The Anti-Anti-Bullying Campaign
Mitchell Canaday
Prof. Brininstool
Eng 131
The Anti-Anti-Bullying Campaign
There are few things that people can agree on when it comes to bullying in the school or the workplace. It was only recently that people have seen bullying as anything but a childhood rite of passage. In the past four years, all but two states in America now have anti-bullying laws that provide criminal punishment for students and adults that violate these laws [1]. Many people in America see these laws as a step forward in protecting people who have not learned to protect themselves. However, there are negative and not yet propagated affects to the citizens these laws are supposed to protect. Furthermore, these laws have now put many other children in danger of malicious prosecution who may not have done a misdeed. Though many measures have been taken in order to prevent bullying, perhaps the wrong approach has been taken to alleviate the so called epidemic.
In the book Why They Kill, by author Richard Rhodes provides a compelling new look at one of the aspects of bullying and the affects thereof [2]. In his book, Rhodes states that there is no correlation between bullying and psychopathic or suicidal behavior in children and young adults such as the Columbine shooting and the suicide of Phoebe Prince. Such behavior is categorized as incidental suggesting a predisposition to such behavior by either choice or “violent coaching” through a mentor such as a classmate. Though these actions are exactly what anti-bullying campaigns are trying to prevent, the same events are growing more and more common every year. So the fault, through analysis seems to be a treatment of the symptoms and not the problems. To support Rhodes’ thesis, other research has shown that talk of an epidemic is most likely exaggerated [1]. The same research shows the reason for more reports of bullying stem from teachers feeling forced to report minor cases of “kids being kids” to school boards,
Prof. Brininstool
Eng 131
The Anti-Anti-Bullying Campaign
There are few things that people can agree on when it comes to bullying in the school or the workplace. It was only recently that people have seen bullying as anything but a childhood rite of passage. In the past four years, all but two states in America now have anti-bullying laws that provide criminal punishment for students and adults that violate these laws [1]. Many people in America see these laws as a step forward in protecting people who have not learned to protect themselves. However, there are negative and not yet propagated affects to the citizens these laws are supposed to protect. Furthermore, these laws have now put many other children in danger of malicious prosecution who may not have done a misdeed. Though many measures have been taken in order to prevent bullying, perhaps the wrong approach has been taken to alleviate the so called epidemic.
In the book Why They Kill, by author Richard Rhodes provides a compelling new look at one of the aspects of bullying and the affects thereof [2]. In his book, Rhodes states that there is no correlation between bullying and psychopathic or suicidal behavior in children and young adults such as the Columbine shooting and the suicide of Phoebe Prince. Such behavior is categorized as incidental suggesting a predisposition to such behavior by either choice or “violent coaching” through a mentor such as a classmate. Though these actions are exactly what anti-bullying campaigns are trying to prevent, the same events are growing more and more common every year. So the fault, through analysis seems to be a treatment of the symptoms and not the problems. To support Rhodes’ thesis, other research has shown that talk of an epidemic is most likely exaggerated [1]. The same research shows the reason for more reports of bullying stem from teachers feeling forced to report minor cases of “kids being kids” to school boards,
Cited: [1] By: Cloud, John. The Myths of Bullying. 12 March 2012, Vol. 179, Issue 10 [2] By: Rhodes, Richard. Why They Kill. October 2000, First Vintage Books Edition [3] By: Poyhonen, Virpi. Juvonen, Jaana. Salmivalli, Christina. What Does it Take to Stand Up for the Victim of Bullying? 1 April 2010, Merrel-Palmer Quarterly, Vol. 56 No. 2