Bullying is indeed a prevalent issue that millions of students deal with every day, and it’s certainly an issue that is misunderstood and thus often mishandled. I agree that our best hope of preventing school violence stems from understanding the bully-victim dynamics. I agree that bullying has to be viewed as a relationship issue that begins from birth due to various prenatal stressors, subsequent frustration of parenting difficult children, and that is characterized by certain signs and symptoms as children get older. Ultimately, we have to be aware of these signs and properly intervene in order to reroute the behavior. Furthermore, I concur that bullies are often victims themselves due to punitive disciplinary measures from their parents or guardians, which often comes as a result of frustration. I believe that these children definitely embody different types of victimization, for example, they can be aggressive (defiant and hot-tempered) or passive victims. As mentioned in the video, humans need to feel a sense of belonging, and oftentimes bullies and their victims are excluded by their peers either because they’re too aggressive and “frightening” or too passive and “boring.” Thus, I agree that zero-tolerance policies and other punitive measures for dealing with bullies often don’t work, specifically because it’s the exact treatment that caused the bullying in the first place. Essentially, this type of approach inevitably makes …show more content…
For example, the video is reminiscent of concepts that I’ve read about regarding the prevalence of bullying in schools, and the devastating impact that it can have on students’ academic achievement and their mental and physical health. This is true not only for those who are bullied, but for those who bully, and those who witness it. The video is also reminiscent of Glasser 's choice theory. Glasser asserts that peoples ' behavior is contingent on their tendency to satisfy their basic needs, which are safety or survival, love and belonging, power, fun, and freedom. Essentially, students choose to bully in order to fulfill an essential need. He believes that behavior is indeed a choice and not the result of exterior circumstances. Thus, when we utilize extrinsic control such as zero-tolerance policies and punitive measures to discipline students who bully, it often fails in the long run because their behavior is ultimately being controlled by outside means. Not only do students lack control of their own behavior when external methods are utilized, but the core issues fail to be adequately addressed. The goal is to essentially help students to intrinsically meet their needs while respecting the rights and needs of