Bullying
Prior to completing this discussion, please read Chapter 5 in the textbook, review the information from Chapter One
about Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological theory, read the Shetgiri et.al (2012) article, and review any relevant Instructor
Guidance.
Utilize Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory to address the topic of motivations for and influences on bullying.
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Identify and describe how a child’s environment might pre-dispose him or her to bully others. Use each of
the five systems in Bronfenbrenner’s theory.
How might parents be an influencing factor on whether or not a child is prone to bullying?
Find and report (with proper citation) one current statistic on the factors influencing school bullying
behaviors.
Does this statistic seem to follow the same trend supported by Bronfenbrenner’s theory? If not, explain
how it challenges the theory.
Reflect on friendships in childhood and adolescence and address the positive and negative influences they
can have on bullying behaviors.
Utilize problem-solving techniques in exploring developmental issues, grounded in child development, in
order to provide one unique solution to reduce or stop bullying.
There can be many reasons why children are bullying other children. In the Bronfenbrenner’s
theory all of the five system collide. If the child’s microsystem is not stable one it can cause
bullying because the microsystem is where the child is having daily direct contact. If the child’s
parent is not able to be there for their child or choose not to be there for their child it can affect
their life and they can turn to bullying for attention. There are kids like the teen in the video
mentioned that are bullying to be able to get out of the situation at home. If a child is being
mistreated and that is what he or she is learning then they are more likely to continue that cycle.
If a child’s parent is not there to nurture and guide their child through the right path they can feel
neglected and turn to bullying others because they don’t feel good with themselves, they are not
getting any attention at home. Loving your child, talking to your child and having good
communication with your child about life and the way you could treat others can prevent
bullying. Why would a child who is happy with life and themselves need to go out of their way
to make other people miserable?
The bullying statistics 2010 reveal that bullying is a crime that is not going away anytime soon. There are about
160,000 children that miss school every day out of fear of being bullied. Bullying statistics 2010 also report an
increase in cyberbullying activities.”
“According to various bullying studies, many teens and children act out violently on their peers through acts of
bullying because they are abused at home.”
http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/bullying-statistics-2010.html
These statistics follow the same trend supported by Bronfenbrenner’s theory. Children are
bullying because they are being mistreated at home. This is because of their direct contact which
talks about in the microsystem and because of the interaction they are having which talks about
in the mesosytem.
Children who have friends tend to be happier and are able to talk about their problems. If you
have the right influence of people around you then you will do good as well. If you are hanging
out with a group of kids who bully others you might feel pressure to do the same to fit in to the
crowd or if not they might start bullying you.
I believe to stop all bullying everyone needs put in t effort not only the school system but
parents as well. Even if the school is doing their best to problem solve the issues but the parents
are not then very little progress will be made and vise versa. Parents need to spend time with
their children and talk to them about treating others well. Parents should also be aware of the
way they treat their children because most likely that is how they will treat others. I recommend
children to speak up and find groups that can help them through the tough times. I can remember
talking to my cousin who was constantly bully and letting her know that people who bully others
are very insecure and that is wasn’t about her but the problems the other kids were facing. She
needed to learn to love herself and not pay mind to what others thought of her but also to speak
up to adults who could mediate the situation.
References:
Child and Adolescence Development, Mossler, 2011, Section 1.5, Information retrieved from:
https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUPSY104.11.2/sections/sec1.5