Alondra Young

Dr. Wynne
Bullying Gone Too Far
Sandra a 14 year old girl from New York was bullied extremely in school when she
decided to wear her hijab. Sandra practices the Islamic faith where wearing a hijab is customary.
Altercations of students yanking her hijab off her head made her insecure. Sandra would often
get sent to the deans office because she was trying to stand up for herself affecting her focus.
Sandra even had to go to the extent of switching schools. Other students within her school used
to get called names such as terrorist (Otterman). It is unfortunate that bullying is so string in
todays culture.
Most importantly bullying affects kids performance in school. A UCLA psychologist
reported that students who are bullied regularly do substantially worse in school (Wolpert). This
is important because it is hard for a parent to send their child to school knowing they are being
mistreated. A UCLA study was conducted with students and their teachers who attend middle
school in the Los Angeles area. A high level of bullying was associated with lower grade
throughout the high school. Students who were bullied the most performed worse academically.
Students will show less interest in the class room by not raising their hand or not speaking up
because they fear being bullied (Wolpert). This will affect the childs ability to really grasp
information because they are not paying attention in class. A child who knows that other children
are making fun of them will be hesitant to raise their hand. We cannot address low achievement
in school while ignoring bullying, because the two are frequently linked was said by Janna
Juvonen a UCLA professor of psychology. It is up to todays generation to help put an action

plan in motion to stop bullying. A policy change that I would implement is starting a program in
all school from kindergarten to seventh grade called Know One before You Judge One.
In this program students will be paired with other students in their school but within the
same grade. Students will be paired upon their differences instead of the things they have in
common. Student will have to get to know one another as well as participate in activities with
each other throughout the year. Activities would include trust building exercises and ice breaker
games. At the end of the year students will give a presentation or write an essay on the
importance of bullying, discuss their experience in the program, and explain why getting to know
people can be beneficial. The reason for this is to get students of younger ages to converse with
other students they wouldnt normally talk to. This is important because when students can step
out of their clique of friends; they will be surprised of how much you have in common with
people who are different from them. Another reason students will be paired up is to try to make a
friend before they judge or talk about someone. This negative behavior can turn into bullying.
Students who fail to participate in the program would take a bullying education course. Each
year the student will be paired with someone new. Schools who fail to participate in the program
will be fined. There are many bullying prevention programs but this one is significant because it
targets all schools.
There are studies to prove that starting friendships prevent bullying. Little kids the ages
of four and five in the Madison Metropolitan School District took part in a study assessing new
curriculum to promote social skills. The curriculum would help children be aware of themselves
and others through practices that encourage them to bring mindful attention to a present moment
experience. Children will work on self-regulation skills. (Tyrrell). When younger kids learn these
traits it can improve bullying greatly because they will learn how to take a better approach to

situations. Compassion and gratitude were also encouraged. Researchers discovered that children
who

participated

academically.

in

the

program

Dealing

with

bullying

performed
is

better

collective

challenge because youre not

just dealing with a few aggressive

students (Wolpert). However

implementing important policies

can stop bullying in its tracks.

Furthermore

bullying

affects children in schools in

many ways. The only we can

stop bullying it so implement an

important policy. Society must be attentive to programs that focus on bullying. This will school a
safer and happier environment for students.

Works Cited
Otterman, Sharon. "Balancing Islam and Middle School in Queens." The New York Times. The
New York Times, 07 Mar. 2015. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
Wolpert, Stuart. "Victims of Bullying Suffer Academically as Well, UCLA Psychologists
Report." UCLA Newsroom. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.

Tyrrell, Kelly A. "'Kindness Curriculum' Boosts School Success in Preschoolers." News. Web. 19
Apr. 2016.