internet.
Bullying can threaten student's physical and emotional safety at school and can negatively impact their ability to learn. The best way to address bullying is to stop it before it starts. School staff can help prevent bullying by establishing and enforcing school rules and policies that clearly describe how students are expected to treat each other. Consequences for violations of the rules should be clearly defined as well.
There are several types of policies and rules that work to prevent bullying. Each serves a different purpose. For example, a school mission statement establishes the vision for the school. Everyone should know how they personally help the school achieve this shared goal. The school motto for the 2013 - 2014 school year at my placement says, "The questions are yours; the answers are ours." The school will include all stakeholders in the decision making process as it relates to student achievement.
A word from the school's principal says, "(The school name) will produce respectful students who have integrity, character and honor in a community that engages and involves all students striving for excellence. We will provide a positive and safe learning environment, develop a positive connection between school and home and help students become lifelong learners and vital members of our larger community."
Also, a student bill of rights includes positive things students can expect at school. It is better to keep it short and easy to remember, so it is useful in day-to-day school life. An example is, each student at (school name) has a right to learn in a safe and friendly place, be treated with respect, and receive the help and support of caring adults.
My school placement's policy regarding bullying is zero. It is completely unacceptable to bully a teacher, staff, and students. School is a place where teachers, staff, and students should be safe and comfortable. It is a place where learning and growth should be taking place instead of nasty, hateful remarks. The school takes bullying very seriously, and proper policies and rules are set for students to follow. If a student disobeys the policies and rules, consequences are to follow.
The classroom policy regarding bullying is also zero. My host teacher does a great job at teaching her students that bullying is not a nice thing to do and it hurts others. She has built a great connection between her and her students, along with her students and each other. They all see each other as a family and that is what I believe a good, solid, flourishing classroom should resemble. The students feel much more at ease knowing that their classmates respect them and treat them as equal members.
The types of bullying I have noticed throughout the school were physical bullying, such as damaging property, quite a bit of verbal bullying, such as name calling, insults, and teasing, and covert bullying, such as mimicking. The implications to student learning and teaching is that bullying hinders all of it. There is no way to remain focused while bullying is taking place, whether you are the teacher trying to teach, the victim, or the bully. There is no time for bullying to take place. We are all equal members of society and what we choose to do with our actions is 100% our responsibility. It kills me that students when confronted about bullying deny everything to do with it, when they know they are the ones causing an unsafe school climate.
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