The Bully

The Bully

Violence in schools is an ongoing problem. Students verbally and mentally abuse each other on a daily basis. Verbal abuse is the most precedent. These students are usually titled as bully’s or having aggressive behavior. Girls have a tendency to indirectly bully, and boys have a tendency to physically bully other students. Bullying is a misbehavior that has to be resolved by looking at what is causing the behavior.

It is not something that can be tolerated in schools, and classrooms.

Bullying or aggressive behavior can be defined in many ways. The child pushes people around, may threaten other students, and can have a bad temper. Usually the student is extremely negative. Bullies perceive everyone is against them. They demean others and humiliate them in public eyes. They look for trouble and their parents may promote their behavior, including fighting. The teachers find that the students talk back to them, and these types of students often have learning disabilities. They are also usually loners with few friends, and if they have friends their the leader of the pack.

Bullying or aggressive behavior has many effects on the school-learning environment. Students are frightened by misbehaving bullies so it creates a situation were fear is present in the classroom. It is not fair that children feel uncomfortable, and confrontations occur. Class time is wasted, the learning stops, and class discussions or lectures are interrupted; bad examples are set, and often times the teacher feels he has lost power to the bully. From time to time the teachers may fear the bully themselves.

Many things can cause misbehavior. There are three key causes of the misbehaving bully attention, power, and self-confidence. The bully who seeks attention enjoys the attention they get from other students and peers. They may not know the difference between positive and negative attention, and are just happy to get any. The bully who seeks power uses his power over others to threaten them and physically hurt them. By physically abusing them, they feel like they’re in control. The bully who seeks self-confidence knows what they are doing is wrong, however, it makes their self-concept better. Regardless of what the bully gets out of misbehaving, they are usually revealing needs that aren’t being met. Sometimes with boys it’s a sexuality struggle. They can only develop a connection by being physically powerful. It can be what the child is learning at home. Another need of the bully is that they feel their lives are so negative that they bully others to make themselves feel better. Other times it’s the need of belonging to a group. If they do not fit in they begin to bully others, becoming the leader of their own group. Children, who are being beaten at home, can sometimes act tough at school to show they do have some power. The last need of a typical bully could be they feel bullying puts them in charge of their life, or a feeling of autonomy.

There are ways to approach the bad behavior. Delay any bad things from happening if possible. If you know they are planning something, hold them after class. Explain to the student for every act they take there will be consequences, but do not tell them what the consequences will be. Never assume the child is tough just because they act like they are. Try to be a positive adult figure in their life. Often times this is what the bully is lacking at home. Don’t be tough back with the student. They are use to handling this,