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CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

Related Literature

Cythia (2014) analyzed bullying impact on student’s performance either in short or long

term. She found that there are differences in relationship between bullying level and academic

performance depending on student´s academic achievement. Nadine (2014) investigated bullying

impact on student’s ability to academically succeed. Nadine found that bullied students have feel

of fear from coming to school because they feel that they are unsafe; therefore, they are unable to

concentrate which reelect negatively on their academic success.

Mundbjerg et al. (2014) analyzed the relationship between bullying in elementary school

in Denmark. They found that bullied students have lower academic achievement in 9th grade and

bullying impacts are larger if it is more severe. Placidius (2013) found that physical bullying was

perceived as a dominant bullying element. Boys prefer to be bullies more than girls. Poor

academic performance was as impact of bullying. Mehta et al. (2013) found that when students

feel that bullying is a phenomenon in their school, they feel that they are unsafe which reflected

on less engaged in school community.

Therefore, they have less motivation to do well at school and they do not participate in

school activities. Bullying affects student’s academic achievement in various ways.

Ammermueller (2012) found that being bullied has a significantly negative impact on present

and future students’ performance in school.

Brank et al. (2012) indicated that bullying victims are weak, shy, and anxious. They

added that victims’ performance is poor in school and seek to avoid attending school classes for

the purpose of avoiding victimization. Victimization experiencing can lead to poor academic

performance and leading to absenteeism. Skapinakis et al. (2011) found that victims were more

likely to report suicidal thoughts than were bullies.

Juvonen, et al. (2011) said that bullying experiences affect victims’ academic

achievement in both direct and indirect ways. So bullied student by his peers may become

worried and afraid of being teased, therefore he may stop participating in class or may has e

trouble in concentrating on class work because of fear. They added that students who are often

subject to be bullied by their peers during school period have less engagement at school and poor

grades.

Konishi et al. (2010) confirmed that interpersonal relationships within school

environmentinfluence academic achievement. Roman and Murillo (2011) found that aggression

in schools has a negative effect on academic achievement in Latin America. They affirmed that

students who have been physically or verbally abused perform less.

Marcela and Javier (2011) found that bullying is a serious problem throughout Latin

America they indicated that; students who suffer from their peer’s aggression have lower

performance in reading and math than those who do not; and students who are in classrooms

with more physical or verbal violence perform are worse than those in less violent classroom

settings. Konishi et al. (2010) found that school bullying affects negatively academic

achievement.
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Chaux et al. (2009) argued that ten to fifteen percent of adolescents worldwide are bullied

two or more times a month. Skrzypiec (2008) found that third of students who had been seriously

bullied reported having serious difficulties in concentrating and paying attention in class because

of bullying and the fear associated with. Glew et al. (2005) reported that bullying prevents

concentration and subsequent academic achievement since bullying victims lose interest in

learning and experience a drop in academic grades because their attention is distracted from

learning. Mishna (2003) indicated that bullying is “a form of aggression in which there is an

imbalance of power between the bully and the victim that occurs largely in the context of the

peer group”.

Bullying and harassment are not new issues that students and schools face. In fact, over

the years, it has been viewed as being so common place in schools that it has been overlooked as

a threat to students reduced to a belief that bullying is a developmental stage that most youth will

experience then get over (Ross, 2002, p.107). But not everyone gets over the personal trauma

that can come with bullying both for the victim and the bully. This is why it is seen happening by

adults in work places in homes, and in the community. This harassment is not isolated in schools

alone. But schools are the best place to actively intervene.

Teachers, administrators, counselors, and even students have the greatest access to the

most students though a school system. It is here that school staff can intervene, support and

educate students about ending bullying behavior directly and indirectly, breaking the bullying-

cycle. The paper will address bullying in general at all grade levels, but it's invention focus will

be at the high school. Harris and Hathorn, (2006, p.50).

According also to Harris and Hathorn, "Because adolescence is a difficult time in child’s

maturation, bullying exacerbates these difficult times by forming barriers to positive connection
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with other students and school faculty member. Consequently, the presence of bullying at school

often creates a barrier for young people to develop into well-adjusted adults. High school is the

last opportunity educators have to work with students at building character for some students this

may be the last opportunity for an intervention to change behavior, before they become adults in

the workplace with a family in the community at large.

Bullying does not need to be a reality that students face. As more schools adopt whole

school prevention programs and actively work with students, staff, and parents in effectively

addressing the issues of bullying and harassment in each individual school, students will develop

(Literature Review of School Bullying)

Effects on the victim- Kids who are bullied can experience negative, physical and mental

health issues. Kids who are bullied are more likely to experience. Bullying in the Philippines is

widespread in schools and over the Internet, with a study that states that about 50 per cent of

Pilipino students are bullied in school. Bullying can easily affect both the bully and the victim,

and that’s why the government in the Philippines is working hard to crack down on it. The latest

measures include the signing the anti-bullying act of 2013, which criminalizes any act of

bullying or cyber bullying that happens in the country. Read on to learn about bullying in The

Philippines.
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Related Studies

Peers are involved in 85% of bullying episodes, either as observers or by joining in the

aggression (Craig & Pepler, 1995). The bystanders – students who are aware of bullying – can

have a powerful effect on bullying, positive or negative. However, bullying also directly affects

the bystanders: Observing bullying at school predicted risks to mental health (Rivers, et al.,

2009).

Students who repeatedly bully are more likely to get into frequent fights or be hurt in a

fight, carry a weapon, vandalize property, drink alcohol or smoke, and be expelled or suspended

from school All forms of bullying are significantly associated with increases in suicidal ideation,

both for the victim AND the offender. However, bullying and cyberbullying victimization was a

stronger predictor of suicidal thoughts and behaviors than was bullying and cyberbullying

offending. Bullying victims were 1.7 times more likely and offenders were 2.1 times more likely

to have attempted suicide. It should be acknowledged that among teenagers who committed

suicide after experiencing bullying or cyberbullying many had other emotional and social

stressors in their lives that may have been exacerbated by bullying. (Hinduja & Patchin, 2010).

Children who are the target of bullying or who are bully-victims are at a significantly

higher risk for a variety of psychosomatic problems (Gini & Pozzoli, 2009). Research shows that

targets of bullying are more likely to be depressed, feel lonely, be anxious, feel unwell, have low
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self esteem, avoid social situations, self-medicate (substance use), have lower school

performance, and think about suicide (www.stopbullying.gov; Hostile Hallways: Bullying,

Teasing, and Sexual Harassment in School, AAUW, 2001).

High school students who bullied or were perpetrators and victims of bullying were at the

greatest risk of being involved in violence, engage in multiple types of substance use, and have

academic problems. The link between bullying and other risk behaviors was particularly noted

among urban and African American students (Bradshaw, Waasdorp, Goldweber & Johnson,

2012 60% of students who bullied were convicted of a crime by age 24 and 35% had 3 or more

convictions by age 24 (Fox et al., 2003).

Youth who report being bullies and victims are at the greatest risk for social

maladjustment and for physical and emotional dating violence victimization (Espelage & Holt,

2007). Youth exhibiting bullying behaviors are also more likely to sexually harass same- and

opposite-sex peers and be physically aggressive with their dating partners (Pepler et al., 2006;

Williams, Conolly, Pepler, Craig, & Laporte, 2008; Brendgen, Vitaro, Tremblay, & Wanner,

2002).

Among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students 85% report being bullied

or harassed because of their sexual or gender identity. In part because of this, the suicide rate for

LGBT students is 3 - 4 times higher than that of the general student population. (Biegel & Kuehl,

2010). Witnessing family violence is one of the risk factors for experiencing or perpetrating

bullying. 97% of children exposed to family violence reported that they were bullies and victims

in different situations (Lozano et al., Pediatrics, Fall 2006).

For any bullying prevention program to be successful it is necessary for each school to

have a clear and easily understood philosophy that promotes a safe and positive environment.

This philosophy should start during the early childhood years and continue throughout high

school. Three values which promote a positive climate and develop a basis for a bullying

prevention program include the belief that all children can learn, people should be treated with

respect 21 and dignity, and there is no place for violence in the school. (Orpinas & Home, 2006.

p. 85) Bullying is associated with several behaviors that pose risk to the adolescents' physical and

psychological health.

Even though both boys and girls engage in bullying behaviors, their method of bullying is

usually quite different. For example, boys use more physical violence, whereas girls are usually

more verbally abusive and engage in group exclusion. These are two different types of bullying

behavior either direct or indirect. Direct bullying can be either verbal or physical in nature.

Verbal bullying includes such behaviors as taunting, teasing, name calling, and spreading

rumors. Physical bullying encompasses behaviors, such as hitting, kicking, pushing, choking,

and destruction ofproperty or theft. Indirect bullying is often more subtle and can include

behaviors such as threats, obscene gestures, excluding others from a group, and manipulation of

friendships.

Another form of bullying is sexual harassment. The intent of sexual harassment is to

humiliate, embarrass, or demean another individual based on their gender or sexual orientation.

(Olsen, 2006) Bullying consist of both indirect and direct behavior. Direct behaviors, which are

more commonly seen in boys, consist of calling names, teasing, taunting, threatening, hitting,

using a weapon, and stealing by one or more individuals against a victim. While bullying

behavior of boys is usually more direct in nature, girls tend to use more subtle tactics, which can
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be more indirect in nature. In-direct behaviors include spreading rumors, exclusion or isolation

from peers, and or manipulating relationships and or friendships. In fact, bullying victims are

also isolated by other non-bullying peers, because these peers do not want to be associated with a

victim of bullying due to the threat of becoming a victim themselves.

This ultimately isolates bully victims even more. This type of complete isolation is not

only painful, but becomes problematical for anyone in coping in a hostile environment with

virtually no support or even a friend to help relieve some of the pressure and anguish that a bully

victim faces on a daily basis. Other children who witness bullying, the bystander, may also feel

guilt that they cannot help the victim, because they either don't know how or perhaps, they feel

threatened themselves. Being an adolescent has never been easy, particularly in today's

desensitized society where violence is prevalent. Adolescence, especially those who are victims

of bullying, have a hard time coping and functioning in such a stressful and aggressive

environment with little or no support from their peers.

Another form of indirect bullying is called cyber bullying. Cyber bullying is done

electronically through the internet via emails and on-line chat rooms. Students can now enter the

personal space of their victims that violates them and their rights inside their own homes through

their computers. Not only is their school environment a hostile and threatening place, but this

hostility and these threats can reach them in the safety of their home. Students who are victims of

cyber bullying are subject to threatening emails or have hostile and abusive messages posted

about them in online chat rooms.

Common characteristics of bullies include lack of empathy or concern for others. Bullies

also tend to demonstrate a strong need to dominate and subdue their peers. They are usually hot
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tempered and become enraged easily. Bullies usually tend to pick victims who are weaker and

use intimidation such as threats or compromise one's reputation. Bullies are usually physically

aggressive and they tend to be defiant, oppositional, and aggressive towards adults and authority

figures.

There are three potential reasons for the etiology of bullying. (Olweus, 1993) The first

theory suggests that these aggressive behaviors exist within a child's home. Some believe that

these children learn intimidation tactics from their parents or guardians. These types of behavior

are commonplace within their homes and therefore familiar. Bullies learn these negative

interaction styles from their parents and caregivers at home. Therefore, bullying behaviors are

essentially modeled at home. The second theory states that these behaviors are reinforced either

directly or indirectly by providing the bully with some form of reward or privilege when

involved in a bullying behavior.

Perhaps the bully feels empowered by the sense of controlling and hurting other people.

The bully is rewarded through his misguided sense of control over others. Finally, the third

theory believes that bullies have misinterpreted perception of other's behaviors and their

intentions. For example, if an individual accidentally knocks over a bully's book, the bully may

perceive that action as intentional and retaliate by becoming verbally or physically abusive.