Climate and Developing Social Competence †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Climate and Developing Social Competence. Answer: Introduction: Over the past few years, bullying has become a significant concern in schools and the societies throughout the world. Even in Canada, the vice has become so entrenched among members of the society. In 2010, 49.5 percent of high school student in Canada reported to victims or witnesses to acts of bullying. Today, 89 percent of Canadian teachers regard the vice as a significant threat in public schools. It is noteworthy that both boys and girls alike are affected by bullying, but in different ways. Whereas boys are most likely to be victims of physical bullying, girls are victims to emotional aggression, sexual harassment, and cyber bullying (Rigby, 2003). Additionally, statistics show that throughout the world, boys are more likely to engage in physical bullying behavior. Bullying has significant negative effects to the victim and society must develop a plan to reduce, prevent and eliminate its prevalence. Various scholars, students and organizations have written about the issue of bullying in schools and the society in general. The Canadian Department of Public Safety (n.d.) wrote a paper on the prevention of bullying in schools. The article describes the methods that can be adopted to prevent the vice from occurring in public schools within the country. It also identifies the key long-term effects of bullying on the victim as trauma, anxiety, loss of self esteem, and even the development of aggressive behavior. In addition, the paper highlights the fact that bullying does not often begin and end at school. Instead, it continues even outside the school environment and potentially throughout the individuals life. As a result, it is important for prevention measures to be instigated to cut the occurrence of the vice. Additionally, Eriksen, Nielsen Simonsen (2012) discuss on the issue of bullying and its effects in elementary school. In their study, they describe bullying as a widespread social phenomenon and show how children who are being bullied and those who bully others suffer from long term consequences. Although the study was mainly based in Denmark, the study shows that bullying may result in both direct and long term effects to the victims. As a result, there study shows the importance of enacting anti-bullying mechanisms both in school and at home to help provide a peaceful environment for children free from bullying. Likewise, Limo (2015) wrote a paper on the issue of bullying among teenagers and its effects on the victim. Similar to other papers, Limo acknowledges the fact that peer victimization and harassment has become a serious concern among parents, students, teachers and society as a whole. He describes bullying as a type of violence that threatens young peoples wellbeing, especially those in school. In his study, Limo (2015) studies and explores the different kinds of bullying, the most likely victims and perpetrators, their prevalence and the mental effects that they have on the victims. The study concludes that bullying, whether in the form of cyber bullying, physical or emotion harassment has a lasting effect on the development of the victim. From the literature above, it is evident that bullying has tremendously negative effects on victims. As a result, it is important for the society to develop a permanent solution to the menace and offer children a safe environment both in school and at home that is free from harassment and violence (Bullying, n.d.). Generally, preventing and eradicating bullying involves a dedication to developing a safe environment where kids can blossom academically and socially without fear (Wolke, Woods, Stanford, Schulz, 2001). Noteworthy, this can be achieved through a collective effort of parents, teachers and school administrators, as well as students themselves. In order to prevent bullying in schools, school administrations should establish a system for students to report any instances of bullying that the place within the institution and help them get immediate help. In this case, the school should provide a counselor or other professionals to help the victim overcome the incident (Olweus Limber, 2010). In addition, the school curriculum in Canada should include lessons that teach students on how to identify bullying language and actions in themselves as well as their peers (Teglasi, Rothman, 2001) Moreover, they should be educated on positive communication skills to allow students to communicate without engaging in violent acts that may harm their classmates (Wallace, 2012). In addition, schools should develop a strict non-tolerance to violence and bullying rules to help prevent and reduce the occurrence of bullying within the institution. This is to say that, the school must develop song repercussions for bullying by marking it as an illegal offense and anyone caught bullying another student is expelled (Wolfson, 2016). In turn, such zero tolerance rules for the behavior will strongly discourage potential and existing bullies from perpetrating their actions within the school environment (Olweus Limber, 2010). In turn, the strategy will help the school administration in making a step forward towards the prevention and elimination of bullying among students and create a safe environment for all pupils. Furthermore, parents and the society in general can take part in the fight against bullying by teaching children moral values that discourage against acts of violence and harassment such as bullying. Ordinarily, parents have a direct influence on their childrens social behavior and character (Elvia, 2017). Many a times, bullies come from families characterized with violence, lack of love and limited parental involvement (Hellwig, n.d.). Thus, parents are charged with the responsibility of creating strict rules at home on how the child should behave and treat his or her peers. By so doing, they would help nurture non-violent children and in turn prevent bullying. All factors taken into consideration, bullying is a significant issue that needs a permanent solution. Overall, this study concludes that is important for society to provide a safe environment for children to thrive without the fear of harassment. Mainly, this can be achieved through the collaboration of parents, teachers, school administration, students and society as a whole. This study is relevant in the present and future is that it will provide a basis for developing structural systems that will help in eradicating the issue of bullying in Canada as well as throughout the world. References Bullying prevention in schools. (n.d.) Canadian Department of Public Safety. Retrieved 5 April 2018, from https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/bllng-prvntn-schls/index-en.aspx Bullying. (n.d.) American Psychological Association. Retrieved 5 April 2018, from https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/bullying.aspx/How-parents-teachers-and-kids-can-take-action-to-prevent-bullying Elvia, E. (2017). How to Stop Bullying in Schools As Teachers, Parents Bullying Victims Effective Comprehensive Ways for You. Reolink. Retrieved 5 April 2018, from https://reolink.com/how-to-stop-bullying-in-schools/ Eriksen, T., Nielsen, H., Simonsen, M. (2012). The Effects of Bullying in Elementary School (Phd.). Aarhus Univeristy. Hellwig, E. (2012). 10 Ways to Help Reduce Bullying in Schools. CPI. Retrieved 5 April 2018, from https://www.crisisprevention.com/Blog/November-2011/10-Ways-to-Help-Reduce-Bullying-in-Schools Limo, S. (2015). Bullying Among Teenagers and its Effects (Bachelor Thesis). Turku Univeristy of Applied Sceince. Olweus, D., Limber, P. (2010). Bullying in School: Evaluation and Dissemination of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. American Journal of Orthorpsychiatry, 9(1), 1-13 Orpinas, P., Horne, A. M. (2006). Bullying prevention: Creating a positive school climate and developing social competence. Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association Rigby, K. (2003). Consequences of Bullying in Schools. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 48(9), 75-81. Retrieved from https://umexpert.um.edu.my/file/publicatIon/00006156_95497.pdf Teglasi, H., Rothman, L. (2001). STORIES: A classroom-based program to reduce aggressive behavior. Journal of School Psychology, 39(1), 71-94 Wallace, M. (2012). 7 Ways Schools Can Prevent Bullying. Psychology Today. Retrieved 5 April 2018, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/how-raise-happy-cooperative-child/201212/7-ways-schools-can-prevent-bullying Wolfson, E. (2016). How to Stop Bullying in Schools. Health Line. Retrieved 5 April 2018, from https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-stop-bullying Wolke, D., Woods, S., Stanford, K., Schulz, H. (2001). Bullying and victimization of primary school children in England and Germany: Prevalence and school factors. British Journal of Psychology, 92(4), 673-69