Battling Bullying: Understanding Trends and Promoting Change in Secondary Education

Bullying is a significant challenge in secondary education across the world, with bullying cases being reported more often. With different students and teachers being subjected to bullying by different people, there are some current trends in bullying. First, verbal bullying has become more common, especially among girls (Menesini & Salmivalli, 2017). Studies have shown that the majority of girls involved in bullying will result from using vile language and name-calling instead of using violence. This is a challenge because it is usually hard to prove for the victim.

Verbal bullying has posed a problem for the victims, especially girls who begin to face a mental disorder like stress and anxiety when around others in schools. Another common challenge in bullying in schools is the bullying of teachers, either by other teachers of by the students. Boys, on the other hand, increasingly result in physical aggression where violence is more common (Menesini & Salmivalli, 2017). This may include kicking, shoving, punching, or hitting other students. This is a challenge because it may lead to severe injuries or even death of the victims.

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With bullying on the rise, change is necessary in all schools, to reduce the many cases of bullying. Some of the external factors that influence change in secondary education include poverty, homelessness, and drug abuse, and food insecurity. When students are from a wealthy background, it is difficult to enforce some laws on them to prevent bullying in schools. Students from poor backgrounds are more susceptible to bullying in schools, and this may affect their self-esteem.

Second, the environment of the school neighborhood may affect change in the education system. The political state of the county may also affect the changes in the education system. Cultural backgrounds also play a role in the change implementation in schools because of the effect it has on the beliefs and personalities of the students and teachers.

Therefore, one of the ways to eliminate bullying is through the building of cultural competency among students and teachers. First, having a diverse student body is crucial in exposing the students to all different cultures and allowing them to interact with all various cultures. Second, having school systems and policies that are accommodative for all cultures in the schools (Sawatsky, Beckman & Hafferty, 2017). Third, considering all cultures before enforcing changes in the schools. Lastly, having a diverse school staff to increase the students’ interaction with different cultures. With students interacting with teachers from different cultures, the education process becomes more active.

Similarly, students’ cultural competency increases and bullying cases could significantly reduce in schools (Sawatsky, Beckman & Hafferty, 2017). The majority of bullying today involves one’s culture and beliefs. For example, Muslim students may be teased for their culture and their dressing. Therefore, with students being exposed to all cultures, bullying may be eliminated majorly in schools.

Similarly, bullying can be eliminated by integrating some aspects of the 21st-century classroom — first, technology integration in the classrooms where laptops are widely used in class. Second, classrooms will have a flexible studying schedule. Modern classrooms involve different seating positions and students having the freedom to choose where to sit. Third, the class is set up to allow for collaborative learning. This includes students working in groups and as a team, through the learning process. This is an attribute of the 21st-century class that would help in the elimination of bullying in secondary education. Therefore, students are encouraged to engage with each other and communicate more.

References

1. Menesini, E., & Salmivalli, C. (2017). Bullying in schools: the state of knowledge and effective interventions. Psychology, health & medicine, 22(sup1), 240-253.
2. Sawatsky, A. P., Beckman, T. J., & Hafferty, F. W. (2017). Cultural competency, professional identity formation and transformative learning.