The Julian Chapter Summary

Another aspect that could cause a child to bully is pure fear of something or someone. In R.J Palacio’s book title “The Julian Chapter” an addition to his already growing book franchise “The Wonder Story” explores the mind of a bully. To fully understand this concept the background story must be explained. Palacio’s books feature a young child by the name of August Pullman and a bully named Julian. Auggie, or August, has a chromosomal deficiency causing his face to be abnormal. In “The Julian Chapter” Palacio explains why Julian is the way he is and it is because he is scared of Auggie. This fear induced bulling isn’t abnormal for younger children because they can’t quite understand the concept that everyone is different and sometimes even …show more content…
Children can’t understand the reason as to why they are bullying another child like the countless studies can; so what would they say? When asked the simple question, “Why do you bully?” kids came back with responses that go hand in hand with Sherri Gordon’s previously mentioned reasons yet these children had never been a part of a study. Their answers included: because it makes them feel smarter, stronger, or better than the person they’re bullying, they are bullied at home, they want to hang out with the ‘in’ crowd, other people are doing it, they are jealous of the other person, or they are trying to prevent themselves from getting bullied. These words were not from a doctor’s mouth or someone who had done years’ worth of studying to find the cause, it was from the bully’s mouth themselves (“Stomp”). James Leman, a MSW (Master of Social Work) and creator of the Total Transformation Program for kids believes that kids continue to bully even though they know why they are doing it and it is wrong is because they are trying to solve their social problems. James Leman states in his article, “The Secret Life of Bullies: Why They Do It—And How to Stop Them,” that it is easier to the bully to bully someone then try to work their problems out, or manage their emotions. This is the so called “easy way out” for these children and it’s unfortunate that they decide to take that route. An astounding discovery that Leman makes in his article is that the crime of bullying begins earlier then even preschool as stated in earlier studies. He states that when kids are young enough to throw temper tantrums is when the ideal of bullying becomes a prominent force in their brain. In his article he uses the example of a young child not getting his way. This child begins to cry, and throw his tantrum for whatever reason resulting in the parents giving in to what he wants. This results in a