Peer pressure as defined in the book is to conform of the
norms of the group a person wants to be apart of (Swan, 2005). Peer groups have
the same if not more influence on adolescents identity as their parents do. In
the article by Dorothy L. Espelage, it states that by giving into peer pressure,
is a form of acceptance and can help the adolescence gain popularity, which is
becoming more and more important in schools today.
Research done by Craig
and Pepler, (1997) showed that people in a peer group influence others in the
same peer group to bully other students.
Bullying is defined as, “repeated negative events, which over time are
directed at special individuals and which are carried out by one or several
other people who are stronger than the victim” (Aluede, 2008, p. 152). The
statistics on bullying is truly sad. In the textbook, it shows that only one
out of nine students reports bullying others and that nearly 33% of middle
school and high school students report being bullied. Going back to the Espelage
article, researchers believe that the transition of children going from middle
school to high school can cause stress, which can result in bullying behaviors.
Who do bullies decide which other student to bully?
Homosexuals get bullied because they do not perform the same
masculinity as heterosexual men do. Heteronormativity
describes how social institutions and policies reinforce the presumption that
people are heterosexual and that gender and sex are natural binaries (Kitzinger,
2005). Heteronormativity is a central component of peer pressure. In middle
school and high school, boys and girls find that by having a
boyfriend/girlfriend of the opposite sex is a continuation of efforts to
declare one’s heteronormativity (p.223). Nearly 85% of LGBT youth felt unsafe
at school because of their sexual orientation and over 40% of LGBT youth were
physically harassed.
Both boys and girls can be either victims of bullying or the
bully. Researchers found that female harassment is less physical than male
harassment. Harassment in the dictionary is defined as the act of systematic and/or continued unwanted and annoying actions of
one party or a group, including threats and demands. Not only do middle school
and high school kid experience harassment but also people in college as well.
In 2006, the American Association of University Women held a survey to examine
how many women have experienced sexual harassment at a college level. The
results showed that 62% of all college students reported being harassed
verbally or sexually. Females are likely to be the target of sexual jokes,
comments or gestures, where men are more likely to be called gay or homophobic
names. Students who are either gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender are more
likely to experience harassment than heterosexuals.
The phrase “the
feminization of higher education” has been in the popular press for years. It
expresses how more women are seeking college degrees than men. Where one study
shows that more women are going to school and earning degrees in every
racial/ethnic group, another study shows that women are still only making 82.2%
of what men earn according to The Institute for Women’s Policy Research (2012).
Career choices are still heavily influenced on gender roles and expectations. Gender/sex
also plays an important role in higher educations in two other places: the
professoriate and sexual violence. In 2011-2012, women made up 45.5% of the
facility at bachelor’s institutions, 46.1% at master’s institutions, and 38.1%
at the doctoral institutions (AAUP, 2012). Women are to be judged by actual
accomplishments, and men are more likely to be judged on their promise (Wilson,
2004). Michael Messner (2004) points out that being a professor continues to be
gendered masculine. If a male teacher acts masculine, he becomes a better
teacher. If a women teacher acts feminine, they are hard to be recognized as a
good teacher.
For education to be
a truly equalitarian institution, people must embrace emancipatory education:
education practices that seek to challenge accepted categories, unexamined
norms, and represented practices. Bias in education needs to be eliminated.
Bias can limit a students ambitions and accomplishments, affecting them
throughout life. The bias tied to gender/sex, educator Timothy Frawley (2005) notes
“polarized approaches to education fail to recognize a middle ground for
children who are not strongly gender-type masculine or feminine. The aim should
be to not only stop labeling children as such, but to also accept and encourage
androgynous behavior for both” (p. 222). Most changes in education curriculum
have embraced the gender-specific model that targets one sex. A gender-relevant
model includes both girls and boys, as it attempts to make the gendered
dimensions of social life and education a part of the discussion.
Another approach to
gender-sensitive and gender-relevant education focuses on teaching styles. Teaching
methods, themselves contribute to liberatory or oppressive educational
experiences. The alternative is connected teaching (hooks, 1994), which suggest
that learning is more accessible when topics are concretely related to others’
individual life experiences rather than taught in abstract ways, isolated from
context. Education professor David Sadker (2002) argues schools should cherish
individual differences because “gender stereotypes shortchange all of us” (p.
238). Each person must demand an education.
Based on the
readings, here are some questions for you all:
1.
Children
who get bullied are do not tell an adult because it is considered a normal part
of school. How are some ways adults can approach children about being bullied
and peer pressure?
2.
The book states that there are many reasons for
not reporting sexual violence. Which of the reasons do you believe is the number
one reason why sexual violence is not reported?
3.
Between the gender-sensitive model,
gender-relevant model and connected teaching, which do you think is the most
beneficial to students?
Bullying is problem which seems to grow exponentially as time passes. Indeed, I can remember being bullied (quite often) myself during elementary and middle school. I think one of the largest factors is, as underlined by Espelage (2002), the transition into middle school unravels long-established social ties and re-braids them into a larger, more complex social dynamic. Again, I can remember how once all of the elementary schools homogenized in 7th grade, many of the newly-formed cliques began to prey upon certain others. The question of how to stop it is somewhat difficult to answer. Perhaps institutional interventions such as “bullying-awareness” classes might help, however similar interventions on things such as drug abuse have been documented to achieve not only negative, but opposite effects as well. I believe the greatest weapon against bullying is for educators to cultivate camaraderie and breed a culture of tolerance on a pan-institutional level, maintained throughout the entirety of a child’s development.
ReplyDeleteMuch like bullying, sexual violence is also often cast to the shadows. While choosing the number one reason for sexual crimes going unreported is quite difficult, I believe one of the most prevalent reasons listed by Sampson (2011, as cited in DeFrancisco and Palczewski, 2014) is that the victim did not know it was a crime. That is to say, while a victim undoubtedly feels a wide spectrum of negative emotions regarding the incident, they may also feel partially at-fault themselves, which ties into self-blame for being inebriated or self-blame for being alone with the assailant. Thus, a victim may not feel they have legal recourse against an assailant given their own actions, and consequently remain silent. Also, if the assailant was an acquaintance (as purportedly is often the case), the issue of whether or not a victim wishes to, essentially, ruin their life over the incident becomes a factor. I can imagine that some victims wrestle with that decision despite the clear wrong-doing.
Between the gender-specific model, and gender-relevant model, the gender-relevant model is obviously the more progressive. Instead of disciplining gender independently as in the case of the gender-specific model, it forwards notion that genders are interrelated. However, this idea is also problematic as, though it might promote a more adequate gender relationship, it still upholds the binary ideas of gender/sex. A transgender or genderqueer individual might still feel out of sync given their identification outside the aforementioned binary. I really liked hooks’ idea of connected learning, where the subject matter is personally tailored to the individual in such a way that accounts for their own experiences, and thus the complexities of their gender/sex. While such a teaching style would be difficult enact in our common educational structure, I still believe it to be theoretically superior.
1. When it comes to a parent addressing bullying and peer pressure to their child, I feel that it should be discussed in the home maybe before that child starts school in kindergarten or whenever they are able to comprehend the idea of bullying. The parent can explain to their child that any type of bullying is wrong and unacceptable. They can tell them not to bully anyone and to treat others the way they want to be treated with respect. They can also tell their child that it is okay to tell the truth and it is okay to “snitch”. I know some children and people feel that if they tell when someone is doing something wrong they are tattle tells or snitches and don't want to say anything because of what other people will say or out of fear that something worse might happen. I think that if we eliminate this idea of snitching, then people can be more comfortable about speaking up when something is wrong. Also, parents can teach their children to be individuals and that it is okay to not always be apart of the temporary popular crowd. Kids don't have to be like everyone else. They can be who they are and start their own trend.
ReplyDelete2. I think that the number one reason why sexual violence is not reported is because of fear of reprisal from assailant. I think that the victim might be afraid that if the attacker isn’t caught or apprehended properly then they can come back and attack them again in the same way or another.
3. I think that the connected teaching model would be most beneficial to students.
1. Children who get bullied frequently avoid telling adults because bullying becomes normalized in the school environment. Some ways that adults can foster an atmosphere where children who are being bullied feel comfortable seeking help from an adult are: fostering an environment of care, making it clear to the students that bullying is not acceptable, periodically checking in with students, pay attention to interactions and intervene if necessary.
ReplyDelete2. The book lists a variety of reasons for not reporting sexual violence. While I would never want to universalize motivations for not reporting on behalf of all people who experience sexual violence, I do think that there are a couple of reasons that more commonly contribute to lack of reporting. The first one I would like to highlight is embarrassment, or shame. I feel like many individuals (at one point myself), have a difficult time understanding why a person who experiences sexual violence would feel embarrassed. However, there is not only the internal shame (the how did I let this happen) that people might experience, but also; societal factors that may cause embarrassment. By societal factors I am referring specifically to rhetorical tools that are used to foster a rape culture. In addition to embarrassment, I think another reason that many individuals are skeptical of reporting sexual violence is because of the reporting, and prosecuting process. During the investigation and trial the person who reported the sexual violence will be forced to reveal deeply personal information, and a traumatic event will essentially be judged by a group of 12 people.
3. I agree most with gender connected teaching as articulated by bell hooks. I believe firmly that abstraction in educational settings serves only to mask violence, but also to hinder education. Gender connected teaching emphasizes learning in non-abstract ways, with firm connections between teacher and students. This type of environment is meant to foster more connected education, as well as more “hands on” education”. The work done by people following the thinking of Maria Montessori confirm that children learn much better in a more connected environment.
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ReplyDelete1. adults can approach children is to start off with a simple question such as how was your day. Instead of going directly into the discussion of bullying, an adult can inquire about the child's day and based off of what the child says then they can ask follow up questions. Children may not now who to go to so its important that adults be empathic and support the child so the child will feel comfortable enough to share their experiences. Adults should put themselves in the child's shoes to understand that at young ages children can sometimes be lost so its important for adults to understand that.
ReplyDelete2. I believe the number one reason why sexual violence isn't reported because the victim knows the attacker and doesn't want to ruin that persons life or get them in trouble. If a victim knows their attacker and that attacker is their family member or close friend, they may feel obligated to keep the attack secret in fear that they will get in trouble.
3. I think the most beneficial model for students is the connected teaching model. I believe teaching based on gender is not effective because there are people who don't fit within that binary. The connected teaching model takes into account the differences of everyone. I believe that teaching in a way that relates to the individual is very important. This way of teaching would not exclude anyone which is important because in some schools some individuals do feel excluded and don't know that this is a problem.
The concept of bullying is or can be even broader than the discussion here contemplates. With my experience of it middle school, I find it is interesting to contemplate. The political forces are at play and or the financial status subculture manipulates the actions of children exercising their parental influences or their individual selfish creative need to be powerful over others from whatever subjective influence; maybe for the purpose, a lot of the times, for a group; clan, system or what have you. I have witnessed middle school bullying in bath rooms mostly. Not sure of the context behind it but, definitely was power-related or exercised. There’s not a lot that can be done without some revengeful consequences. Because of the political pressure even in this middle school culture, is a big reason why one would not take the needed action to stop or report such abuse. Of course there are different scenarios, but, I would suggest and now I realize I should have done this with my own children, to make sure they get educated to and understand the political, financial and social/gender/sexual culture of why this happens or may happen. This all that can be done and they will have to decide how to face/and or deal with the context of it.
ReplyDeleteAgain, one the biggest reasons for not dealing with this context that is in a way suitable for justice, is because of political ramifications. People just want negative things to go away or bury them. It’s easier, without drawing a lot of attention with the hope that it will just disappear. Or, there can be the social aspect of just being adaptable to fit in. If things are comfortable socially; like if it’s a friend or colleague, relative or what have you, one does not want to spoil the status-quoi.
I think the gender-revalent model is a good model for teachers in education to practice. However, I do have some reservation about how this is applied. Even though I agree with Timothy Frawley’s notes on the negative effects of polarized approaches in education, and that a middle ground should be made for the awareness and acceptance of gender differences; programs should be implemented to help in this understanding, but I feel he goes too far with the suggestion of encouraging androgynous “behavior.” The “behavior” encouragement suggestion is too far the other way. I don’t think encouraging transgender “behavior “in children is good idea.
ReplyDelete1. A way that adults can approach children about being bullied and peer pressure is by creating an atmosphere for the child that is of pure love, comfort, and acceptance; making the child feel that they can talk to the parent/adult about anything without feeling like they will be judged, yelled at, misunderstand, or even rejected. An adult could always let the child understand that they can come to them with anything. Also adults can repeatedly let it be known to the child that bullying behavior is not something that is acceptable.
2. Embarrassment probably. Some people might suffer from a mentality that they "let" someone else violate them in that way and feel shame from that. While a victim should never feel like it was their fault for being hurt in a sexual way, or any way, it is possible that they can. I have never personally been sexual assaulted or suffered from experiencing sexual violence but I think that if I ever had been, I would feel embarrassed to tell my parents simply because I do not share things of a sexual nature with my parents and I might feel embarrassed to talk about being sexually touched with my mom or dad. However, reporting this behavior is the right thing to do, but I can understand how it could be difficult for some people to reach out about such sexual violent acts.
3. I think the connected teaching model would be the most beneficial, because it recognizes the differences and diversity of all people, and relates what is being taught to the individual. Because it takes into consideration the differences of all people, it is not constricting a teaching to anyone one type of person, and therefore doesn't leave anyone out.