Olweus Bullying Prevention Essay

Walking down the bustlingly halls of middle school sits a small frame girl almost in tears. Two feet from her stands a boisterous girl calling her hurtful names. Up comes along a courageous girl demanding for the girl to stop being a bully and calling her names. In return, the clamorous bully starts to torment the gutsy bystander. This scenario happens daily in schools, buses, and even at home. Having courageous bystanders confront the bully is a step towards conquering bullies. However, recent reviews have been made and in Rodkin’s article it is stated “interventions that involve peers, such as using students as peer mediators or engaging bystanders to disapprove of bullying and support the victims of harassment, were associated with increases

The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) is a well-respected and known program that is applied in many school settings. OBPP claims that “school administrators, teachers, and other staff are primarily responsible for introducing and implementing the program” (“Olweus Bullying Prevention” 141). Ordinarily, I would agree that teachers need to implement and be primarily the sole administrator of anti-bullying programs. However, I believe that without structure at school and in the home, anti-bullying it is not being enforced properly. Consequently, statistics have proven that “nearly one-third of all school-aged children are bullied each year” (“Bullying Statistics” 139). This is proof that exercising these programs primarily at school is not the solution, which indicates more needs to be done in these children’s homes. According to Maslow’s hierarchy, there are needs that must be met for children and without the needs being meet, it results in unacceptable behaviors like bullying. If parents at home can become aware of what is happening in schools, then parents can meet the children’s needs and educate them on how to be an advocate for