Social Constructs Of Bullying

Bullying is a serious and complicated problem that happens within a specific social construct that is influenced by certain types of media, such as fairytales like Sleeping Beauty. Such social constructs can involve things like gender norms, which are standards of behavior that is expected by a particular society for women and men within that society. There are many different types of bullying that can be conducted in many different ways. However, all have the potential to change a school environment from a fun learning environment to a prison cell from hell for students who are bullied and who witness bullying. Thankfully though, there are many strategies with which students can intervene in a bullying situation. However, it is oftentimes
School officials oftentimes assume that people who are bullied always tell an adult. Most studies show that only a fourth to half of students who get bullied talk to an adult about it. There are several reasons for this, among which are a fear of retaliation; a desire to handle it on their own; feeling as though no one would care; or even being so humiliated that they do not want anyone else to know (Department of Health and Human Services). Secondly, it is falsely believed that people who are bullied need to deal with this situation on their own. But most of the time, the person being bullied cannot deal with it on their own.
There is also some confusion related to procedures involved in reporting it. According to Cooper and Snell, Some officials are also guilty of confusing tattling with reporting bullying. It is very important that every bullying report is taken seriously, and that all school officials and students know the difference between tattling and telling. Tattling is done to get someone in trouble by reporting an event that was not problematic or required adult intervention in the first place. Telling is done to keep people safe, and is about a problem that is unsafe and requires adult intervention (Cooper and
One type is called physical, which is the most easily recognized. It includes things like pushing, kicking, shoving, hitting, spitting, and tripping someone on purpose. Another type of bullying is called verbal, which is when a person says mean things to someone face-to-face or by hand-writing them a note. It can include name-calling, taunting, threatening, insulting, making sexually inappropriate comments, and teasing someone. A third type of bullying is called relational bullying, which involves destroying someone’s reputation, relationships, or both. It can include excluding someone on purpose, humiliating someone in public, spreading rumors about someone, and telling people not to be friends with someone. Lastly, there is also a type of bullying called cyberbullying. This type of bullying is conducted on the internet or through texting, and can involve the same behaviors as verbal and relational bullying (Hughes 4; Hymel and