Bullying in Schools, Annotated Bibliography Example

Arseneault, Louise, Lucy Bowes, and Sania Shakoor. “Bullying victimization in youths and mental health problems:‘Much ado about nothing’.” Psychological medicine 40.5 (2010): 717-729.

This peer-reviewed article addresses the significance of bullying and its impact on youth. Bullying has a significant impact on children and poses a serious risk to their wellbeing, while also having implications for friendships, family members, academic performance, and overall socialization (Arsenault et.al 717). Some victims of bullying experience long-term effects that impact their lives, such as violent behavior, a risk of self-harm, and possible mental health concerns (Arsenault et.al 717). Therefore, it is necessary to address how bullying impacts a child’s performance in school and how he or she is treated by classmates, particularly if bullying occurs in front of other children (Arsenault et.al 717). These problems pose a serious risk to the development of new approaches to prevent bullying in schools, including an evaluation of victimization and bullying as factors in mental health (Arsenault et.al 717).

Murray, Sandra S., et al. ““They’re Just Being Kids”: Recognizing and Preventing Bullying.”

National Social Science Proceedings Volume 47 Seattle Summer Seminar, 2011. 2012.

This article addresses the phenomenon of suicides as a result of bullying and considers how these actions in different forms contribute to the risk of suicide for young people. Bullying may be physical, cyber, emotional, and even sexting (Murray et.al 109). Therefore, many young people are frightened and disturbed by bullying to the point that it interferes with schoolwork, friendships, familial relationships, and general focus (Murray et.al 109). These individuals possess low self-esteem, may appear to be nervous much of the time, may possess insomnia and have poor behavior, a limited attention span, and poor grades in school, among other complications (Murray et.al 110). Unfortunately, many students experience bullying to the extent that they might consider attempting suicide or possibly succeed (Murray et.al 110). In many cases, students are hesitant to report bullying because they live in fear, or else they do not believe that school administration will not manage the problem effectively (Murray et.al 111). Therefore, it is important to identify resources that will be effective in addressing bullying in schools so that students feel safe, comfortable and free of this behavior in the school environment (Murray et.al 111). This problem also requires a widespread approach to bullying that will increase disciplinary efforts towards those who bully and protective and supportive efforts towards those who are bullied (Murray et.al 111). With the continued growth of cyber bullying, it is more important than ever to develop a strategy that will be effective in addressing this issue in order to protect individuals from unnecessary risk or harm (Murray et.al 111). Most importantly, parents and educators should take bullying seriously at all times and should not dismiss it as normal or routine behavior for children (Murray et.al 115). However, this is not always the case and requires further consideration (Murray et.al 115).

Cukan, Alex. “Why are U.S. schools failing to reduce bullying?” UPI, 2 April 2014: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2014/04/02/Why-are-US-schools-failing-to-reduce-bullying/9871396392452/

This article from UPI addresses the problem of bullying from a programmatic perspective, whereby prevention programs are severely limited and do not contribute to successful outcomes. For example, students who bully other students are not always subject to disciplinary action and they do not receive the support that is necessary to stop this problem from reoccurring (Cukan). In addition, many bullies have a tendency to target specific groups, which may include gays and lesbians, and students with weight issues (Cukan). Furthermore, these children are often targeted for many years and continue to receive abuse from those who bully on a regular basis (Cukan). As a result, many children remain vulnerable and exposed to the activities associated with bullying in different ways (Cukan). Unfortunately, anti-bullying programs are largely unsuccessful in addressing this problem, as they are not comprehensive enough to prevent widespread bullying from taking place (Cukan). These factors demonstrate the importance of developing new approaches to anti-bulling programs so that victimized students will feel more comfortable in school and in their surroundings (Cukan).

Limber, Susan PP, and Patricia WW Agatston. Cyberbullying. Blackwell Publishing., 2012.

This book addresses the phenomenon of cyberbullying and how it impacts children and adolescents in many different ways. Cyberbullying is represented by activities such as sending rude or derogatory text messages, posting bullying comments on Facebook pages or on Twitter, spreading lies about other people, sending photos that have been digitally altered, using offensive language unnecessarily through electronic means, sharing secrets, stalking others and threatening harm, and sexting (Limber & Agatston). These issues are important because they reflect the challenges of cyberbullying and how it impacts these victims in negative ways that are difficult to overcome (Limber & Agatston). It is believed that widespread education and a greater focus on bullying prevention are critical to the long-term success of any education program that is designed to address bullying (Limber & Agatston). Due to the complex nature of these problems, increased education regarding cyberbullying is critical to preventing this type of behavior (Limber & Agatston).

Works Cited

Arseneault, Louise, Lucy Bowes, and Sania Shakoor. “Bullying victimization in youths and mental health problems:‘Much ado about nothing’.” Psychological medicine 40.5 (2010): 717-729.

Cukan, Alex. “Why are U.S. schools failing to reduce bullying?” UPI, 2 April 2014: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2014/04/02/Why-are-US-schools-failing-to-reduce-bullying/9871396392452/

Limber, Susan PP, and Patricia WW Agatston. Cyberbullying. Blackwell Publishing., 2012.

Murray, Sandra S., et al. ““They’re Just Being Kids”: Recognizing and Preventing Bullying.” National Social Science Proceedings Volume 47 Seattle Summer Seminar, 2011. 2012.