Rationale to Prevent Bullying in the Schools

Bullying in our schools must be prevented and stopped because bullying:

• has been identified as a common theme in school shootings (Bowman, 2001)
• is the most common form of school violence
• creates a fearful environment that interferes with learning and has a negative impact on student morale (Hoover & Oliver, 1996)
• increases suicide risk of bystanders (Carney & Hazler, 1996)
• encourages individuals to join gangs, cults, drug groups, and hate groups
• causes eating disorders, depression, anxiety, and other health problems
• causes posttraumatic stress (Fields, 2003; Kinchin, 2001)
• causes low self-esteem and low self-confidence
• causes physical and psychological injury/pain
• is a root cause of discipline problems (Schwartz, McFayden-Ketchum, Dodge, Pettit, & Bates, 1998)
• causes loneliness
• encourages individuals to drop out of school (AAUW, 1993; Banks, 2000; Weinhold & Weinhold, 1998)
• causes truancy (160,000 students a day stay home because of bullying; Fried & Fried, 1996)