Crimes on Campus Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Crimes on Campus - Essay Example The intent of the bullying person is to gain power over the victim. An individual is said to be bullied when he finds it difficult to protect himself from recurring harmful actions from another person or a group of persons. Bullying students are usually very outgoing and bold without any idea of indignity or remorse; whereas, the bullied ones are already very introverted and hesitant, which makes them prone to bullying. Smith and Sharp assert that school bullying involves â€Å"5-10 per cent of children as being bullied and about 5 per cent of children as bullying others† (5). They state that bullying is generally out of sight of the school authorities, because the bullied students and their peers hesitate in informing their teachers about the bully, and that is why it keeps on going. The National Association of School Psychologists (as cited in Shore 5) estimates that â€Å"160,000 children miss school every day for fear of being bullied†. The description of bullying i s not complete until we describe the aspects of bullying. Bullying can be of various types. Some of these are: Oral bullying: shouting, calling names and spreading rumors about the victim Written bullying: nasty letters and text messages Physical bullying: kicking, hitting, slapping, punching and pushing Isolating the victim from social gatherings Making the victim do things he does not want to do Making the victim feel ashamed of his race, color, religion and language Sexual harassment Cyber bullying: teasing through nasty emails, chat messages and phone calls Bullying can have devastating effects on the bullied student, so much so that he may be forced to commit suicide. He may undergo hypertension, freight, loneliness, anxiety, depression, low self-worth, low grades and suicidal attempts. Glew et al. (1026-1031) found that school bullying resulted in a decline in school attendance, academic outcome, psychosocial adjustment, and psychological health of students. Bullying also crea tes bad impact on the observers of bullying. Since bullying creates an apprehensive environment on campus, students who watch someone being bullied may tend to turn away from their studies feel guilty for not stopping it; or, may even be tempted to participate and support the bullying students. Such students are called the bystanders. Rivers et al. (211-223) conducted a study regarding the mental health of those students who witness school bullying. The participants included 2,002 students aged 12 to 16 belonging to 14 schools in the United Kingdom. The researchers found that â€Å"observing bullying at school predicted risks to mental health over and above that predicted for those students who were directly involved in bullying behavior as either a perpetrator or a victim† (211). The observers are either convinced to take part in bullying or they refrain from involvement or from protecting the victim, all of which are signs of poor mental health. In order to avoid all these negative effects of bullying on campus, I recommend that school authorities should promote interpersonal and helping relationship among its students. Students’