Academic And Developmental Impact Of Bullying Primary School Children In Australia (Research Paper Sample)

Bullying in Australian Primary Schools Student’s Name Institution Executive Summary Australia has good learning models but despite that many cases of children being bullied have been reported. This paper uses theoretical concepts to assess the different parts of bullying including the types, causes, implications and even recommendations. The paper shows how children develop their behaviour from peers, family and the larger society. It uses the Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system theory, Piaget’s theory and Kohlberg's stages of development in the analysis. This paper analyses in details the academic and developmental impact of bullying primary school children in Australia. It also ascertains that bullying has negative effects which need to be eradicated by using the best behavioural models that can change others’ perceptions about the matter. Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Executive Summary PAGEREF _Toc525776226 \h 11.Introduction PAGEREF _Toc525776227 \h 3The rationale for the Study PAGEREF _Toc525776228 \h 32. Findings PAGEREF _Toc525776229 \h 3 Main Facts about Bullying PAGEREF _Toc525776230 \h 3 Factors Contributing to Bullying PAGEREF _Toc525776231 \h 4Family PAGEREF _Toc525776232 \h 4Social Factors PAGEREF _Toc525776233 \h 4Peer Pressure PAGEREF _Toc525776234 \h 43. Impacts of Bullying on Children’s Development and Learning PAGEREF _Toc525776235 \h 5 Effects of Bullying on Emotional or Social Development PAGEREF _Toc525776236 \h 5 Impacts on Learning PAGEREF _Toc525776237 \h 64. Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc525776238 \h 6Recommendation PAGEREF _Toc525776239 \h 6Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc525776240 \h 7 Bullying in Australian Primary Schools 1 Introduction It is sad that in a developed world where people condemn different forms of discrimination, bullying exists even in primary schools. Most primary school students in Australia suffer in the hands of bullies at very high rates. A large number of Australian primary school children get bullied by their peers. Bullying has adverse effects on children’s development and learning. According to Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system theory, interactions within the child’s environment like the community around him affect his development CITATION Osw18 \l 1033 (Oswalt, 2018). Kohlberg's stages of development show how reasoning changes with stages and finally there is Piaget’s theory which focuses on how reasoning levels of children change as they acquire new ways of understanding the world. Different theories describe bullying and provide ways of eradicating it from the Australian primary school. The study also analyses the types of bullying, factors leading to it, impacts and recommendations for change. The rationale for the Study The paper intends to eliminate the gap that exists in the literature about how different aspects of bullying affects Australian primary school students. The study further provides a clear analysis of theories in understanding the problem and some solutions which are important for teachers who can learn about bullying in details. The implications also focus on finding the best behavioural model to assist in countering the problem together with its effects. 2. Findings Main Facts about Bullying Bullying represents threats, aggressive behaviour, coercion, blackmail, or even intimidation against others with the aim of controlling them. It could be done by a group of students or a single person. Different factors usually motivate the behaviour, and it gets done repeatedly. In some cases, bullying is motivated by third parties who witness the actions since the perpetrators want to feel superior. The reasons for being bullied include physical appearance, peer pressure, and social factors. It comes in many types and cyberbullying is the most recent type in Australia since the perpetrators bully others by use of the internet CITATION Kol14 \l 1033 (Kolawski, Giumetti, Schroeder, & Latanner, 2014). Other types include physical, verbal and social bullying which is done through spreading rumours. Children who bully others at school are mainly after power since they feel in control when hurting their fellow students. It could provide satisfaction, or it could also be meant to harm others by making them distressed. Factors Contributing to Bullying Family The Bronfenbrenner model states that children’s families are the closest and most influential part of their lives. Therefore, families majorly affect the behaviors that children adopt. Even though some children are victimised and traumatised by their family members contributing to bullying, some are encouraged through what they see. Children learn from observation and imitation. Therefore, viewing people according to social classes, gender, or races is a deciding factor on what they comprehend. Also, the society is changing, and parents are not doing enough to socialise their children with the right morals. Social Factors The society has a role of contributing social values and legislation to enable children to develop positively. These roles have however been abandoned and therefore it has failed to deal with bullying in schools. When societies fail to provide regulations and roles that control the behavior of children, they could end up bullying and controlling others since there is no clear boundary between what is right and wrong CITATION Hel00 \l 1033 (Helsen, Vollebergh, & Meeus, 2000). Also, societies are inclined towards vertical collectivism which serves the interest of one group at the expense of another. This could be religious, economic, gender, academic competence or political and when children grow up in such societies, they end up bullying peers from other groups . Furthermore, research shows that children who receive maximum social support have normal positive behavior while those who are aggressive tend to lack it CITATION Hel00 \l 1033 (Helsen, Vollebergh, & Meeus, 2000). Peer Pressure School provides an environment whereby children work towards feeling accepted CITATION Iso14 \l 1033 (Isobel, Katherine , Eunro, Emina, & David, 2014) and integrated by their peers as being strong or superior therefore to prove their strength; they may end up becoming bullies. Children can also pick and adopt the behaviour from their peers, and this is evident in the consequences of their actions. According to Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory, children at the conventional level perform actions that can be approved by others since they focus on social expectations CITATION Ken18 \l 1033 (Cherry, 2018). They could, therefore, divert to wrong actions by bullying their peers. 1 Impacts of Bullying on Children’s Development and Learning Effects of Bullying on Emotional or Social Development According to Golmaryami et al. (2016), bullying has very negative impacts on the development of children with the worst being the lowering of confidence and self-esteem levels. Confidence and self-esteem among individuals give them a chance to develop in their societies. The victims of bullying could either be younger children or peers. They also have trouble forming and maintaining relationships with other society members. According to Bronfenbrenner’s theory, emotions develop within the family during growth while during maturity, they can be affected by the external factors for example shame which is a product of bullying CITATION Paq \l 1033 (Paquette & Ryan). Furthermore, the relationships that children develop at school determine how they develop since students spend much time at school. When a child suffers physical bullying like being beaten, tripped, or pushed, these memories make them very emotional, and they become the easiest to remember. Furthermore, emotional bullying could be in the form of teasing, name-calling, insults or derogatory remarks. It is important for teachers to be aware of such adverse effects of bullying and they should intervene when these actions happen. They should not only focus on the actions of the guilty or innocent parties, but emphases should be put on knowing how physical or emotional bullying affects the victims. The perpetrators are also affected since they become very suspicious of their actions. This further inhibits the bully’s development in their later lives. Impacts on Learning Emotional and cognitive imbalance are the effects of bullying on victims, and it challenges how they handle themselves against the external environment. The victims of bullying also get depressed, and the negative thoughts could even lead to suicidal activities in extremely severe cases. Depression mainly affects victims who are unable to cope with situations. This could further affect the victims academically leading to negative outcomes. These victims could even fail to attend some classes and lose interest in learning because of the negative impacts of being bullied (Chalmers et al. 2016). Also, children who do not get bullied end up being six to nine months ahead of their peers who experience victimisation (Mundy et al. 2017). Teachers need to match individuals to specific measures to continue developing their cognitive capacities positively. According to Piaget’s theory, schools a...