During
the late 1800’s the use and invention of machine started to grow rapidly. With
the use of these new machines, productivity and effectiveness of both workers
and materials skyrocketed. Everything seemed to be rainbows and cereals until
the workers started revolting and forming unions that wanted the capitalists or
owners of the companies to answer for the inhumane treatment towards their
workers.
Laborers worked non-stop, from day and night they worked their bodies
to death. The salary of the workers were nowhere near as that of the company
owner; it was only enough to get them through the day sometimes even barely. When
accidents occur in the factories, the owners usually provide assistance to the
deceased person’s family but the owners does not provide preventive measures in
order to help his workers. In harsher cases the owners do not provide any
assistance at all and an excuse will be made up in order to cover for the accident.
All of these problems brought about the creation of different laws to protect
laborers and owners from further danger. The Labor code is one example of these laws it specifically aimed to solve the
problems of the workers thus the 8:8:8 rule or ratio, 8 hours of sleep 8 hours
of work 8 hours of play. Following to our current era this kind of problem
seems to have subsided and solved to some extent. There are now various laws in
different countries that protect both the owners and the workers. Though this
form of abuse (read: slavery) way back 1800s reached a lesser form and went
through the walls of classrooms and that is called bullying. Bullying is
rampant in today’s era but through counseling, intervention of adults and
teaching the kids when to fight back, bullying can be lessened.
As
stated earlier bullying could be considered a lesser version of slavery and
slavery back in the day happened almost everywhere. Today it could either
happen in the very homes of the child or where the child is supposed to learn
things about the world, the school. At home one possible cause for such problem
is that bullying within the family is very extensive. For example, the kid is
always doing the chores of his big brother or sister, thus there is no time
left for the kid to enjoy himself. Another possible scenario is that the kid
always sees his elders (parents, grandparents, siblings etc.) fighting, thus
there is this thought embedded in the child that things could be solved through
violence. The result of this is that either the child becomes a bully in his
respective school or be traumatized. Going beyond the four corners of the kids’
homes, the school would be the next place of interest. The school is another
fitting place for bullying since kids encounter a lot of different cultures and
beliefs. Once disagreements appear bullying would be the usual path “it” would
go to. The “other path” is that the opposing parties would enter arguments and
settle their disagreements and have a compromise that does not involve any
violence. The second path is rarely taken since enforcing violence and
instilling fear to an opposing individual is easier especially if that person
is “weak” and foreign to the land. For example, if the kid is considered as an
outcast, those who have very few friends and is usually alone, the bullies
would pick on him since he is an easy target. No one would back him up and the
bullied would least likely fight back if ever he fights back the bullies can
still fend him off. Another example would be when a transfer student is present
in a classroom; he would be another easy target for bullying since he has no
idea of the culture there. Sometimes those who do not or rarely bull others
develop a tendency to bully others since they see others do it.
Bullying
also develops from the encouragement of others. According to NEA (n.d.) a big
potion on why bullying happens is that bystanders gather around someone being
bullied and encourage both parties to fight. Just by that action of the bystanders
both parties will be enraged by anger thus it leads to violence. If the bully
“wins” the fight intensified by the bystanders then the bully gets exactly what
he wants and that is to instill fear to the bullied person. Though if the
opposite happens, which is least likely, there is a possibility that the bully
will stop bothering the bullied kid and the bad deeds he is doing.
Contrary
to the aforementioned scenario if someone is being bullied but then is
completely ignored by everyone, then the bully once again gets what he wants or
completes his objective in bullying. According to NEA (n.d.) the simple
ignorance or indifference of others towards bullying will make the bully achieve
his goal and make him “stronger” in the process. Aside from that, there is also
a high possibility that the bully will make more “friends” since he may interpret
this, the ignorance of others, as affirmation of what he, the bully, is doing.
With
all of these problems about bullying there are possible remedies, one of which
is to deal with both sides individually. This would significantly help both
parties as it avoids biases that would be present when the situation is dealt
on the spot with high tension present. Aside from that when both parties are
given the chance to explain when their respective enemies are not present, be
it the bully or the bullied, he will be able to explain the situation more
calmly, clearly and objectively. If intervention of third parties are ineffective
then the help of family members of both parties, the bully and bullied, is very
much welcome. With the presence of the parents and relatives this could either
go two ways; the problem will be solved or it will make bigger and more
complicated problems that the children should not be involved but are involved
otherwise since the families are now concerned. Lastly one of the best ways to
lessen bullying is teaching the child when to speak up and fight back. Now
there is no need for physical violence since everything could be solved, in
most cases, with just the power of words. If that happens then the problem of
bullying is solved momentarily.
References
Prevent Bullying. (n.d.). - Bullying Statistics.
from http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/prevent-bullying.html
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