Bullying in Schools

I read "Bullying in Schools" by Ron Banks from npin.org.

The main argument is that bullying is a serious problem in schools that needs to be addressed and eliminated using intervention programs.. The author gives characteristics of bullies and victims, lists the consequences of bullying, and argues that intervention programs should be used to help get rid of bullying in schools.

The author backs up this argument by listing the consequences of bullying. When they enter adulthood, many bullies have trouble with the law and with having positive relationships. Bullying victims tend to become afraid of school, even missing class so they do not have to deal with bullies. They also can become isolated from their schoolmates. Victims can also suffer from depression and low self-esteem, even as adults. The author gets his information from professional studies done on bullying and includes many statistics from these studies. He also writes about an intervention plan by D. Olweus. The plan includes making parents aware of bullying and using student workshops to help children learn how to deal with bullies and how to help bullying victims. The author says that schools that used Olweus's intervention program had a decrease in bullying by 50%.

The author addresses a contrary argument. He said that many students in one survey felt that victims deserved to be bullied and that bullying helps people learn better social skills and toughen up. He counters this by saying that 43% of students surveyed try to help the victim and 33% want to help but don't. This shows that even though many students may think victims deserve to get bullied, they still don't agree with it and want to help the victims. He also says that many school officials may not think bullying is a big deal unless someone is assaulted.

The author uses argument by example and argument by cause. He gives examples of how bullying negatively affects students and says that bullying causes many children to become depressed and afraid to go to school.

I agree that bullying is a serious problem. I think it's good that schools are trying to stop it, but I don't think it will ever go away. I think everyone has to deal with bullying at some point in their lives. Some people have it worse than others, though. I think it's sad that kids have to deal with this stuff, but it's something they will have to learn to deal with for the rest of their lives. There will always be bullies, and people have to learn how to handle them. Understanding how to deal with a bully generally comes from experience. I remember learning about bullies in elementary school, but none of the advice they gave for getting rid of bullies ever worked. I still think schools should teach students about standing up to bullies and stuff, but they should do it in a more effective way.

Using this article, I could argue that bullying victims all share certain characteristics. I would support this by writing about the types of people typically picked on using the statistics from the article.