Reducing the Rate of Bullying

Counter Acting Bullying Effects

The purpose of this project is to raise awareness about the issuing of bullying as it takes place in school facilities and during school related activities. Some research indicates this phenomenon is "normative" (Peets et al., 2015, p. 913). Additionally, the project will provide measures to both reduce the rate of incidence of bullying in such settings, and to reduce the severity of bullying. Ideally, the full implementation of this project will eradicate bullying, and help to create a school and school-related environment which is much more peaceful and conducive to learning and educated. In terms of raising awareness, this project will target all members of the school community including administrators, employees, instructors, students, parents, and any relevant members of the surrounding community.

The rationale for this project is relatively simple. Bullying is something that has occurred for nearly as long as formal attempts at organized education have been made. There is a countrywide effort to reduce it (Cornell and Limber, 2015, p. 333). Moreover, its very existence is contrary to the goals of education: which include the growth of developments of students not just in terms of academia, but in terms of life skills as well. Therefore, it is vital to decrease the rate and degree of bullying that occurs within educational settings in order to better achieve the basic goals of organized education itself. An anti-bullying campaign is particularly pertinent in today's generation in which young people -- even at the elementary school level -- have access to weapons that enable them to wreak more havoc on people's lives than ever before.

It is critical to base this anti-bullying campaign on research that illustrates some of the more salient aspects of this phenomenon which, if left unchecked, could greatly produce a noxious impact upon the lives of those involved in educational settings and the occurrence of "victimization" (Turner et al., 2015, p. 366). As such, that research will require a blend of both academic, empirical-evidence based articles as well as those existing in more conventional media outlets to shed insight into what sort of measures are most efficacious for subsiding this phenomenon. The latter can provide information that is contemporary to identify what facets of bullying are most prominent and practiced throughout the country in schools today. The former will help to identify evidence-based practices (ideally) which have indicated some sort of positive effect in dealing with bullies. Hopefully, the combination of this information will help to provide both preventative and curative measures for addressing this problem.

Once the research for this project is completed, I plan to use it to actually implement a program in my job -- or in my future job -- so that I can help curb bullying in that particular environment. Specifically, I hope to distribute literature and materials throughout that school to help raise awareness of this issue and the best way to counteract it. I would like to address this topic at an assembly at least once a semester, and possibly even more depending on the rate of success that this program generates. Most of all, I want to ensure that all participants in this particular environment (administrators, faculty, staff etc.) are supporting this program.