Child Development Theories
There have been numerous issues regarding bullying within schools in Australia. The term bullying refers to aggressive behavior or act that is practiced by an individual or group. Cyberbullying is defined as the behavior exercised by a group or an individual by using information and communication referred to as ICT as a vessel. It consists of humiliating texts and pictures. This paper aims to examine the issue of cyberbullying and school bullying which is very evident in the current school environment that has highly embraced the use of technological devices. Technology has been widely employed across all sectors to the extent that students have become prone to being allowed to access these devices at a young age. In the Australian context, studies indicated that some student is also allowed to bring phones to school (Weare, 2013). This paper will be focused on helping teachers, students and parents are aware of what it means by bullying and how it can impact the performance of students in school through things such as learning and development (Education.vic.gov.au, 2017). The report will expound on what bullying means, types of bullying that exist within the school environment, factors that constitute bullying and the adverse effects that bullying brings to children. The report will also focus on inclusive policies that have or may be implemented to combat bullying within the school environment as well as strategies that can be deployed. The report will also discuss the theories that support child development and how children develop in a current society that may help teachers to establish how children gain knowledge to curb bullying within Australian schools.
There are numerous theories that support child development. Urie Bronfenbrenner (2005) developed ‘Ecological System Theory’ which examines how children’s environment impact how they grow and develop. The environment in which a child grows possess different aspects that influence the development of a child. According to Bronfenbrenner, the aspects affecting child development include microsystem, mesosystem, macro system, and exosystem. As children grow, they learn through relationships they establish with the people present in their surroundings. Ainsworth (1999) and Swearer & Hymel (2015) studied at how children develop their attachment growing up and what the relationship to their family was like most probably towards their mothers. In this research, they claim that the child has a unique attachment towards their mother despite any resistance or insecurity. If a child faces opposition while growing up, this will create an impression of inconsistent relationships with their age mates while in school. According to McLeod (2008), this will have a significant impact on the learning and developing the ability of a child at school because it will discourage them from participating in teamwork which is essential for children. People who work in teamwork are more successful than those who prefer working individually because there is sharing of ideas in building better relationships with others. Mark Arthur May and Leonard William Doob (1937) state that cooperative and collaborative learning is a situation that involves two or more students who attempt to have shared their educational experiences. Through this sharing, students get new ideas from their fellow, and thus each of them will benefit in a way as they will bolster their learning knowledge (Pappas, 2014).
Types of Bullying
Bullying is defined as an occurrence where an individual or group of children become adamant towards a less powerful child or group of individuals. In most scenarios, bullying is represented by verbal which can lead to a physical, psychological or social habit. This type of bullying is harmful to less fortunate or powerful children or a group of young people as they may end up hating themselves or losing the zeal to fight for the best. When bullies are bullying a child, they aim to aim is to ensure that they result in harm to them (Education.vic.gov.au, 2014). Psychologically, bullying can be referred as to when a child is being hurt not only through words but also through the actions that make them feel worse about themselves for not being able to do anything about their situation. This feeling makes children develop low self-esteem and isolate themselves from other children in the school setting. The segregation and isolation make potential children not to exploit their abilities.
According to Nikolaou (2017), there are some types of bullying classified as physical which involve kicking, hitting, tripping or destroying someone’s property. This type of bullying may include a group of bully students attacking another student. This is highly associated with more extensive and stronger students picking on smaller peers and mistreating them because they are not capable of responding back or hitting them back as well. Young peer is forced to submit and suffer any form of harm from stronger students (Kowalski et al., 2014). Bullying can be direct where the bully may pass rude comments or spread a rumor on someone or indirect where a person may inflict harm by tarnishing other person’s self-esteem or reputation.
Verbal bullying does not have threats but involves insults, teasing, name calling, racist language or sexual harassment (Evans, Fraser & Cotter, 2014). Victims of this type of bullying may not act in an observable manner, but this affects their learning, developments as well as their relationships with other students in the school environment.
Covert bullying is another form of bullying in which a person continually uses hand gestures and weird looks. This form of bullying is meant for damaging the reputation of the victim and can consist of mimicking the victim, rumor-starting, playing jokes behind their backs to humiliate them and making faces when the victim is not aware (Pozzoli & Gini, 2013). This is the standard type of bullying evident in most learning institutions. In the event that the teacher and parents don’t note this type of bullying in advance, it may reach a point where it becomes hard to control and end.
Cyberbullying can be practiced anywhere in the world as much as technology is being embraced in learning environments as well as homes. It is done through technology devices such as computers, phones and over the internet. It is hard to control because it is only known to the perpetrator and the victim (Tanrikulu & Campbell, 2015). The victim may opt to go silent on the incidence until the point where the teacher or parent notes the changes in their learning and developments.
Psychological Effects of Bullying
The last type of bullying is alienation where the bullies encourage the peers of the victim to alienate the victim during an organized game or social break time. The aim of this is to make the victim feel like an outcast which impacts their relationships with other people and opt to isolate themselves.
Parents believe that schools provide an environment which is free from bullying. However, the primary school environment which attracts students from diverse backgrounds leads to peer pressure which is a significant factor contributing to bullying. Peer pressure which is present in various Australian primary schools indicates that students learn from each other (Plimmer, 2016). Both negative and positive behaviors are learned. Bullying is amongst the negative behavior which is learned by the students. Primary school students are always aggressive to learn from their colleagues, and this makes them feel and look cool. The friendship amongst students attracts them to bad morals which adversely affects their development. As the students seek to secure their bond, they end up joining bad groups especially the famous students so that they can get noticed. The students who spend time in groups used to violent distractions and watching films portraying bullying behavior ends up being affected (Völlink, Bolman, Dehue, & Jacobs, 2013). Although some Australian primary schools have outlined policies aiming to curb bullying, the problem is still existing in various schools. Bullying behavior is highly prevalent in institutions which have not yet formulated anti-bullying policies and where the authority has not been vigilant to create a conducive environment which is free from bullying.
In Australian primary schools, some children are likely to be bullied compared to others. Students who are either overweight or underweight are prone to bullying. Students who cannot afford what other kids have are usually bullied. Bullying in Australian school is closely related to discrimination as students wearing glasses, the recruits, different color of hair and those having freckles are likely to be bullied (Schott & Sondergaard, 2014). Students who wear different clothing in Australian primary schools are likely to be bullied. In the Australian primary schools, some students are considered to be weak to the extent of not being able to defend themselves. Such students are likely to be depressed, anxious, and less popular and have no friends. They are therefore likely to be bullied, and this interferes with their learning process. Primary school students who do not get along with their colleagues are also prone to bullying.
In the Australian primary schools, there are two specific types of students who are likely to bully their students. Such group belongs to students who are popular in the institutions and are well connected with their peers and have overall social power. The students have been reported to dominate others, therefore, exposing them to bullying. The second group belongs to students who happen to be segregated by their peers and portray low self-esteem. Such students are less concerned with school activities and are easily pressured by their colleagues. The students characterized in the two perspectives are likely to bully their colleagues as they are aggressive (Hanewald, 2013). Due to lack of adequate parental care, such students are always frustrated and usually have issues at home. It is generally difficult for such students to follow the formulated school rules. The students who watch violent movies in a positive manner end up thinking that are okay therefore they end copying them. When the primary students interact with their peers, who practice bullying behavior also end up adopting them. It is not necessarily that student who bully others are either bigger or stronger than them, but the residential environment is a significant determining factor (Plummer, 2016). The imbalance power is closely related to popularity and cognitive ability. Australian primary school students possessing these characters are likely to bully their colleagues.
Cyberbullying
Australian primary school students who are exposed to bullying have been reported to perform poorly academically. The school environment is never conducive to them as they usually have negative relationships with their colleagues. Their social life is also negatively affected, and in most cases, they do not develop to be useful people in the society. Bullying adversely affects both parties involved. The students have therefore affected psychology negatively and emotionally (Vollink et al., 2013). As a result, the students end up losing self-confidence, social esteem, and social-emotional skills as well as lacking empathy. Despite such students having issues at their homes, they academic is negatively affected implying a decline in their grades. This is due to lack of concentration on the school work as they focus on bullying their colleagues and getting bullied. They are isolated in their school work, and if teachers are not keen to address the issues, they end up dropping out. Cooperation and collaboration in primary school are essential in enhancing positive performance as students share experiences. Bullying indicates lack of collaboration among students, therefore, interfering with the learning process adversely as there is no learning from one another.
The teachers have the critical responsibility of ending bullying in Australian primary schools. This can be achieved by working in a team which helps students establish and boost their personality, therefore, enhancing teamwork. Teamwork is vital in the classroom as it helps students learn from one another and guide each other in matters about classwork. Apart from handling classwork, collaboration is effective in embracing diversity in a classroom setting. This is because students of the different background are brought together and learn to appreciate each other irrespective of cultural background. Cross-ethnic relationships are developed thus enhancing cognitive skills, communication as well as critical thinking (Garandeau, Poskiparta & Salmivali, 2014). It is evident that students who are prone to bullying are likely to be absent a couple of days. This is a defensive mechanism as they try to avoid harassment. This directly interferes with their school performance, therefore, ending up registering poor results. Bullying in primary school leads to psychological distress which has an adverse impact on students learning the process.
Conclusions and Recommendations:
According to the report is that bullying has adverse effects on the Australian primary school’s students. All the participants of harassment are affected in one way or the other. Bullying has a negative impact on the psychological, social and academics of students. It creates an environment which is not conducive to learning. Students who are prone to bullying are usually defensive and look for excuses to go to school. As a result, their academic performance is affected negatively. Apart from the significant drop in grades, the students do not also interact with people frequently. They might end up leaving a miserable life due to lack of connections. Students who are bullied in schools end up feeling worthless and might also lose self-confidence (Barlett & Coyne, 2014). Being a bully or bullied results in a lack of relationship with colleagues. Involvement of student significantly ensures that they are sufficiently developed and end up performing handsomely academically. Bronfenbrenner claims that the surroundings of students dramatically determine their academic performance.
Inclusive Policies and Strategies
It is the role of Australian primary schools to formulate policies aiming to eliminate bullying. The process will assure students of safe learning environment whereby they feel physically and emotionally secure. Students bullying their colleagues should be exposed to stern actions and counseling. Teachers should also be strategically positioned to support the parties involved in bullying comprising of bullies, victims, and bystanders (Bauman & Newman, 2014). This will consist of guidance and counseling highlighting why bullying is not okay in a school setting. Teachers should also practice a child’s social-emotional learning to promote students interaction. As a result, the classroom setting will become friendly and suitable for education. Some of the issues which should be addressed include self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making (Chancellor, 2013). The practices will significantly eliminate bullying in schools, therefore, creating a conducive learning environment.
References:
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