How Bullying Affects the Early Childhood Classroom (Research Paper Sample)

How Bullying Affects the Early Childhood Classroom
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How Bullying Affects the Early Childhood Classroom
Bullying in schools has been a major concern of many researchers and policy makers. Its effects range from simple to complex problems that need specialized skills to deal with. Many researchers have since conducted studies on this matter and come up with various findings. This shows the magnitude of this problem especially among school going children. When it comes to child victims, the effects can be very devastating since they can have long lasting effects on children’s development, a matter that can affect their learning considerably. This paper discusses the effects of bullying on children and the challenges it brings to their overall learning process.
Bullying is the act of repeated aggression towards a weaker individual who does not have a way to defend himself/herself from the opponent. The victims often develop some form of fear and anxiety since they believe that the offender will repeat the act at some point in future CITATION Pen12 \l 1033 (Deiner, 2012). If this is the case in early childhood learning environment, the kids will not be confident enough in class and will not show enough interest in learning since their attention will be shifted towards protecting themselves from the bullies. Deiner (2012) argues that the bullies always aim at harming or intimidating their victims. They make this a habit and often do it secretively. Consequently, the victims always view these traits as major threat to their well- being and safety.
Studies shows that children who undergo or who had in one time undergone some form of maltreatment portray low self- esteem and lack of social confidence CITATION Des08 \l 1033 (Destin, 2008). What we can conclude from this research is that if children are exposed to aggression from their peers, they may develop these negative characteristics. Destin (2008) argues that bullying leads to low interests in learning as it is seen in children who undergo this type of mistreatment from their counterparts. These study findings confirm that children that suffer from bullying are affected in their overall learning. These children underperform academically and may even turn wild and become aggressive in the process of their development.
Deiner (2012) points out that bullies tend to direct their aggressive behavior towards those who are weaker physically, have low self-esteem and lonely. These characteristics expose the possessors to aggression from such individuals who do not show any respect from them. When these vulnerable children are exposed to such acts of violence, they always adopt avoidance methods that consequently affect their social skills. These victims often show some form of maladjustment as a result of using this strategy as a way of freeing themselves from aggression. When this occurs, these victims tend to be lonelier and distressed CITATION Sus141 \l 1033 (Garvis & Pendergast, 2014). The probability of these individual children participating in active learning is minimal.
Several researches have further indicated that in a class setting where there are children with disabilities, the acts of bullying are often common on this group. The reason for this is the fact that they bear distinctive characteristics that makes them the targeted ones CITATION Cla11 \l 1033 (Monks & Coyne, 2011). Several researches have confirmed that children with special needs will experience hostility from their other partners who are aggressive. The result is alienation or seclusion as these victims withdraw from the rest in an attempt to protect themselves. These children with special abilities are psychologically affected and their participation in class is less as compared to the ones who are free from such hostility.
Teacher’s response to the acts of aggression in class can also determine the extent to which bullying affects the victims. When a teacher responds in a way that shows sincere concern and intention to intervene, a well-balanced classroom environment is enhanced. The victims gain confidence in their teachers and feel more protected. It encourages them and instills in them positive attitude towards any problem that they may meet in school. In a case whereby the victims are left to stand against bullying on their own, they lose confidence CITATION Sus141 \l 1033 (Garvis & Pendergast, 2014). This shows that teacher involvement in taking appropriate measures is very much important, especially if they want to help the children in their emotional adjustment which is important for classroom participation.
Teachers in the early childhood schools also face certain problems associated with this behavior. Having a full control over the aggressive kids can be a challenging venture to them. This puts teachers in a very awkward situation because they have the full responsibility in monitoring the children’s safety as well as making sure that learning goes on. Instead of concentrating on coaching alone, they have an extra work of watching over the children. This same problem goes further to what is experienced in the play grounds as the kids go out for physical activity. Acts of bullying are really hard to identify as the bullies do it secretively when the teachers are not awareCITATION Vla \l 1033 (Vlachou, Andreou, Botsoglou, & Didaskalou, 2011). Therefore the problem of bullying does not only affect the victims alone but also the teachers in that it adds much work to them. The result can be teacher absenteeism, low productivity or lack of motivation. This does not guarantee effective learning that any government requires for its citizens CITATION Gre07 \l 1033 (Britain, 2007).
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