School Bullying and Students Development

Bullying

Bullying is one of the major social challenges facing youth in our schools today. Ann and Aidan (2004) observe that there are two main types of bullying namely indirect and direct bullying. Students directly bully each other by fighting, kicking, pushing, and attacking using any available weapon. Indirect bullying entails gossiping, discriminating, teasing, and cyberbullying. The authors also denote that bullying creates a very poor environment for learning and adversely incapacitates the victims.

This paper entails an empirical research study that was carried out on a student to study the level of bullying in the specified school. It has been followed by an analysis of the findings through a review of theoretical literature.

A grade five child was chosen for the interview to ensure a higher probability of getting factual statistics since studies have shown that the youngest learners in terms of age are the most vulnerable victims to bullying (Gordon, Kathryn & Ann, 2012). The interview was conducted during a normal school day when students were out for a short break. The student being interviewed was engaged randomly in a conversation that was started at one edge of the football court.

The boy looked relaxed and responded to the interviewers questions well. Their twenty-minute interview focused on the general aspects of the students life in and outside the school, especially when relating with his peers. The interview questions and respective responses from the interviewee are tabled below.

Questions	Answers
Alex, what do your close friends call you?	Alex
Where do you live?	In a nice house
What do you feel when at school?	I dont like it
What is your best way to learn?	Listening to my teacher
Which subject is easy for you?	Math
Do you like school?	No
What do you hate about school?	Everything
What do you do when free?	In school I do nothing but at home, I play
What do you want to do when you grow up?	I want to be a veterinary doctor
Do you want to change the world, Alex?	Yes, I want to be rich
Do your friends get harassed in your school? What do you do when it happens?	Yes, but I do nothing
Do you know the tough boy here?	No
Can you stop bullying in this school?	I dont report them, I am wise

Analysis

Deborah and Kathleen (2011) observe that out of the five developmental domains in children, cognitive and social developments are vividly distinguished from emotional and physical developments since they are greatly influenced by the outside inputs into a childs life cycle. Besides, the existence of bullying modifies the victims abstract thinking, problem-solving skills, the general perception of suffering, social task attachment, and interaction with others.

Gordon, Kathryn, and Ann (2012) posit that a young persons development into a cognitive socially healthy individual takes several factors into play. For instance, the interviewee exhibited significant evidence of bullying at school. This was characterized by materialism, heroism, and immortality when he claimed that all he wants is to be rich even at his age. The impact of bullying was profound as noted in the nature and mood of the interviewees reactions to the questions.

The intellectual development is dictated by the ability of a student to continue analyzing what has been taught in class and willingness to have dreams triggered by an interest in a specific part of the curriculum (Gordon, Kathryn & Ann, 2012).

In the interview, it was noted that Alex had been disoriented by the bully game in school and his wishes were excluded from mathematics which he finds to be simple. The demerits of bullying have pinned life out of the students world and he does enjoy school although he is still at school-going age.