Research Stage I final draft

Cinzia Vicario

Concordia University

Montreal, QC, Canada

Professor Jeanette Novakovich

Concordia University

1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W.
Montreal, QC H3G 1M8

Subject: Proposal for writing a research paper about the problematic issue of school mobbing, bullying, and cyber-bullying.

Dear Professor Novakovich,

I am currently enrolled in the Bachelor degree of Education at Concordia University in Montreal and I am going to graduate next summer. During the time I have been studying in this program, I had the opportunity to discuss and analyze issues related to education in general and particularly in Quebec. I have therefore come across many problems concerning class management, students’ behaviour, and violence. What has particularly struck me is the fact that school administrators, teachers and parents have increased their efforts to protect youth from physical and emotional violence to no avail. Despite their efforts, episodes of mobbing, bullying and cyber-bullying are continuously increasing among students at all levels, and affect both gender groups, inside and outside school settings. Therefore, as a future teacher, I believe that it is of primary importance to find new ways of fighting this plague which is affecting societies worldwide.

In this paper I intend to analyze these phenomena by explaining  their characteristics, their causes and possible solutions advocated by specialists, because their effects can be devastating for those who become victims. In fact, according to Powell and Ladd (2010), young “victims can often feel ashamed, depressed, embarrassed, insecure, and can develop low self-esteem and school phobia. […] they constantly worry about going to school, and the thought of being attacked again can produce psychosomatic symptoms like headaches or stomach-ache as a result of prolonged stress or anxiety” (p. 195). In addition, in extreme cases constant bullying has also pushed young people to commit suicide.

Powell and Ladd (2010) also believe that families play a major role both as  positive and negative models for their children, and suggest that more research should focus on this aspect in order to stop this phenomenon that is getting out of control (p.203).

The above are some of the main reasons why I think that as a future educator in this province, and as a citizen of this society, it is my duty to be prepared to help children grow up in a positive and nurturing environment. Moreover, I believe that bullying in its various forms deserves to be analyzed not only for my personal interest, but also because it is an issue affecting our society at large. For this reason, I seek your permission to continue researching in order to produce a paper that analyzes the multifaceted aspects of this societal problem.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Cinzia Vicario

Thesis statement:

Although school administrators, teachers and parents have increased their efforts to protect youth from physical and emotional violence, inside and outside school settings, episodes of mobbing, bullying and cyber-bullying are continuously increasing among students at all levels and gender. That is  why, as a future teacher, I believe that it is of primary importance to find new ways of fighting this plague which is affecting societies worldwide.

Outline:

I.            Introduction:

Our society is constantly changing, and its evolution seems to be affecting people’s values and moral at every age. Today it is very common to turn on TV in the middle of the day and see scenes of violence or scenes in which sexual content is at times very explicit. There is no respect for youth’s normal psychological development, or for the dignity of other categories of people whom we may define as minorities because of their gender, race or sexual orientation. Mobbing, bullying and cyber-bullying are among the expressions of the uneasiness of our society. They represent the evolution of human cruelty starting from childhood, and are becoming extremely difficult to contain.

II.            Mobbing:

Mobbing can have devastating effects on peoples’ lives, both during adolescence and in adulthood, because it affects the person as a whole, by seriously undermining his/ her dignity and capabilities.

a.     Definition

b.     Characteristics of “the mobbing syndrome” and its effect on people

c.      Targeted people and the impact of mobbing on their lives

d.      Prevention: identification of the problem, support of targeted people, promotion of positive behaviour and respect for human beings.

e.       Intervention

III.            Bullying:

A more cruel way of diminishing people as human beings, by causing them mental and physical pain, and that has taken the proportion of an epidemic in western cultures is bullying.

a.      Definition and what makes it different from mobbin

b.      Characteristics of bullying

c.       Differences between male-physical bullying, and female-indirect /relational bullying

d.      Characteristics of bullies

e.       Effects of bullying: i.e., depression, insecurity, low self-esteem, develop psychosomatic symptoms, long term social phobia, loneliness

f.   Controversy regarding Bullying prevention in schools

1.    Zero tolerance policy: no evidence that it improves school safety

2.    Lack of school policy: communicates that bullying is acceptable

g.   Possible solutions

IV.            Cyber-bullying

Human cruelty seems to be following the same trend of our society and it is evolving at an incredible pace. In fact, nowadays, people are increasingly subjected to more “sophisticated” types of violence that have the potential of destroying someone’s life for good. Cyber-bullying is one of these terrible forms of cruelty because not only it causes psychological pain to the victims, but it also exposes them to the view of the entire web community, and therefore it perpetuates the crime over and over again.

a.  Definition: difference between bullying and cyber-bullying

b.   What causes it

c.   Characteristics of cyber-bullying and how it is perpetuated

d.   Victims of cyber-bullying: gender, race: impact on their lives

e.    Situation  in Canada

f.     Prevention and action

V.            Conclusion:

Changing this awful situation is still possible, but it requires the implication of the society at large, and a particular attention to our youth and the values and morals that we transmit to them.

a.  Brief summary of the elements analyzed

b.  Current trend of preventive practices

c.   My personal interpretation and opinion about the analysis of these facts

Annotated Bibliography

CEST-Jeunesse 2009.(2009).  Cyber intimidation : un regard éthique proposé par des jeunes: Avis.Commission de l’éthique de la science et de la technologie, Québec, QC, CAN

• High quality
• The report deals with cyber-intimidation into context,  promotion of ethics, use of technologies

Elliott, G. P. (2003). School mobbing and emotional abuse :See it, stop it, prevent it, with dignity and respect. New York: Brunner- Routledge.

• High quality
• This book analyzes reasons why children participate in mobbing and possible solutions

Henkin, R. (2005). Confronting bullying :Literacy as a tool for character education. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

• High quality
• This book deals with bullying prevention through the use of literacy and offers specific examples lessons to help teachers prepare their own

O’Moore, M., & Minton, S. J. (2004). Dealing with bullying in schools :A training manual for teachers, parents and other professionals. London: Paul Chapman.

• High quality
• This book is a training manual that helps teachers, parents and other professional to deal with bullying situations.

Orpinas, P., & Horne, A. M. (2006). Bullying prevention :Creating a positive school climate and developing social competence (1st ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

• High quality
• This book helps teachers understand and deal with children who behavioral problems, and therefore to prevent bullying from start. It uses a holistic approach

Powell, Melissa D. and Ladd, Linda D. (2010). “Bullying: a review of the Literature and Implications for Family Therapists”. American Journal of Family Therapy, Vol,38, no.3,189-206.

• High quality
• Review of new findings about bullying, and investigates result of family therapy

Rivers, I., Duncan, N., & Besag, V. E. (2007). Bullying :A handbook for educators and parents. Westport, Conn.: Praeger.

• High quality
• This book deals with bullying in public schools and analyzes researches conducted in Europe as well as in the U.S. and Canada

Roberts, W. B. (2006). Bullying from both sides :Strategic interventions for working with bullies & victims. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin Press.

• High quality
• This book helps teacher recognize students at risk in order to protect them, and also deal with female bullying

Shariff, S. (2008). Cyber-bullying :Issues and solutions for the school, the classroom and the home. London; New York: Routledge.

• High quality
• This book provides ways to address cyber-bullying in a new way, and gives guidelines for teachers and school administrators

Shariff, S. (2009). Confronting cyber-bullying :What schools need to know to control misconduct and avoid legal consequences. Cambridge England; New York: Cambridge University Press.

• High quality
• This book deals with how schools can control cyber-bullying to avoid legal issues

~ by ladyindaco on November 11, 2010.