Begin doing research on your argumentative essay you will submit as your final portfolio for the course. The paper will be APA formatted and cited, comprising 6-8 pages. All pages will count toward page count. Cover page, abstract, and references sheet are required. With all papers, specific examples and citation must be included. Support your thesis claims with factual information. For each prompt, you will be required to include at least two peer-reviewed journal articles as sources. Essays that do not incorporate two peer-reviewed sources will be considered “incomplete†and returned ungraded. A zero will be placed in the gradebook until the essay is complete.
NO PLAGERISM AT ALL
Choose a prompt and watch view videos appearing under Additional Files.
Total Points: 100
Rubric:
Content/Unity/Development: 90%
Mechanics/Grammar: 10%
Should Bullying in Schools be Prosecuted in Court?
Student name
Institution
Course name
Instructor’s name
Date
Abstract
Bullying is a serious issue experienced by many students from elementary school through high school. Students from minority groups including ethnic and religious groups are at high risk of bullying. Victims experience negative psychological and physical impacts that reduce their quality of life and usually extend to adulthood. Issues such as suicide, self-harm, and increased risk of juvenile offending are common consequences of bullying. Bullying is an offence since it is immoral and unethical hence it should be criminalized and all perpetrators should be prosecuted.
Should Bullying in Schools be Prosecuted in Court?
Bullying is a type of behaviour that entails three characteristics: aggression that must be intentional, the aggressor holding a specific type of power over the victim, and repetitive aggression. Intentional aggression may comprise of a wide range of verbal, physical, or social harassment. Notably, mild bullying may be difficult to differentiate from conflict or teasing. A power imbalance is what helps distinguish between peer aggression and bullying. In schools, such imbalances can exist in form of cognitive ability, physical size, or per pressure. The victims may also be powerless due to disability, sexual orientation, or belonging to specific ethnic or racial groups (Cornell & Limber, 2016). More than 20 percent of students in the U.S. experience bullying and those who reported cases of bullying said that the perpetrators had more social influence, were from richer families, were physically larger or stronger, or could easily influence other students against them. Bullying is associated with feelings of rejection, isolation, and despair which increase the risk of developing anxiety and depression. Additionally, bullying is linked to suicidal ideation and suicide even among very young children (Stop Bullying, 2021). A crime refers to an act that is regarded as a public offense and is punishable by law. Some crimes are not evil but are prohibited by law, while others are prohibited because they are evil under the standards of the general community (DiCristina, 2016). The purpose of this essay is to discuss evidence of the criminal nature of bullying. The severe impacts of bullying on the victims indicate that bullying evil as per community standards hence it is a crime and all perpetrators should be prosecuted.
Risk Factors Associated with Bullying
Students face different levels of risk factors for bullying. For instance, students who are obese or those who belong to minority sexual or ethnic groups are mainly targeted by their peers. Students with disabilities are more than four times likely to be bullied when compared with their peers. Ethnicity is a significant risk factor for bullying. In schools that are ethnically diverse, power relations tend to be balanced hence there is a lower risk of bullying. However, being an ethnic minority in schools is a risk for victimization. Homophobic bullying is very common among schools since students who openly identify as homosexual or transgender face high rates of bullying. Moreover, students from low socioeconomic status families are more likely to be bullied by their rich peers. Refugees or migrant children are also common victims (Menesini & Salmivalli, 2017). Therefore, bullying is often rooted in discrimination where students who are different tend to be victimized.
Impacts of bullying on Victims
Bullying should be regarded as a crime since it results in serious short-term and long-term health impacts for the victims. Immediate impacts on physical health may include sleep disturbance, somatization, and headaches. Children who are bullied exhibit poorer physical health in comparison to those who are not (Cornell & Limber, 2016). Moore et al. (2017), in a study that examined the impacts of bullying victimization among school children, determined that victims exhibit significant decline in physical health. Exposure to chronic bullying also increases the risk of obesity in adulthood. Other physical consequences include elevated inflammatory markers and high blood pressure attributed to stress resulting from bullying. Somatization is also a significant consequence of bullying. Stress or anxiety arising from bullying leads to chronic pain, palpitations, gastrointestinal disorders, and sleep disorders.
Apart from physical health, bullying has negative consequences on mental health. Wolke et al. (2013) explain that bullying victims are generally more withdrawn, exhibit poor emotional regulation, and are unassertive. Bullying is also a stressor that is associated with alteration of the brain structure, particularly the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis which impacts hormone production. However, extremely high levels of hormones such as cortisol are disadvantageous especially when a victim is exposed to stressors for a long time period since eventually, the stress hormone system fails to function leading to a blunted response to stress. Changes in brain structure are linked to mood disorders, learning problems, and sleep deficits. Bullying victims also exhibit externalizing behaviour including anger and behaviour problems. They are at risk of engaging in impulsive and risky behaviour such as addiction and inappropriate sexual behaviour as teenagers and as adults.
A common consequence of poor mental health among bullying victims is suicide. Suicidal ideation is very common among pre-teen and teenage students exposed to moderate to extreme bullying. In the U.S., approximately 15.5 out of 100,000 students aged between 11 and 19 years are suicidal hence suicide is among the most common causes of death among young people within the age group. There is a complex relationship between bullying and suicide ideation since it is mediated by other factors such as low self-esteem, anxiety, isolation, and depression. Bullying is traumatic and its impacts extend to adulthood since victims are continuously exposed to negativity. (Alavi et al., 2017). Bullying victimization also increases the risk of non-suicidal self harm, especially teenagers. Self-harm refers to direct and deliberate self-injury though actions such as burning, cutting, scratching, and hitting oneself. Notably, it is difficult to determine whether some forms of self-harm were suicidal especially when they do not result in significant harm but in some cases, self-harming may be fatal. The risk of self-harm is higher among girls who experience bullying in comparison to boys. Most victims use self-harm to reduce negative emotions as a way of coping with bullying (Myklestad & Straiton, 2021).
Bullying also has a negative impact on academic performance. Samara et al. (2021), in a study that assessed the association between bullying and academic performance, determined that victims have poorer educational motivation which in turn results in lower commitment towards studying. Victims have negative perceptions regarding the school environment, teachers, and other students. Additionally, they develop negative perceptions about their ability to succeed in the academics and in life thus leading to low self-concept. Furthermore, victims of bullying experience adjustment issues due to loneliness and isolation which may lead to school avoidance and increase the risk of dropping out.
Bullying and Criminalization
Bullying is a criminal act because research evidence illustrates the link between bullying and engaging in criminal acts in adulthood. Moore et al. (2017) explain that students who bully others are likely to remain bullies throughout their education period. Many schools prefer to deal with bullying by switching classes but this often does not work because bullies often target other victims and those who are used to being victimized often encounter other bullies. Additionally, victims may also develop delinquent behaviour as a consequence of the abuse they endured and bullies may remain aggressive throughout their lives and continue committing crimes. In a 2008 study that was conducted in Finland, Sourander et al. (2007) determined that both victims and bullies experience increased risk of delinquent behaviour. Within a 4-year period that assessed more than 2500 boys, the study determined that 33 percent of juvenile crimes in Finland were conducted by bullies and victims. Bullying, however, was the most significant determinant of offences such as drunk driving, stealing, violence, and traffic offences. Notably, bullying is part of anti-social behaviour since bullies engage in aggression and power dominance which leads to criminal and antisocial behaviour in adolescents. Turner (2013) adds that victims of bullying are at higher risk of being arrested for offending and serving prison time as adults.
Bullying and the Law
In the U.S., there is no federal law against bullying. Bullying was recognized as a social issue in the U.S. after the shooting that occurred in Columbine High School where the shooters’ motive was attributed to the bullying they experienced. The shooting, which occurred in 1999, led to 13 deaths and more than 20 injuries. More than two decades after the incident, there are no consistent policies and laws against bullying. However, some efforts that focus on minimizing the impacts of bullying have been initiated. In cases where students are bullied based on their color, race, religion, disability, or gender, bullying is linked to harassment and schools where such cases occur have the legal obligation to address them. At local and State levels, specific actions have been taken to address bullying. All the states in the U.S. address bullying differently using regulations, policies, and laws. Some states require schools to implement bullying prevention programs and to include bully prevention as part of teacher development (Cornell & Limber, 2016).
There are several cases where parents of bullying victims have taken legal action against schools and the perpetrators. The Supreme Court only holds schools liable for bullying if the victim belongs to a protected category, when the case is severe, when the administration is aware of the bullying, and if schools demonstrate deliberate indifference to the case. Cases of suicide as a direct consequence of bullying have also prompted states to take action. An example is the Scruggs v. Meriden Board of Education where a student committed suicide after experiencing verbal and physical bullying for many years due to his learning ability (Cornell & Limber, 2016).
Conclusion
The impacts of bullying to victims and the community indicate that bullying is a crime immoral and unethical hence it is a crime and all the perpetrators should be prosecuted. The psychological impacts are often severe and in some cases, lead to suicide. Victims of abuse are at risk of developing mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety. Additionally, bullying increases violence and crime since both victims and bullies are at risk of becoming juvenile and adult offenders. Prosecuting bullies would help reduce bullying cases and consequently, reduce the impacts of bullying.
References
Alavi, N., Reshetukha, T., Prost, E., Antoniak, K., Patel, C., Sajid, S., & Groll, D. (2017). Relationship between Bullying and Suicidal Behaviour in Youth presenting to the Emergency Department. Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 26(2), 70-77. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5510935/.
Cornell, D., & Limber, S. (2016). Do U.S. laws go far enough to prevent bullying at school? American Psychological Association, 47(2), 64. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2016/02/ce-corner.
DiCristina, B. (2016). Criminology and the “Essence” of Crime. International Criminal Justice Review, 26(4), 297-315. https://doi.org/10.1177/1057567716660359
Menesini, E., & Salmivalli, C. (2017). Bullying in schools: the state of knowledge and effective interventions. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 22(sup1), 240-253. https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2017.1279740
Moore, S., Norman, R., Suetani, S., Thomas, H., Sly, P., & Scott, J. (2017). Consequences of bullying victimization in childhood and adolescence: A systematic review and meta-analysis. World Journal of Psychiatry, 7(1), 60. https://doi.org/10.5498/wjp.v7.i1.60
Myklestad, I., & Straiton, M. (2021). The relationship between self-harm and bullying behaviour: results from a population based study of adolescents. BMC Public Health, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10555-9
Samara, M., Da Silva Nascimento, B., El-Asam, A., Hammuda, S., & Khattab, N. (2021). How Can Bullying Victimisation Lead to Lower Academic Achievement? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Mediating Role of Cognitive-Motivational Factors. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(5), 2209. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18052209
Sourander, A., Jensen, P., Ronning, J., Elonheimo, H., Niemelä, S., & Helenius, H. (2007). Childhood Bullies and Victims and Their Risk of Criminality in Late Adolescence. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 161(6), 546. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpedi.161.6.546
Stop Bullying. (2021). Facts About Bullying. https://www.stopbullying.gov/resources/facts.
Turner, M. (2013). Being bullied throughout childhood and teens may lead to more arrests, convictions, prison time. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2013/08/being-bullied.
Wolke, D., Copeland, W., Angold, A., & Costello, E. (2013). Impact of Bullying in Childhood on Adult Health, Wealth, Crime, and Social Outcomes. Psychological Science, 24(10), 1958-1970. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797613481608