SELF ESTEEM AND BULLYING

The relationship between self esteem and bullying

The relationship between self esteem and bullying

Introduction

In an ideal world, children come to school to receive education in a safe environment where unity and harmony abound with a love of learning. Absolute respect for others governs student behavior and aura of positivism would cover self-esteem. However, this learning paradigm is far from the reality, which many students encounter when entering schools today, where problems of lack of respect for others and property have become common (Payne, 2005, 66).

Therefore, it is not surprising that bullying among school children is recognized as one of the major forms of violence in our schools today. Bulach et al. (2003) believe that bullying behaviors play an important role in the violent actions of students to commit crimes in school. For example, the violence of bullying behavior attracted national attention in Georgia in 1998, when a student died as a result of intimidation. From this incident, Georgia lawmakers passed a law that deals specifically with bullying behaviors (Bulach et al.).

The 1999 law defines harassment as "any deliberate attempt or threat to inflict injury on another person, when accompanied by an apparent present ability to do so or any intentional display of force would give the victim reason to fear or expect immediate damage body (Moore, 2005, 66).

Origin of bullying

The term "bully" brings an unforgettable, painful to the mind of anyone who has seen or experienced first hand the violence, threats, torture of anxiety, or demeaning tone of ridicule is more power and control over that person. Five hundred years ago, the word "bully" had an opposite meaning of what we know in that today. The root of the word bully was derived from the Dutch word "Boel," which means brother, lover, friend, relative or girlfriend (PBS, 2002, 87).

In the 21st century, the term bullying has a totally different connotation. In Scandinavia, the translated term is used for intimidation "mobbing", derived from the English word "mafia", which involves a large group of people involved in the harassment or violence from others (Olweus, 1993, 74). Bullying can be done by a group of people or a person, a bully, and addressed to a person or group in various ways.

Bullying Experiences

Many forms of intimidation to help determine the level or degree to which students experience bullying. Espelage et al. (2003) conducted a study to investigate the harassment and victimization experiences of middle school students. The study participants included 89 high school students in grades 6-8 in three different schools in three Midwestern cities of medium size and consisted of 55 (62.6%) males and 34 (37.4%) women of different racial compositions. In-depth interviews with the participants were 30 to 60 minutes (Olweus, 2003, 78).

In interviews, participants were asked to define where the harassment takes place, why do you think other students are being bullied or a bully, and what they believe is the definition of bullying. The results indicate that when participants were asked about where bullying takes ...