Darvin 1 Alex Darvin Ms.

Landis American Literature Period 1 24 May 2013 Action Research Paper: Bullying Bullying has been prevalent in society for many years. There are numerous causes and effects of bullying and is seen in various situations in everyday life. It can be in a school, the workplace, in a neighborhood, or even in the household. The lust for power, dominance, and the need for attention have all been commonly known causes for bullying and it has detrimental effects on the victims, both short-term and long-term. The physical, verbal, and emotional abuse of victims has lead them into times of depression, low self-esteem, and on rare occasions, suicide or even murder. Many times they do not have the ability to overcome the overwhelming torment. The ones that are able to surmount it may have a stronger will to persevere, but when there are people that can, there are people that cannot. Those who concede to the crushing torture may go to extremes. These extremes can result in emotional scarring for life. Christopher Nulls novel, Half Mast depicts a vivid story of a victim named Alex who plans and successfully murders his tormentor, but leads to an overwhelming sense of remorse. Half Mast contradicts the ideas of The Wounded Spirit by Frank Peretti, a story about the authors childhood. He retells all of the hatred he tolerated, yet explains how he perseveres despite the emotional scarring by speaking out against the atrocity that is bullying. Using the stories of the main characters, these two novels show contradicting ways to stop bullying and show the causes and effects that bullying possesses.

Darvin 2 There is a surplus of reasons for bullying to occur. Bullies are commonly known as people who are aggressive and show dominance over others. That need to be dominant over others, is a prevalent trait seen in bullies. This behavior that is seen in bullies can be the result of a troubled childhood or aggressive parents that do not reprimand their child for displaying violent behavior. Observations made by researchers say, Aggressive behavior and inequalities of power are commonplace in human groups, including peer groups in school, so bullying can be a temptation (Smith, Ananiadou). Settings in society such as schools and workplaces are certain to have a variety of people. Because there are people who are considered different form the social normal, those people are more susceptible to bullying. The bullies like to assert their dominance over people that are different from them. The bullies may accept violence, as well as using their aggression, to get what they want from their parents. Many bullies come from homes where parents are cold, uninvolved or have, in effect, taught their children to use rage and violence to handle problems (Progressive U). Bullies may show the observed behavior because they were raised to use violence as a means of getting what they want. Another possibility is that the child was raised in a house with many problems. If the child was beaten, his parents divorce, or many other family issues can contribute to his behavior. An age difference or the fact that someone may look weak and vulnerable makes him a probable target for bullying. I have practically no self-esteem. Especially concerning girls and looks and such. Therefore people make fun of meconstantly therefore I get no respect and therefore I get f--king PISSED (School Busters). A persons looks and personality can make himself a target for bullies. An interviewer stated that, Dylan Klebold said on the

Darvin 3 Basement Tapes that his older brother Byron and his friend constantly ripped on him and that everyone (including those at school) except his family treated him like the runt of the litter(School Busters). Age is also a factor in the bullys choice of prey. The ones who are younger are weaker and less likely to defend themselves. Victims are singled out because they cannot defend themselves. Bullies tend to choose people that are weak and scared and cannot fight back. It took him only one class hour for the others to select him, label him, and put him in his place. He was now officially the smallest one, the scared one, the weakling, the one without friends. He was fair game (Peretti 3). When he was born, the doctor that was delivering him accidentally hit his head. At first it did not seem bad and it looked like a small bruise, but soon Peretti had trouble breathing, he started bleeding. These problems resulted in multiple surguries. Due to Perettis injury as a baby, he matured later than most other boys his age, making him that small kid who cannot do anything. These types of people are the victims so that the bullies get what they want. A victim was put in a very similar situation as Perettis, being selected and bullied. Everyone is making fun of me because of how I look, and how f--king weak I am and sh-t (School Busters). Many times, people are targeted because they are weaker and lack the physique to defend themselves properly. Sadly, some children are aggressive because they have been taught at home that intimidating others and verbally abusing them are the best means of getting their own way (Progressive U). Parents can be a huge reason as to why bullies hurt others. Not only for being an example of using violence and intimidation to get what they desired, but also for abusing their children and their child venting and releasing their anger and pain through violence.

Darvin 4 Children that are also selected because they are weak and cannot defend themselves are children with disabilities. Their disabilities separate themselves from others, placing them in an anti-social environment, more vulnerable to bullying. In mainstream settings these children are usually less well integrated socially and lack the protection against bullying which friendship gives (Smith, Ananiadou). All of these victims cannot help themselves, and witnesses do not take action against it. Many times, bullying occurs because they are able to get away with bullying others. Witnesses do not try to prevent it, despite being given the opportunity to end the victims pain. Schools may provide greater or lesser opportunities for bullying to take placewhether there is an effective school policy and sanctions against bullying, and what are the attitudes of the main peer groups in the school (Smith, Ananiadou). Victims low self-esteem may cause them to not seek help, despite their need for it. People ignore them for reasons they cannot fathom. But now, all he could do was shed tears and wonder, How could a school like this, my school, have a place like that? Does anyone care? Does anyone know? (Peretti 9). Sometimes, it is very difficult to understand that bullying takes place in settings where it should never be a problem. For Peretti, his gym class in his school was a cage where he was tortured, but the school was peaceful, except for that gym class. There are bystanders almost every time an act of bullying occurs, but they are silent. These people are watching such a terrible act occur, and they watch. They do not take action. People surrounded them in the commons and squirted ketchup packets all over them, laughing at them, calling them faggots, Brown says. That happened while the teachers watched. They couldnt fight back(School Busters). The victims of bullying are forced to live a life of solitude not only because

Darvin 5 they cannot stand up for themselves, but also because others will not stand up for them. The oppressed are often at a disadvantage when they want to stand up for themselves but cannot because of an age difference or physical disadvantages. Bullies may pick on others because they are different from them. They may look weird or act weird in a way that bullies do not like. An age difference may also factor into the bullies potential victims. People who are younger are a likely target for bullies. During high school, many times a one year age difference is significant in terms of physical prowess, although this mostly applicable for males. They were sophomores, already jaded by the drudgery of high school and the apathy of the teachers. They were looking for alternative amusements. And Steve Williams was one of them (Null 15). Alexs oppressor, Steve Williams was one year older than him. Being new to high school also made Alex a potential target for Steve. A very common form of bullying is racism. Sometimes children are taught to hate people of different races by their parents. There are certain names associated with racism. With the variety of races within the United States, racism can be common. Children can experience racist teasing and name-calling, and those of non-White ethnic origin have been shown to experience more racist name-calling (though not necessarily other forms of bullying) than White children of the same age and gender (Smith, Ananiadou). Sometimes, people look different, not by the color of their skin, but other physical appearances. Because of his deformity, he had surgeries as an infant. Those surgeries gave him scabs and scars that were easily seen. Alex says, Even at that young age, the kids seemed compelled to remind me about the scab-covered tongue hanging form my mouth. By the end of kindergarten year, Id had quite enough of school and

Darvin 6 didnt want to return (Peretti 48). He had received a lot of teasing because of his deformity. He had found out that school would be a hardship for him because of his deformity and it would be difficult to endure all of the hate and teasing that would ensue his entire academic career. Such pain and suffering can have a variety of effects on the victims and change them forever. Bullyings effects can change people; It can make people do things that they could never imagine themselves doing. People commit suicide, they murder to rid themselves of their pain and hatred and all of the pent up anger. If I went to Ohio State, too well, I was never going to be able to handle another tour of duty with him, and I knew it. It was about three in the morning when I made my decision. Steve Williams was going to die. I was going to kill him (Null 139). Steve was going to attend Ohio State, and Alex was accepted by Ohio State as well. It was the best school he had gotten into and his best chance for success, but to go to the same college as his tormentor was something that Alex could not handle any longer. Leave it to a shrink to find someone else to blame for my problems. He says my parents messed me up, too. But hes got it all wrong. After all, it was my idea to kill Steve Williams (Null 7). In Half Mast, Alex talked to a therapist to cope with his guilt and pain for killing Steve Williams. His therapist is claiming that his parents were the main cause for the death of Steve, but his parents were irrelevant to Steves death because Alex had never had any psychological problems prior to the bullying he had received from Steve. Murder is not the only extreme that results from bullying. Suicide is also another result. Sometimes the

Darvin 7 depression and pain can be too much for the victim to handle, so he disposes of himself. Victims of bullying often experience anxiety and depression, low self-esteem, physical and psychosomatic complaints (Williams, Chambers, Logan & Robinson, 1996). In extreme cases, the may commit suicide (Kaltiala-Heino Rimpela, Marttunen, Rimpela & Rantenan, 1999) (Smith, Ananiadou). By connecting with the main characters emotions and experiences in these two novels, along with the experiences of others in this world, it is possible to see the causes and effects bullying and the pain and suffering that people experience. In order to help stop the atrocity that is bullying, there are certain ways to stop children from bullying and being bullies in order to spare them the pain and suffering of others. There are always places people can go to help themselves and others from being bullied. Help can be just around the corner.