Online Class: Bullying in Elementary School

Courses Frequently Bought Together:

Building Self-Esteem in Children

Course Motivation

In fact, many of us may have children, or know children, who have experienced bullying at one time or another. Today it is because such an issue across the nation that some schools have adopted “zero tolerance” policies to try to deal with it, while others has developed programs and groups to take it on and try to keep it out of their schools. It is a problem that seems to be growing, as well.

Throughout this course, you will learn what bullying is, how to identify it, what the impact of it is, and the many ways to deal with it to try to prevent it from happening. What you learn in this course can be used in a myriad of ways to help just your child or classroom, or to help the masses. The choice, and ultimately the reach, is completely up to you! 

Bullying can be direct or indirect, where either it happens directly to the victim, or it may be something that "gets back" to the victim, such as rumors, threats, or something of the like. There are also several different ways that this bullying can delivered, including the following. 

• Physical bullying. This is bullying that involves the child being touched in one way or another. The bully may kick, hit, punch, trip, or more. Nevertheless, it involves the bully being physical in one way or another. It is estimated that around 30 percent of all bullying at the elementary school level involves some sort of physical form.
• Verbal bullying. This type of bullying involves words either being said to the victim directly, or about the victim indirectly. The bully may tease or taunt the victim, or spread rumors about the person.
• Social alienation. This type of bullying happens when the bully tries to get others to alienate the victim. Their mission is to leave the victim feeling all alone, like they do not have any friends, or by getting others to stay away from the person. Therefore, in the end, the victim has been socially alienated by their peers, which can have severe consequences, which we will discuss in this class.
• Cyberbullying. This is a newer type of bullying than prior generations had to deal with, as it involves electronic routes of bullying, such as online, through text message, or through emails. Those who use cyberbullying may end up sending threatening emails or text messages, or may post rumors about the person online. They may even pose as the victim and create a bogus Facebook account. Today there are many ways that bullies can engage in cyberbullying, and the perceived anonymity of the Internet makes many people feel more comfortable and protected doing so. However, as we will learn later, there are ways to also take on cyberbullying and help prevent and end it. 

It may seem as though indirect or non-physical forms of bullying are not nearly as serious as those that are direct or involve physical altercations. However, it can still have some serious psychological issues. It can also lead to serious physical altercations. Bullying is also at times discounted as being something that all children go through, so it shouldn't be worried about. This is totally wrong, as it can have serious implications in a child's life, both at the time and later on in life. All bullying is serious and can be potentially physically dangerous, therefore it should all be address immediately, regardless of what type of bullying it may be. 

The number of bullying incidents appears to decline as children get older, but that does not mean that at the middle and high school level they should be taken more lightly. Some at that level may be even more violent or have more serious implications. The best time to take on bullying is to start the prevention and addressing of it at the elementary level. That way, children progress to each grade and school knowing that it is not acceptable behavior, and will be more apt not to engage in bullying.  

Bullying is a problem that has an affect on just about every school and community. It even affects those that do not have children in school, because it affects those in our society. The sooner we can take measures to prevent and address it, the better!