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BEIJING, July 23 (Xinhuanet) -- With cases of school bullying on the rise recently, we focus on the phenomenon of female bullies in China. It is a misconception that boys are the most dominant types of bullies. In fact, girls can be just as violent as boys when it comes to school bullying. Here, we invite Chu Zhaohui, a researcher who works in Chinese Academy of Educational Sciences, to talk about the rising number of bullying cases female adolescents are involved in.
1. Why have female school bullies been ignored until now?
The stereotype of school bullying has long been focused on boys harassing other boys, while girls have also perpetrated violence but have been largely ignored. In fact, female school bullying has been happening for decades and likely even before that.
It has been overlooked because girls always tend to practice some covert, subtle and quiet actions that are difficult for outsiders to detect and investigate, like verbal attacks targeting the victim, spreading rumors or generating lies about the victim and excluding the victim while forming cliques.
These behaviors are just less noticeable than two boys physically fighting so it makes it harder for teachers or parents to reprimand girls for bullying.
On the other hand, victims (usually peers) also don't tell their parents or trusted relatives about being bullied. Research tells us that victims often feel that reporting a bully won't do any good, fearing that the bully would retaliate and make her life worse. She would rather try to bear the misery alone than risk escalating the problem.
Additionally, victims are concerned that no one would trust them and afraid that people would assume they were not telling the truth. As a result, these bullying behaviors occur repeatedly to one victim, constituting much more serious, vicious, recurring bullying.
2.Which kind of factors lead to the female school bullying?
Adolescence
The majority of female bullying happens in the middle school years, most likely when girls are going through social changes and beginning to change friends to form their own group, they become involved in certain activities and exclude peers who are not involved in the same ones.
Family
Parents are a child's first teachers, as we all know children and teens tend to model the behavior of their parents or other authority figures. Kids often witness bullying behavior at home or become the victims of bullying, so they are more likely to exhibit bullying behaviors themselves. When children receive physical punishment at home, they are affected subtly and tend to develop negative self-concepts and self-expectations, and may therefore attack others before they are attacked—bullying others gives them a sense of power and importance.
School
Bullying also increases in an environment where students are more likely to receive negative feedback and attention. Some local schools do little to prevent bullying or have no anti-bullying policy at all, which increases the rate of school bullying. Moreover, Chinese middle schools universally lack effective moral education to teach students to respect and trust others and accept those who are different from themselves, which also leads to repeated school bullying.
Personality
Girls sometimes have low self-esteem, they already feel bad about themselves, and often lack control in their daily life. Thus, bullying can become the go-to response to help them feel more “in control”.
Girls are sometimes overly critical of others, disliking another girl's appearance or actions and not wanting to accept those who are different from them, which tends to result in violent behaviors.
3.In your opinion, what measures could we take to prevent female school bullying?
First of all, girls should build up the sense of equality, whether the social status is high nor not, everyone should treat each other equally. Don't feel superior or inferior.
Secondly, don't keep silent. The bullying will continue if you let it. Many students are reluctant to tell because they worry about retribution. Classmates need to Speak out and tell bullies to stop it. Bystanders should seek help from adults.
Thirdly, parents should set an example for their children. If you don't want your child to strike a blow, you shouldn't solve problems by force in front of your child yourself. Additionally, you should communicate with your child and teacher in time, be informed about your child's tendencies and prevent bullying. On the other hand, parents should communicate more with their girls, keep an eye on their changing feelings.
Furthermore, schools also need to strengthen school bullying education, for girls, the most promising way is to make them feel more confident and powerful on their own, so they feel less need to denigrate their peers.
They could organize some knowledge-related lecture, anti-bullying campaign, awareness weeks to educate students. At the same time, the school could organize some mass activities aiming to teach love and make students join in and to promote inclusive behavior.
(Source:Chinadaily.com.cn)
