Bullying

“Why Are Bullies Bullying?” The topic of bullying amongst preteens has hit a sky high attention around the nation. Tons of stories and articles about teen suicide caused by bullying are sitting at the front desks of our President, our administration leaders, and our family/friends at home. We as a country are trying to find ways or actions to reduce the number of victims to this terrible issue.”Bullying is usually defined as a form of aggression in which one or more children intend to harm or disturb another child who is perceived as being unable to defend himself or herself”(Smokowski). But first we as the people have to understand what actually causes these teens to act in such a way that they begin to bully in school. Of course there are many reasons of why they act this way, but we really have to consider the more convincing ones and understand them completely to hit the heart of the issue.
First off is the debate on how media causes children to bully. Anything that they would see on the television would cause them to act exactly the same way in real life. Studies have shown that certain groups of teenagers are prone to act out violently/ aggressively because of media influences For example, any wrestling or fighting shows could possibly cause them to act in a violent way towards others. This might be a reason why we see fighting in school amongst teens because they see this on the TV and they think standing up for themselves in that way is right but in reality its not. Along with the reality TV shows that gives off many horrible stereotypes which make these children think that the reality on TV has to be the same as the reality of real life. As Robert Roy Britt says in his article “TV Turns Kids into Bullies,” “Children who watch a lot of television are more prone to push other kids around, according to the research.” Television has become more and more shocking over the years, allowing more vulgarity, more gore, and more rude behavior than ever before. .

Cited: Britt, Robert R. "TV Turns Kids into Bullies." LiveScience.com. TechMediaNetwork.com, 04 Apr. 2005. Web. 12 Apr. 2012. <http://www.livescience.com/6953-tv-turns-kids-bullies.html>. "Bullying 1." Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection. Gale, Cengage Learning, 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 12 Apr. 2012. http://ic.galegroup.com:80/ic/ovic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=true&action=2&catId=GALE%7CAAA000030847&documentId=GALE%7CPC3010999030&userGroupName=cclc_yccd&jsid=80926bc941a99f4ef6a8360693da8cd9 "Bullying 2." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 12 Apr. 2012. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/687645/bullying>.  "Bullying and Abuse on School Campuses." Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology. Oxford: Elsevier Science & Technology, 2004. Credo Reference. 2 Sept. 2009. Web. 12 Apr. 2012.<http://www.credoreference.com/entry/estappliedpsyc/bullying_and_abuse_on_school_campuses>. Gale, Thomson. "Bullies Health Article." Bullying Information. Gale Encyclopedia of Public Health, 1998. Web. 12 Apr. 2012. <http://www.ask.com/health/galecontent/bullies>. Kowalski, Robin M., Susan P. Limber, and Patricia W. Agatston. "Cyber Bullying: Bullying in the Digital Age." Ebrary: Server Message. Wiley, 2008. Web. 12 Apr. 2012. <http://site.ebrary.com/lib/yuba/docDetail.action?docID=10233190>. Smokowski, Paul R., and Holland Kopasz Kelly. "Bullying in School: An Overview of Types, Effects, Family Characteristics, and Intervention Strategies." Children & Schools 27.2 (2005): 101-10. ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health Source. Web. 12 Apr. 2012. "What Is Cyberbullying." Stopbullying.gov. Web. 12 Apr. 2012. <http://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/what-is-it/index.html>.