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Searra Conley
Ms. Caruso
UWRT- 1102-001
21 June 2016
Bullying involves aggressive acts exerted by one or more students toward another student
who is unable to stop the aggressive advances, according to Preparing Teachers to Manage
School Bullying: The Hidden Curriculum." These acts have occurred for over a hundred years,
but why is it still occurring? A problem I see constantly is that kids, students, are being bullied
and the pattern has not stopped. For my inquiry product, I created a meme of Kermit the frog to
reiterate that most people do not recognize bullying or intend to stop it or prevent it. Kermit the
frog is best known as a character on the Muppets show, but this picture is from a Lipton Tea
commercial, that has been used in several other memes as a way of saying someone notices or
knows of specific information, but does not want to comment or react to itto say someone has
the tea, the new information or opinion and chooses to keep it to themselves. This meme will
be viewed on multiple social media platforms allowing it to be seen by several people including,
students and teachers.
Bullying comes in many forms and types such as: name calling, making or writing
degrading comments about a person, deliberately excluding individuals from activities, not
talking to a person, making a person do things he or she does not want to do, taunting or teasing
(Beran). These forms are executed by kids with different rolesSpecific roles children play in
bullying are: kids who bully, kids who are bullied, kids who assist, kids who reinforce, outsiders
and kids who defend (The Roles Kids Play). In asome 2002 studies, between nine and thirty-

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five percent of students reported being bullied in some way (Beran). According to Tanya Berans
research, six to seventeen percent of children confessed of bullying others. These acts occur on
average, every seven and a half minutes on school grounds and only eleven percent of students
are known to intervene to stop the bullying (Beran).
Outside of school Another form of bullying is cyberbullying occurs. What is
Cyberbullying, defines itcyberbulling as bullying [by your peers] that takes place using
electronic technology [which] includes: cell phones, computers & tablets as communication
tools. These tools includeing social media sites, text messages, chat and social media websites.
Some examples of cyberbulling would be rumors posted on a social networking site or posting
embarrassing pictures and videos postedof someone (What is Cyberbullying?). Cyberbullying
is most likely occur on social media websites. Social Media is a convenient source of
communication between teenagers and their friends and some people see nothing wrong with
teens using it (Stein). Social media can also have a negative effect on people. Dr. Charles Sophy,
a Los Angeles psychiatrist says, "...[people] who have become obsessed with Social Media,
using it as a tool to guide their self-esteem and self-worth... [but these are] false measures, and
when reality sets in, anxiety, depression and other psychiatric issues begin to emerge (Stein).
My Kermit the frog meme would be a great source of bullying exposure for obsessed social
media users. Not only would it spread awareness to this specific group, but also prevent them
from thinking about their insecurities.
Kids who are bullied can experience negative: physical, school, and mental health issues
(Effects of Bulling). Kids who are bullied are more likely to experience: depression and
anxiety, increased feelings of sadness and loneliness, changes in sleep and eating patterns, and
loss of interest in activities they used to enjoy (Effects of Bullying). Kids who bully others are

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more likely to: get into fights, vandalize property, and drop out of school, according to the
Effects of Bullying article. Kids who witness bulling are more likely to have increased mental
health problems like depression and anxiety, thus the multiple negative side effects.y. Some
believe students already have mental health issues and bullying just happeneds to occur after
becoming depressed. In Is Social Media Dependence A Mental Health Issue article, Dr.
Bernard Lukin discusses a case of how someone with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (O.C.D.)
happened to commit suicide because of his obsession with selfies. Danny had O.C.D. The
vehicle [the obsession] just happened to be Social Media, if it wasn't that one, it would have been
another one. Its a case where O.C.D. got out of control, says Lukin. Even though this case
confirms the idea that mental health issues can cause depression, people are still avoiding the fact
that bullying played a factor. Dr. Sophy explained that social media was a tool to guide peoples
self- esteems. This is for example is by posting selfies and focusing on how many likes or
comments you can receive, thus the O.C.D. case. These selfies that Danny posted could have
received negative attention from his peers which was the cause of cyberbullying. Although
nothing is confirmed of these theories, it is something to consider when dealing with mental
disorders and bullying.
Bullying can vary depending on different groups or factors. Boys tend to engage in direct
bullying like hitting and pushing; while girls are likely to exert indirect forms of bullying like
gossiping and excluding people (Beran). Some bullies target specific groups. "Depending on the
environment, some groupssuch as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered (LGBT) youth,
youth with disabilities, and socially isolated youthmay be at an increased risk of being bullied"
(Risk Factors). In a 2008 survey, LGBT students reported about 85% of the students were
targets of name-calling and 60% reported being assaulted (Swearer et. al).

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BReasons forullys bullys actions can be explained through dynamic systems theory.;
This is when someones each persons behaviors is influence and isare a reaction to other
peoples behaviors (Beran). Accordingly, victims submissive responses positively reinforce the
bullys behaviors, thereby maintaining and exacerbating the bullying. In addition, peers passive
responses positively reinforce the bullys behaviors by providing attention and seeming approval
for the aggressive behaviors, according to Beran. Other reasons Sstudents are most likely to
bully are if: some are well-connected to their peers, have social power, are overly concerned
about their popularity, and like to dominate or be in charge of others (Risk Factors). Also they
are likely to bully if they are: more isolated from their peers, and may be depressed or anxious,
have low self-esteem, less involved in school, easily pressured by peers, or not identified with
the emotions or feelings of others (Risk Factors). My Kermit the frog meme would allow the
depressed bullys to see how alone they really are because no one will acknowledge their
behavior and with any luck stop bullying. On a pessimistic note bullies who are driven with
anger and aggression my see my meme and continue bullying because they know no one will
intervene. The very least I expect to get out my meme, is to raise awareness even to the bullies
themselves.
Since teachers are often not aware that bullying isthis occurring, students quickly
discover who dominates the playground, it can be referred to as the hidden curriculum (Beran).
Considering its pervasiveness, bullying presents a considerable challenge to teachers when
supervising at recess time (Beran). Teachers intervention ratee isn four percent of bullying
episodes (Beran). Teachers do not approach a bullying situation because the incident may be
overlooked and interpreted as play- fighting due to the fact that thee aggression of bullying and
play-fighting are very similar (Beran). Also teachers are not able to identify who the bully is

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because the aggression the victim may retaliate withturn because he or she was bullied, so and
the teacher does not intervene. Or the teacher may lack the skills to intervene and choose not to
may not interfere at all (Beran). Teachers have also been known to bully students, 39.2% of
LGBT students have heard homophobic remarks like faggot from adults at school, which only
adds to the bullying problem (Swearer et. al). With the help of my Kermit the frog meme,
teachers who bully, will be aware of their behavior and come to the realization that there job is to
prevent bullying not create it. To help prevent bullying, school- based anti-bullying efforts
involving universal programs administered to the entire school population is advised, with the
goal of increasing awareness about bullying and decreasing bullying behaviors among students
(Swearer et. al). The most promising results were reported for whole-school anti-bullying efforts,
including those to establish schoolwide rules and consequences for bullying, teacher training,
conflict resolution strategies, and classroom curricula and individual training (Swearer et. al).
I have discussed bullying, its side effects and the roles people play in these predicaments.
My intentions for this paper was to produce awareness of bullying in the hopes of preventing it. I
believe that bullying can cause physical and mental abuse that is not beneficial to people.
Through the exposure of my Kermit the frog meme on social media websites and apps such as:
Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, and Pinterest, I hope to enlighten educators, parents, and
students oflet people know how unnoticed bullying has come to be and persuade them students
and teachers to prevent any further actions.

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Original Works Cited

Fisher, Nathan. Teen Self- Esteem Issues. StudioD. OurEverydayLife.com, n.d. Web. 31 May
2016.
Risk Factors. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Stopbullying.gov, n.d. Web. 31
May 2016.
Stein, Emma. "Is Social Media Dependence A Mental Health Issue?." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 7 May 2014. Web. 31 May 2016.
Shaw Brown, Genevieve. Victorias Secret Perfect Body Campaign Draws Social Media
Outrage. ABC News. ABCNews.com, 29 Oct. 2014. Web. 31 May 2016.
Van Pelt, Jennifer. Is Facebook Depression For Real?. Social Work Today.
Socialworktoday.com. n.d. Web. 31 May 2016.
What is Cyberbulling. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Stopbullying.gov, n.d.
Web. 31 May 2016.

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New Works Cited

The Roles Kids Play. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Stopbullying.gov, n.d.
Web. 17 June 2016.
Beran, Tanya N. "Preparing Teachers to Manage School Bullying: The Hidden Curriculum." The
Journal of Educational Thought (JET) / Revue De La Pense ducative 40.2 (2006): 11928. Web.
Swearer, Susan M., Espelage Dorothy L., Vaillancourt Tracy, and Hymel Shelley. "What Can Be
Done About School Bullying? Linking Research to Educational Practice." Educational
Researcher 39.1 (2010): 38-47. Web.
Effects. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Stopbullying.gov, n.d. Web. 17 June
2016.