Assignment 5-3: Intervention strategy
The all too familiar story
of suicide has been on the increase in recent years, especially among students.
Sadly for 13 year old Jared High, it was to be no different. Jared who had a
fun-loving family and friends who tried to give him the best of life, found it
unbearable at his local middle School (Mcloughlin Middle School). While growing
up, Jared had his share of problems. He didn’t start speaking until he was
about 2 ½ years old and a few years later, was placed in special Ed. Classes because
of his speech problems. On the other hand, Jared persevered and was promoted to
Assistant Manager of his school’s baseball team. It was at this time that the
bullying began. A young man, one of his peers followed him to a secluded area
and started beating on him for reasons still unknown. Jared was probably
bullied because of jealousy. He was after all the Assistant Manager and 4th
grader while the baseball team was made up of 8th graders so we
could see jealousy as a motivation for bullying. Based on reasons for bullying suggested
by his sister, Jared could have been bullied because the young man thought he
was too smart, too dumb, too ugly or too handsome. This leaves a lot to be
scrutinized as to the real reason why Jared was bullied. Apart from that traumatic
experience which caused Jared to throw up after it was done, the other guys in the
team spat on and stole from him, making it even more unbearable for him to
continue at that school. Furthermore, the school system was not on Jared’s side
as school records reveal, both boys were called into the Principals office,
asked about the incident, blamed it on each other and were subsequently suspended
for 3 days, the school citing it as fighting. The other boys did not make it
any better as they were friends of the bully. Jared, sinking into depression
transferred to a High School but in the following months continued this decent
apparently still suffering from the after effects of bullying.
It is sad that the school
system failed Jared after been given the opportunity to intercept and make a
difference. The Principal as the highest authority in the school, representing
the school system, failed to look deeply into the situation presented probably
because of laziness/negligence as well as non-existence of school policies
being in place to stem bullying. We will address this a bit more later on in
this report. It is also unfortunate that Jared’s parents and sister after being
made privy to the incident, passed it off as not too serious and a passing
phase. This neglect would ultimate lead to Jared taking his own life. Jared’s
Mom in the video proceeded to tell us that she wanted to get him to see a
Counselor but never got around to doing it. It is my sincere belief that this
suicide could have thwarted had the individuals in Jared’s life acted
proactively. His Mom and sister saw the signs, Jared had stopped playing on his
computer, stopped jumping on his trampoline and had cut out recreation all together.
This was the opportune moment for intervention but unfortunately, both the
school system and Jared’s care takers failed to do so. The decent finally hit
rock bottom on September 29th when Jared’s Mom got a call to head
home because of an emergency which proved to be fatal as she later found out
that Jared had called his Father earlier after which he proceeded to shot
himself, ending his life.
Reports are that, Jared
after being allowed to stay home that day, had no problem finding his Father’s
gun; his Father being an avid hunter. Jared’s sister said he would have had no
problem finding the gun but would have had to search a bit more for the
cartridges as his Father kept them separate. (High, 2010). It irks me to know
that it was Jared’s own father’s gun that was used to commit the suicide. What’s
with people keeping guns in their homes and then crying when these incidents
occur? I don’t mean to sound insensitive but it probably stems from the fact
that in my native country, it was very rare for people to have guns in their
homes. It brings up the whole debate of gun control in this country. Jared
knowing the gun was readily accessible, was what I believe made it easier for
him to commit suicide. I do understand that the Father is an avid hunter but
more care should have been taken to ensure only he had access to the gun and
the cartridges.
It is clear from Jared’s
case that adults need a guide on how to deal with bullying, both Teachers and
Parents alike. Adults need to intervene as that is one of the main ways of
stopping the cycle of bullying. It is a fact that in most cases, the presence of
an adult can avert a victim from being bullied. A few ways in which Teachers
can deal with the issue of bullying is to listen to the conversations among their
students by intentionally situating themselves especially in places where the
students love to congregate. Teachers and other staff members are to pay
attention to students, their attitudes, behaviors etc. so as to determine if
bullying is taking place. Another way to address the problem of bullying is for
the Teacher to take away the offenders privileges; demand that the student eat
lunch with the Teacher or Principal, rather than his/her friends.
Teachers and Parents
should realize that if students trust them, they will let them know when something
is wrong or if there is bullying elsewhere. Teachers can teach kids to learn
how to problem-solve, cooperate and talk about conflict; also how to show
empathy. How to identify with someone else’s misfortune. A few more ways in
which Teachers and Parents can aid in dealing with bullying is through the use of
literacy games to teach kids certain ethics and good behavior; getting them to understand
that bullying is wrong, that it’s a violation of someone else’s rights. Also
that there are consequences for such actions. One resource for Parents on
dealing with bullying is a website called ‘Castle’ set up by the University of Wisconsin.
The more resources adults can their hands on will aid in the overall problem of
bullying in our country.
It is imperative to have
a safe school environment for our students as we see the rise of bullying among
our youth across the nation. ‘Bullying
can occur randomly or regularly. It can happen daily, weekly, or monthly. In
fact, one in 10 bullying victims are bullied daily, while one in five victims
are bullied once or twice a month’ (Mahoney, 2012).
It is a fact that
students go through severe emotional, mental and psychological stress when
being bullied and that this can cause a severe effect on their academic
performance. Based on these facts schools must set their own values and norms
where students don’t feel violated and attacked. The number one bullying problem
that students complained about is that of Teachers ostracizing them especially
in front of other students. In order for Teachers to help create and maintain a
safe school environment, Teachers should take care to approach students with
dignity rather than talking down to them. In the classroom, ensure that
students feel free to make mistakes without fear of being ostracized.
Here are a few more ways
that school officials can create and maintain a safe school environment: Having
their staff understand a clear definition of bullying as
opposed to teasing which can be a form of bullying. Removing labels and addressing
behaviors. Setting clear and enforceable rules and expectations and rewarding
positive behavior. Having open Communication, engaging parents, looking for
warning signs, clearing the scene, monitoring hot spots and knowing state law
and district Policies (Hellwig, 2015). Lastly, Mr. Wright came up with the “Good
Behavior Game” in which good classroom behaviors are rewarded during the
instructional time of day (Wright, 2012).
Thankfully, there is an
ongoing push at the State and local level to develop and implement school
policy on bullying. An example of one such policy and its implementation is
called the ‘Communication plan’
which includes
a plan for notifying students, students’ families, and staff of policies related
to bullying, including the consequences for engaging in bullying. A citation of
this is found in the State of Arkansas. The example is shown below.
Example: Arkansas:
Ark. Code Ann. § 6-18-514(b) (2009): "The policies shall: ...[6] Require
that notice of what constitutes bullying, that bullying is prohibited, and the
consequences of engaging in bullying be conspicuously posted in every
classroom, cafeteria, restroom, gymnasium, auditorium, and school bus in the
district; and [7] Require that copies of the notice...be provided to parents,
students, school volunteers, and employees."
The state and local
policy makers have communicated specific headings under which school districts
shall cohesively address school bullying such as Specification of Prohibited Conduct, Enumeration of
Specific Characteristics, Development and Implementation of LEA Policies, Components
of LEA Policies, Transparency and Monitoring, Training and Preventive Education,
communication plan and mandatory Review of Local Policies (U.S. department of
Health and Human services, 2010).
Other forms of bullying are also
mentioned such as Cyber-bullying. Policies and rules have been set in place to
aid Parents in monitoring their children while online and out of the classroom.
It is my sincere wish that with all these policies, rules and guidelines set in
place and implemented that we will never have a repeat as that of Jared High where
he ended up committing suicide. Our children and students need protection and
so we must do all we can to create and maintain a safe atmosphere for them to
grow and develop in… They are after all, our future.
References
High,
B. (2010). Retrieved from: http://www.jaredstory.com/jareds_life.html
Hellwig,
E. (2015). 10 ways to help reduce bullying in schools. Retrieved from: http://www.crisisprevention.com/Blog/November-2011/10-Ways-to-Help-Reduce-Bullying-in-Schools
Mahoney, M. (2012). Part I - An overview of bullying
and guidance for its prevention.
Retrieved from: http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=3572
U.S.
department of health and human services. (2010). Retrieved from: http://www.stopbullying.gov/laws/key-components/index.html.
Key Components in State Anti-Bullying Laws
Wright, J. (2012). Good behavior game.
Retrieved from: http://www.interventioncentral.org/behavioral-interventions/schoolwide-classroommgmt/good-behavior-game
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