A Realistic Perspective of Bullying

On this occasion I will begin my analysis of an academic journal titled “Bullying in School: An Overview of Types, Effects, Family Characteristics, and Intervention Strategies” which was written by Paul R. Smokowski and Kelly Holland Kopasz. According to the journal, “one in three children” is affected by bullying within U.S. schools. However, the journal notes that the National School Safety Center has “called bullying the most enduring and underrated problem in U.S. Schools.” In fact, a recent national survey found that “nearly 30% of the students surveyed reported being involved in bullying […] as either a perpetrator or a victim.” In reality the aforementioned statistic translates to approximately “3,708,284 students reporting bullying and 3,245,904 students reporting victimization.”   

Before reading this article it was really hard to put into perspective and visualize the different bullying percentages given by different resources. However, now that a physical number has been given it is hard to understand why the problem is being overlooked. As mentioned within this article, bullying is “underrated.” As a result, perhaps anti-bullying strategies should focus on helping parents and other adults identify bullying. The problem of bullying cannot be addressed if it is not first identified and accepted as an existing problem.

The journal notes that a power imbalance is a feature typically found within bullying relationships, with “the bully being either physically or psychologically more powerful [than the victim].” The journal states that bullies may use bullying as “a means to establish dominance or maintain status.” Although the journal provides various examples of bullying including, name calling, physical assault, threatening, stealing, vandalizing, slandering, excluding and taunting, the journal notes that “regardless of which behavior is chose, bullying is marked by intense intimidation that creates a pattern of humiliation, abuse, and fear for the victim.”

In my opinion, the struggle for power is not the problem. Competitiveness is what has driven humanity to progress and improve. The problem begins when the struggle for power gets out of hand. When the power struggles transforms into bullying, healthy competitiveness stops and a unproductive monopoly begins. As a result, just as forming and maintaining a monopoly is illegal, so should maintaining a bullying relationship. This does not mean that all incidents of bullying should be treated as heinous crimes, but rather that each bullying case should be treated seriously and be responded to independently according to its own circumstances.