Hoagland 1

Hannah Hoagland

10 May 2017

EDEC 435

Missy Danneberg

Advocacy Plan

Every day millions of children get bullied in some way while there are few resources for

students (both bullies and victims) and parents to go to for help or simply arent aware of the

situation. Stopbullying.gov defines bullying in schools as unwanted, aggressive behavior among

school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is

repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time (2017). According to Pacers National

Bullying Prevention Center, roughly around one in every four students report being bullied

(NCES, 2016). This issue is important because I think children need to feel as though someone is

on their side because that can be hard for a young child to endure especially if no resources are

offered. When no resources are offered both bullies and victims suffer from health problems. The

Center for Disease Control states that those who experience bullying and engage in bullying are

at increase risks of poor school adjustment, sleep difficulties, anxiety and depression, academic

problems, substance abuse, and violent behavior later in life (CDC, 2015). It is also important for

young children to also have quality resources available such as information for children being

bullied, for bullies, and counselors and mentors to be offered at zero cost to the families. I think

that too many times both bullies, victims, teachers and faculty, and even parents dont have the

resources to aid in the end to bullying. The Pacer National Bullying Prevention Center states that

students reported that the most harmful things teachers can do are: tell the student to solve the
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problem themselves, tell the student that the bullying wouldnt happen if they acted differently,

ignored what was going on, or tell the student to stop tattling (Davis & Nixon, 2010). Teachers

are most likely to ignore the situation when there are little resources for them to reach out to

learn about the right thing to say or do about a bullying situation.

My objective is to push for a zero tolerance of bullying in every school. I want to

advocate for raining for the entire school to detect when someone is being bullied, when children

show signs of bullying and where to get help. The website for the American Psychological

association says that bullying and school climate are linked to childrens academic

achievement, learning and development (APA, 2017). I definitely think that this objective is to

be universal in all schools because when bullying is present as it is in all schools, the school

climate itself changes in a negative way that affect the way each and every student learns. A

child has a right to attend classes that are safe, secure and peaceful on campus. There needs to be

more people that care about and take every instance of bullying seriously and with no tolerance

in mind even if it is a small instance of teasing. All children deserve emotional support because

all children arent emotionally all on the exact same level so everyone perceives bullying in a

different light and defines it differently. If all schools had a zero-tolerance policy in addition to

training about bullying at least a few times a year, then I think school climates nationwide would

improve, the overall health of our children would improve, and test scores would improve

because bullying would diminish.

One long term goal I have for my plan is to get a law passed that insures services such as

trainings and support for every school at least in California twice a year but eventually at a

national level as well. This semester I hope to accomplish three short term goals one being to

write a letter to local schools who dont currently advocate for anti-bullying about this issue. The
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next short term goal I will accomplish is to make a brochure to children being bullied about how

to tell if they are being bullied and what you can do for help. The last goal is to write a brochure

for parents and teachers about how to tell whos being bullied, who is the bully and what to do to

help as well.

Bullying has been around since the beginning of social hierarchy and capitalistic ideas.

According to The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, the word

bully can be traced as far back as the 1530s (R. Donegan, 2012), involving two people, the

victim and the bully, where the bully harms the victim in a physical, verbal or other way in order

to gain some sort of superiority over the victim. Bullying can happen in many different forms

however; cyberbullying is the most common type of bullying for this period in time.

Cyberbullying can be online or through other means of electronic communication and is verbal

abuse through posts or even pictures that can lead to depression, anxiety, and even suicide in

many teens. Bullying and cyberbullying should not be taken lightly as childrens and even

adults lives are at stake. According to the American Journal of Psychiatry, once bullied kids

may have a higher chance of suffering from poorer health, relationships and economic status

later in life (J. Beck, 2014). Bullying can affect anyone at any time especially now because we

are more connected through social media and the internet than ever before. It takes less time and

is more public to verbally abuse someone through these means of communication than ever

before as well.

But what has there been done to fix this issue? As of now, bullying is legal as there is no

federal law against it, however according to the United States Department of Education as of

2011, 46 states have anti-bullying laws in place and 41 states have created anti-bullying policies
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for their schools (Department of Education, 2011). Bullying is only considered a federal crime if

it is deemed as harassment. Since the early 2000s, anti-bullying programs, like Just Say Yes and

Olweus Bullying Prevention Program out of Clemson University have started popping up

everywhere to help those victims in need. PACERs National Bullying Prevention Center offers

answers and assistance and provides awareness through their National Bullying Prevention

Month in October. Although there are incredible programs out there, not every school has access

to this information and thats what I think the huge issue is. Not only that, but I think that there is

not enough kid-friendly information for victims and bullies offered in schools let alone

information for parents to know if their child is being bullied or is the bully.

One challenge to solve this issue of bullying is the fact that some school districts are not

taking bullying as a serious matter. In a recent National Education Association study, they state

that 40 percent of teachers believe that bullying is a moderate to major problem in their schools.

Sixty-two percent of those same teachers reported that they witnessed two or more bullying

incidents in the last month (A. Strom, 2016). But where if any, did these teachers interfere? No

part of teasing, making-fun of, or harassing other students should ever be tolerated because kids

take jokes too far and do not know proper limits or social cues that are proper yet. The brain is in

its most vulnerable state in a teen or young adult, meaning that it is still in a prime stage of

development when it comes to feelings and impulse control and thats where especially high

schools should be paying more attention to bullying in their schools. Again, childrens lives are

at stake as severe accounts of bullying has ended in health problems and even could lead to

suicide and I dont think that is a chance we should be taking.

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Another challenge that might be hard to get by would be the fact that because teachers

arent equipped with enough knowledge about how to handle bullying in their classrooms and

schools, there must be trainings for all school districts about this issue which costs money that I

do not think the government would be willing to pay. Money is a huge obstacle when talking

about funding for anything school related because while we know education is important,

nobody wants to vote to put money into our schools for any reason. The challenge to fund a huge

anti-bullying campaign that teaches faculty how to intervene when bullying presents itself in

their schools. The challenge of finding the funding to print out brochures for a visual aid in

teaching how to handle bullying to faculty and families alone is something that could be

hindering the fight against bullying.

Although ending bullying for good by bringing in these resources for children, staff and

families to gain knowledge on how to fight against this issue, the reality that everybody who

reads these brochures or even the governor reading my letter, will take bullying as such a serious

matter isnt likely. The reality that everybody will take to heart what others have to say about the

matter is also unlikely. A huge barrier is being able to persuade people into stopping the

perpetuation of bullying. This is a marathon, not a sprint , and it will take a long time to be able

to persuade and spread awareness to make a dent in this bullying war on school campuses.

One other challenge that this issue must face is the fact that this world is changing in a

sense where contemporary ideas are becoming a thing of the past and the embracement of

diversity and individualism is on the rise however, older people with those same contemporary

ideas are harder to persuade into embracing change. Change for the good of our future rather

than for the good of right now. Relatively, these people believe change will only bring chaos and
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therefore agree that old ideas suffice. Older ideas such as the idea that teasing is a harmless

childrens activity that should be looked over. This idea is what solely perpetuates the act of

bullying because no one is there to intervene when teasing gets taken too far to the point of

harassment.

Five stakeholders are the victims, the families, the bullies, school faculty, and state

legislature. The victims and their families are directly related to this issue because they are the

ones who are being hurt by the bullying. I am a victim of bullying myself as Ive always been

made fun of for being overweight for as long as I can remember. Being bullied has created life-

long psychological problems for me that Im not really sure if Ill ever be able to get through.

For me, there werent many resources for kids to refer to other than anti-bullying weeks which

included school spirit days and Im still not entirely sure what having school spirit has anything

to do with anti-bullying. Which in turn goes to show that those programs at school never made a

huge impact on me a victim or the bullies who tormented me throughout the years. I interviewed

my mother about this problem and how she felt as a parent of a child who was being bullied at a

young age and she told me how she felt somewhat helpless. I just remember you coming home

crying daily and I didnt know the right things to say. Having something to show me what I can

say or do even better would have been a huge help at the time (C. Hoagland, 2017). Her

perspective was that although shes a fantastic mother and did all she thought she could for her

child, there were two problems at the end of the day. One problem was that if she were to have

had a brochure to tell her the signs of bullying and the types, then she might have been able to

take the situations more seriously and help me on a greater scale. The second problem was that

the type of verbal bullying I was experiencing wasnt taken as a serious problem in my school or
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community. These two things in my belief, are things that keep bullying alive and well in our

school systems.

The bullies and their families are directly related to this issue because they are the cause

of the issue. The bullies perspective might be an internal conflict or family conflict at home. The

reason why children bully can vary, but is more likely to happen in abused and/or poor children.

Families can either help or further hinder the process of fixing this issue by stepping up and

getting involved or by doing the opposite. Families are a childs biggest support system and if

they arent there for the child in their time of need, the child can suffer long-term health

problems as a result of this bullying. School faculty is affected because generally, bullying

happens on the school grounds and they should take more responsibility in recognizing it and

stopping it in its tracks. Their perspective might be that it is impossible to make everyone

accountable of their actions. State Legislature is directly affected through votes of the people.

The State Legislatures perspective might be that they think money should go to academics and

teacher salaries rather than bullying programs that will in turn enhance each childs learning

experience.
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Works Cited

(n.d.). Retrieved May 10, 2017, from http://www.apa.org/about/gr/issues/cyf/bullying-school-climate.aspx

Beck, J. (2014, April 23). Study: Bullied Kids at Risk for Mental Health Problems 40 Years Later. Retrieved

May 10, 2017, from https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/04/study-bullied-kids-at-risk-

for-mental-health-problems-40-years-later/361055/

Bullying Defined. (n.d.). Retrieved May 10, 2017, from

http://www.pacerteensagainstbullying.org/tab/bullying-defined/

A. (2012, February 29). Bullying Definition. Retrieved May 10, 2017, from

https://www.stopbullying.gov/what-is-bullying/definition/index.html

S. (2013, September 13). Facts About Bullying. Retrieved May 10, 2017, from

https://www.stopbullying.gov/media/facts/index.html#laws

History of National Bullying Prevention Month. (n.d.). Retrieved May 10, 2017, from

http://www.pacer.org/bullying/nbpm/history.asp

Taking Bullying Seriously: Creating Safe Schools. (n.d.). Retrieved May 10, 2017, from

https://www.facinghistory.org/bullying-case-study-ostracism/taking-bullying-seriously-creating-

safe-schools

U.S. Education Department Releases Analysis of State Bullying Laws and Policies. (2011, December 06).

Retrieved May 10, 2017, from https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-education-department-

releases-analysis-state-bullying-laws-and-policies

Violence Prevention. (2016, July 19). Retrieved May 10, 2017, from

https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/suicide/statistics/
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What is bullying?
Bullying is an aggressive behavior hat is
intended to cause harm occurring
repeatedly over time. Bully can take
many forms such as:

Verbal: most common form because it

is quick and direct. Examples are
teasing and gossip.

Physical: easy to recognize actions

HOW CAN
such as pushing or hitting. YOU TELL IF
Emotional: More sophisticated and
done in a group. Examples include
YOUR CHILD
leaving someone out on purpose and
humiliating someone publicly.
IS A BULLY?

HOW CAN YOU TELL IF

A guide to bullying and what
YOUR CHILD IS A
BULLY? you can do to stop it.
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What even is bullying you ask?

Bullying is different than typical
disagreements or conflict but how
can you tell the difference? It is
bullying if:

Someone is being hurt or harmed

by words or behavior
ARE YOU
The behavior is repeated and
BEING
being done intentionally BULLIED?
The person being hurt cannot
defend themselves

The bully has more power

(being older or bigger)
WHAT IS BULLYING
A guide to bullying and what
AND HOW CAN I
HELP? to do for help.
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To whom it may concern,

Bullying in our school systems and in our school campuses have become a huge problem

in todays society. One in four children are bullied every day in some way or another. But where

does the problem lie? The problem lies within our schools and how we as adults handle bullying.

There arent enough resources describing what bullying is available to kids both directed towards

the bully and the target. There also isnt enough talk about how we can handle bullying in

schools as parents and teachers. A recent study states that 40 percent of teachers believe that

bullying is a moderate to major problem in their schools. Sixty-two percent of those same

teachers reported that they witnessed two or more bullying incidents in the last month (A.

Strom, 2016). Too many teachers are just letting bullying happen right in front of them because

they just simply dont know what to say. I think we can gain huge leads in the fight to stop

bullying by providing answers to those who need it. I propose districts to make room in their

budgets to better train teachers and staff on the issue of bullying so they can better help their

students throughout the day. I also propose that more information about bullying and what

anyone can do to stop it be readily available to everyone at the school campus no matter who

they are and those resources should reflect the diversity of a school. Bullying is a huge problem

and by implementing these changes, I think we will be able to at least slow down the

perpetuation of the bullying cycle.

Best,

Hannah Hoagland