Post by carissa928 on Sept 14, 2008 12:27:30 GMT -5
Carissa Clayton
English II
9-14-08
#3
“Sticks and stones may break your bones but names will never hurt you”. This old nursery rhyme was used by children all over to make bullies seem less hurtful. I completely disagree with this quote because it is false. Most of the time, names damage more than the physical pains of being bullied. If you are being called unintelligent everyday, you will become very depressed and have a low self esteem. Eventually you will believe that you are unintelligent. In schools, particularly high schools, there is said to be zero tolerance for bullying. Yet, “A study in Toronto schools found that a bullying act occurred every seven seconds, but teachers were aware of only four percent of the incidents. Seven out of 10 teachers, but only one in four students say that teachers almost always intervene. Close to 40 percent of victims of bullying say they have not talked to their parents about the problem.”(http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,182171,00.html). In order for this Zero Tolerance rule to work, teachers and parents must pay close attention. There is a debate about whether or not a student should be tolerated to strike another student after being provoked. Could this be considered self defense? Most schools would either not do anything at all, or they would give both children a detention. What they aren’t evaluating is the actual situation. In the 2008-2009 Frank Anotonides School Student Handbook, Page 21, 2nd Paragraph under “Harassment”, it reads “Harassment is defined as a repeated pattern of unprovoked aggressive behaviors of a physical, verbal, and/or psychological nature carried out by an individual or group against an individual or group with the effect of causing harm or hurt. Harassing behaviors are all those behaviors that are unwelcome, unwanted, and uncomfortable in the view of the recipient.” The part that stuck out the most to me was the “repeated pattern of unprovoked aggressive behaviors,” after being harassed or bullied for a numerous amount of times, and after telling an adult about this situation, should you be allowed to retaliate? I believe that if you have notified an adult about this constant harassment, and nothing changes or is done to prevent the aggressive behaviors, you should be able to take action in pure self defense. Of course after telling an adult none of these behaviors should persist. I think the reasons behind school fights consist of students feeling unwelcome or unwanted. Schools are supposed to be a safe haven where students can learn without being judged. I believe that everyone should want to stand out, not fit in. As we have seen in the novel Nineteen Minutes, written by Jodi Picoult, at first Peter doesn’t want to fit in, and then after loosing Josie to the “in crowd” he changes his mind. In his first attempt to fit in, he embarrassed Dolores after she got her period during a class, and Peter had noticed and shouted it out. The class then all laughed at Dolores and she was humiliated. A friend of mine was harassed her sophomore year of high school. She was threatened, and verbally abused. Instead of confronting the instigator she decided to go straight to the dean of discipline. She was told that since she had study hall with the other student, to go to the library instead of the cafeteria where the other student would be. Instead of having disciplinary action take place, she was told to basically “hide” and stay out of the way of the other student. When this story was told to me, I was livid. How can a school that says there is Zero tolerance for bullying and harassment, not reciprocate to the student making threats and verbally abusing another student? When other students in school are being bullied and you see it and don’t step in, or at least notify a teacher, you are just as responsible for the bullying act as the bully. It is very important to stand up for others, because if you were ever in their situation you would want to be helped too. In order to eliminate bullying completely, it has to be a group effort. Everyone has to stand up against it. Students, parents, teachers and society have to stand up for the safety of children in order for there to be harmony at schools.
English II
9-14-08
#3
“Sticks and stones may break your bones but names will never hurt you”. This old nursery rhyme was used by children all over to make bullies seem less hurtful. I completely disagree with this quote because it is false. Most of the time, names damage more than the physical pains of being bullied. If you are being called unintelligent everyday, you will become very depressed and have a low self esteem. Eventually you will believe that you are unintelligent. In schools, particularly high schools, there is said to be zero tolerance for bullying. Yet, “A study in Toronto schools found that a bullying act occurred every seven seconds, but teachers were aware of only four percent of the incidents. Seven out of 10 teachers, but only one in four students say that teachers almost always intervene. Close to 40 percent of victims of bullying say they have not talked to their parents about the problem.”(http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,182171,00.html). In order for this Zero Tolerance rule to work, teachers and parents must pay close attention. There is a debate about whether or not a student should be tolerated to strike another student after being provoked. Could this be considered self defense? Most schools would either not do anything at all, or they would give both children a detention. What they aren’t evaluating is the actual situation. In the 2008-2009 Frank Anotonides School Student Handbook, Page 21, 2nd Paragraph under “Harassment”, it reads “Harassment is defined as a repeated pattern of unprovoked aggressive behaviors of a physical, verbal, and/or psychological nature carried out by an individual or group against an individual or group with the effect of causing harm or hurt. Harassing behaviors are all those behaviors that are unwelcome, unwanted, and uncomfortable in the view of the recipient.” The part that stuck out the most to me was the “repeated pattern of unprovoked aggressive behaviors,” after being harassed or bullied for a numerous amount of times, and after telling an adult about this situation, should you be allowed to retaliate? I believe that if you have notified an adult about this constant harassment, and nothing changes or is done to prevent the aggressive behaviors, you should be able to take action in pure self defense. Of course after telling an adult none of these behaviors should persist. I think the reasons behind school fights consist of students feeling unwelcome or unwanted. Schools are supposed to be a safe haven where students can learn without being judged. I believe that everyone should want to stand out, not fit in. As we have seen in the novel Nineteen Minutes, written by Jodi Picoult, at first Peter doesn’t want to fit in, and then after loosing Josie to the “in crowd” he changes his mind. In his first attempt to fit in, he embarrassed Dolores after she got her period during a class, and Peter had noticed and shouted it out. The class then all laughed at Dolores and she was humiliated. A friend of mine was harassed her sophomore year of high school. She was threatened, and verbally abused. Instead of confronting the instigator she decided to go straight to the dean of discipline. She was told that since she had study hall with the other student, to go to the library instead of the cafeteria where the other student would be. Instead of having disciplinary action take place, she was told to basically “hide” and stay out of the way of the other student. When this story was told to me, I was livid. How can a school that says there is Zero tolerance for bullying and harassment, not reciprocate to the student making threats and verbally abusing another student? When other students in school are being bullied and you see it and don’t step in, or at least notify a teacher, you are just as responsible for the bullying act as the bully. It is very important to stand up for others, because if you were ever in their situation you would want to be helped too. In order to eliminate bullying completely, it has to be a group effort. Everyone has to stand up against it. Students, parents, teachers and society have to stand up for the safety of children in order for there to be harmony at schools.