Consequences Of Bullying

Bullying has been a very challenging issue to resolve for many years. It is increasingly spreading by the use of social media, where most bullies spread malice at the touch of a button. Bullying’s prevalence has lead to numerous consequences such as anxiety, depression, diminished effort in academics, and suicide. Many schools have implemented effective anti-bullying policies to prevent these consequences from occurring, but this school’s current policy hasn’t incorporated strict rules and consequences to battle issues associated with bullying. In order to eliminate bullying as a whole, the school must implement a new policy which imposes strict consequences on bullies. Bullying is a very prevalent issue that is easily caused by many different

In order to prevent bullying, school administrators and all students must put in a combined effort to ensure a safe environment for every individual. They must also be educated on what bullying is and how it affects an individual. Adults need to “Talk about what bullying is and how to stand up to it safely. Tell kids bullying is unacceptable. Make sure kids know how to get help” (“How to Prevent Bullying”). By knowing the cause and effect of bullying, students can identify it and immediately report it. Students are sometimes afraid to report incidents of bullying, because they are afraid of consequences like dislike and increased conflict with the bully. To prevent this fear, students should be encouraged to speak to an adult without any hesitation. By doing so, “The adult can give comfort, support, and advice, even if they can’t solve the problem directly. Encourage the child to report bullying if it happens” (“How to Prevent Bullying”). Another way to effectively target bullying is to impose serious expectations for all students to follow. According to the American Psychological Association, “Teachers and coaches need to explicitly remind students that bullying is not accepted in school and such behaviors will have consequences.” Consequences like suspension, academic probation, and the inability to participate in school events are serious punishments for bullying another individual for an

Schools with effective approaches educate their students on bullying, and create strict guidelines to follow with serious consequences if not followed. Granada Hills Charter High School has a strong anti-bullying policy, where students are required to adhere to a series of rules which strictly enforce bullying. Should a bully be present, the school enforces strict “disciplinary action if the bullying action negatively affects the school environment, the victim’s attendance, the victim’s feelings about him- or herself, and/or the learning experience” (Granada Hills Charter High School). If a student were to experience these effects, then the bully would be held to specific consequences such as counseling, detention, a parent-student dean conference, referral to school police with possible arrest, suspension, or recommendation for expulsion. The University of North Carolina conducted a systematic review of different anti-bullying policies, and concluded that “anti-bullying policies might be effective at reducing bullying if their content is based on evidence and sound theory and if they are implemented with a high level of fidelity” (Hall). Schools which have implemented strict anti-bullying policies have taken an effective approach to stop bullying and create a healthy learning environment for students to participate