The behavior that I want to change is bullying in the middle school demographic. Many organizations target this specific audience because it is a time in a child’s life where bullying becomes more prevalent. The reason that bulling needs to change is that it causes psychological harm to all parties involved. Those who bully engage themselves in negative actions usually view violence and the use of violence in a positive light and this could lead to life long issues due to violence (Feldman, Ojanen, & Brown, et al. 2014). If the behavior does not change, it could lead to lower achievement by those who were bullied, school attendance and higher rates of disciplinary referrals, leading students into a path of self-destruction and future problems
…show more content…
In the middle school level, students are navigating profound and often complex changes including puberty, and cognitive, physical, social and emotional changes (Bailey, G., Giles, R. M., & Rogers, S. E. (2015. This causes some to lash out and place their insecurities on others and some to internalize these often mean words, leading to self-doubt and negative self-esteem. There are at least seven definable reasons why people bully: Cultural causes, institutional causes, social issues, a need of power, family issues, the bully’s personal history and provocative victims (“Why do People Bully?” 2015). Our current culture is fascinated with winning, power and violence, and some experts suggest that people will be influenced by it. The institution may have an environment that is conducive to bullying, like teachers who do not intervene when they witness the behavior. Social recognition as the bully leads children to believe they are more powerful and this gives them a sense of superiority. If their family is going through different situations, like divorce, this may cause more bullying. This ties in with their personal history because if they have a past of having to fight for survival in their family, it will show itself in school. Finally, provocative victims are people who go out of their way to be annoying, condescending, and aggressive verbally to bullies in order to incite an attack (“Why do People Bully?” …show more content…
The two types of reinforcement are positive and negative (Feldman, 2013). An example of a positive reinforcement against bullying would be if a student were seen being especially kind to another they receive a prize, like candy, as a reward. The reason this would work is because every time a student was rewarded for their behavior, adding a positive stimulus, so they are more likely to repeat their actions. An example of negative reinforcement would be whenever someone was especially kind to another student they would have their homework decreased. The reason why this would work is because the teacher would be removing a negative stimulus, homework, thus encouraging the student to be kind more often. For these reinforcements to work though, an intermittent reinforcement schedule would be necessary. An intermittent or partial form of reinforcement schedule is when behavior is reinforced some but not all of the time (Feldman, 2013). The behavior of bullying will take consistency to change, but students should learn to be kind without needing rewards every time to behave correctly. Based on research of this technique it is needed to see permanent change of this behavior. For example, Vegas slot machines work on the principle of intermittent reinforcement schedule. Every time a reward is earned people continue to play the slots in hope of
In the middle school level, students are navigating profound and often complex changes including puberty, and cognitive, physical, social and emotional changes (Bailey, G., Giles, R. M., & Rogers, S. E. (2015. This causes some to lash out and place their insecurities on others and some to internalize these often mean words, leading to self-doubt and negative self-esteem. There are at least seven definable reasons why people bully: Cultural causes, institutional causes, social issues, a need of power, family issues, the bully’s personal history and provocative victims (“Why do People Bully?” 2015). Our current culture is fascinated with winning, power and violence, and some experts suggest that people will be influenced by it. The institution may have an environment that is conducive to bullying, like teachers who do not intervene when they witness the behavior. Social recognition as the bully leads children to believe they are more powerful and this gives them a sense of superiority. If their family is going through different situations, like divorce, this may cause more bullying. This ties in with their personal history because if they have a past of having to fight for survival in their family, it will show itself in school. Finally, provocative victims are people who go out of their way to be annoying, condescending, and aggressive verbally to bullies in order to incite an attack (“Why do People Bully?” …show more content…
The two types of reinforcement are positive and negative (Feldman, 2013). An example of a positive reinforcement against bullying would be if a student were seen being especially kind to another they receive a prize, like candy, as a reward. The reason this would work is because every time a student was rewarded for their behavior, adding a positive stimulus, so they are more likely to repeat their actions. An example of negative reinforcement would be whenever someone was especially kind to another student they would have their homework decreased. The reason why this would work is because the teacher would be removing a negative stimulus, homework, thus encouraging the student to be kind more often. For these reinforcements to work though, an intermittent reinforcement schedule would be necessary. An intermittent or partial form of reinforcement schedule is when behavior is reinforced some but not all of the time (Feldman, 2013). The behavior of bullying will take consistency to change, but students should learn to be kind without needing rewards every time to behave correctly. Based on research of this technique it is needed to see permanent change of this behavior. For example, Vegas slot machines work on the principle of intermittent reinforcement schedule. Every time a reward is earned people continue to play the slots in hope of