Emotionl litercy interventions in the prevention of bullying within Essay

Emotionl litercy interventions in the prevention of bullying within the pstorl system of school - Essay Example Bullying is now recognized s common form of victimiztion on British school cmpuses nd significnt school sfety problem (Nnsel et l., 2001). This pper provides thoughtful conceptul nd prcticl informtion for school psychologists, who cn ply centrl role in the schools' response to this growing concern bout school bullying t pstorl clsses. The pper ims to review nd expnd on topics discussed, prticulrly s they relte to the British school context in mong pstorl students. Reching ntionl consensus on school bullying represents significnt chllenge tht will require blncing needs cross reserchers, eductors, nd public policy mkers. Whtever the effectiveness of specific bully prevention progrms, the ntionl effort to minimize the negtive effects of bullying will need to ddress fundmentl mtters relted to the definition of school bullying nd the trnsltion of best reserch prctices into public policy nd eductionl prctice t the school site level. I suggest tht clrity on mtters of definition is of the ut most importnce. First, it is needed for the scientific purpose of hving precision in wht is being studied. Second, it is needed becuse lck of common understnding bout wht constitutes bullying could result in confusing rry of ntionl, stte, nd locl policies nd responses to the problems creted by bullying. Rtionl Literture review Bullying behvior mong students hs long been disruptive fctor in the eductionl relm nd continues t thretening level, ffecting the emotionl nd physicl sfety of students (Grrity, Jens, Porter, Syger, & Short-Cmilli, 2005). It ws estimted tht 160,000 children miss school ech dy becuse of fer (Solberg, Olweus 2003). Bullying, mjor cuse of this fer, keeps children from perceiving school s sfe environment. Unfortuntely, mny of these children re reluctnt to request id from school stff for fer of reprisls nd becuse of indequte protection. School for mny is not the sfe, lerning environment it ws intended to be. Mny students re nxious bout witnessing bullying nd fer tht they my become victims of bullying if they hve not lredy been trgeted. Given the misery tht thousnds of children endure dffy over the course of severl yers of eduction, the problems surrounding bullying should not be ignored or simply tolerted. Mny techers ignore bullying becuse they believe they lck dequte skills nd trining to intervene, they fer tht intervening in bullying sitution will only dd fuel to the fire, or they fer tht their involvement would force the problem "underground" (Olweus, 1994).Two out of three students report tht techers hndle the problems of bullying indequtely. Mny students surmise tht their techers re not cogniznt of problems becuse bullying often ppers to go unnoticed by the techers. In fct, bullying incidents re rrely brought to the techer's ttention unless there is serious incident. Techers ply criticl role in snctioning the bullying behvior tht occurs in the schools, either intentionlly or unintentionlly. Hence, "bullying will never be eliminted unless techers nd children become prtners in this crusde ginst cruelty" (Orpins, Home, Stniszewski,