CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter reviews some literatures on various aspect verbal and

cyber bullying and how does these affect the academic performance of

high school students.

IMPACT OF BULLYING ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

According to Cynthia (2014) analyzed the impact of bullying to

student’s academic performance. 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 learn and concentrate

which cause negatively on their academic success. According to Juvonen,

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

achievement in both direct and indirect ways. So bullied students by his

fellow classmates or students may become worried and afraid do

something because of being teased, therefore he/she may stop

participating in class or may he/she has trouble in concentrating on class

work because of fear.

The word bully was first used in the 1530s meaning sweetheart, applied to

either sex, from the Dutch boellover, brother, probably diminutive of

Middle High German buole brother, of uncertain origin (compare with the

German buhlelover).The meaning deteriorated through the 17th century

through fine fellow, blusterer, to harasser of the weak. This may have

been as a connecting sense between lover and ruffian as in protector of a

prostitute, which was one sense of bully (though not specifically attested

until 1706). The verb to bully is first attested in 1710(Zwerdling, 1987

)High-level forms of violence such as assault and murder usually receive

most media attention, but lower-level forms of violence such as bullying

have only in recent years started to be addressed by researchers, parents

and guardians, and authority figures( Whitted, K.S. &Dupper, D.R. 2005).

It is only in recent years that bullying has been recognized and recorded

as a separate and distinct offence, but there have been well documented

cases that have been recorded over the centuries. The Fifth Volume of the

New gate Calendar(Complete New gate Calendar Tarlton Law Library)

contains at least one example where Eton Scholars George Alexander

Wood and Alexander Wellesley Leith were charged, at Ayles bury

Assizes, with killing and slaying the Hon. F. Ashley Cooper on February

28, 1825 in an incident which might today be described as "lethal

The New gate calendar contains several other examples that, while not as

distinct, could be considered indicative of situations of bullying. Virginia

Woolf considered fascism to be a form of bullying, and wrote of Hitler and

the Nazis in 1934 as "these brutal bullies.(Zwerdling, 1987).

Bullying behavior can have negative consequences for both the

bully and the victim. Studies have shown that boys identified as bullies in

middle school were four times as likely as their peers to have more than

one criminal conviction by age twenty-four. Children who bully are more

likely to engage in other criminal and anti-social behaviors, such as:

Fighting, Vandalism, Truancy, Dropping out of school. Stealing Smoking

and Alcohol/and or drug abuse. Effects on the victim the stress from being

bullied can create problems for children at school. Students may be fearful

of attending school, riding the bus, using the bathroom or being alone in

the hallway. This fear and anxiety can make it difficult for the child to focus

and engage in the classroom, making learning that much more difficult.

Bullying can cause children to experience fear, depression, loneliness,

anxiety, low self-esteem, physical illness, and in some cases, even

suicidal thoughts. The Kids Manual to Overcoming Bullying and Gain Self

Confidence E-Book-This e-book is among the best and easily applicable

strategies that exist in the world today! Not only is it written for children, in
their unique language, you as the parent can learn along with them and

guide them with the techniques to conquer bullies! There are many

theories on what causes violent and/or anti-social behavior in children.

Increased exposure to violence through mass media, video games, and

the internet. Suffering as victims of abuse or neglect themselves, or a

generally more permissive society with a corresponding lack of discipline.

While certainly each of these theories has merit, there is no single cause

of bullying behavior in children. There are however certain generalized

characteristics displayed by children who engage in such behavior.

Children who are impulsive, socially dominant, confrontational, or easily

frustrated may tend towards bullying behaviors. Other characteristics of

children who bully may include a lack of empathy, a propensity to question

authority and push limits or break rules, idealization of violence, and the

ability to talk their way out of difficult situations. It is commonly believed

that children who bully are loners or are socially isolated. Research,

however, shows this is not the case. Children who bully generally do not

have a difficult timemaking friends and generally maintain at least a small

group of friends who support their bullying behavior.Some bullies

mayeven be popular; although the popularity of a bully tends todecrease

at higher-grade levels.Also, contrary to popularbelief, research shows that

children who bully do not lack self-esteem.While boys are more likely to be
bullies than girls, bothboys and girls may bully and both may become

victims.Boy bulliesare much more likely to engage in physical bullying.

Bullyingbetween girls is more likely to involve social exclusion, whichis

harder to discover, but no less painful for the victim.Bullying generally

takes place between children in the samegrade level, although many

times older students may bullyyounger students.Environmental risk factors

for bullying may come from the child’s home/family life, peers, or school.

Local Literature

Bullying is the activity of repeated, aggressive behavior intended to hurt

another person, physically or mentally. Bullying is characterized by an

individual behaving in a certain way to gainpowerover another person

Norwegian researcher Dan Olweus defines bullying as when a personis

“exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one

or more other persons." He defines negative action as "when a person

intentionally inflicts injury or discomfort upon another person, through

physical contact, through words or in other ways”. Bullying behavior may

include name calling,verbalor written abuse, exclusion from activities,

exclusion from socialsituations,physical abuse, orcoercion. Bullies may

behavethis way to be perceived as popular or tough or to getattention.

They may bully out ofjealousyor be acting outbecause they themselves

thatbullying can be classified into two categories:

1 Direct bullying, and

2 Indirect bullying (which is also known as social aggression).

Ross states that direct bullying involves a great deal ofphysicalaggression,

such as shoving and poking, throwingthings, slapping, choking, punching

and kicking, beating,stabbing, pulling hair, scratching,biting, scraping,

andpinching.

He also suggests that social aggression or indirect bullying

ischaracterized by attempting tosocially isolate the victim. This isolation is

achieved through a wide variety of techniques,including spreading gossip,

refusing to socialize with the victim, bullying other people who wish to

socialize with the victim, andcriticizingthe victim's manner of dress and

othersocially-significant markers (including the victim's race,religion,

disability, sex, or sexual preference, etc.). Ross outlines an array of

nonviolent behavior which can be considered 'indirect bullying,' at least in

some instances, such as namecalling, thesilent treatment,arguing others

rumors,staring, giggling, laughing at the victim, saying certain wordsthat

trigger a reaction from a past event, and mocking. The UKbased children's

charity,Act Against Bullying, was set up in2003 to help children who were

victims of this type of bullyingby researching and publishing copingskills. It

has been noted that there tend to be differences in how bullying manifests

itself between the sexes. Males tend to be more likely to be physically

aggressive whereas females tend tofavorexclusionand mockery, though it

has been noticed thatfemales are becoming more physical in their

bullying.Therecan be a tendency in both sexes to opt for exclusion and

mockery rather than physical aggression when the victim is perceived tobe

too strong to attack without risk, or the use of violencewould otherwise

cause problems for the bullies, or the bullies see physical aggression as

immature (particularly when bullying occurs among adults).

Bullying and Harassment at Schools

Bullying and harassment are not new issues that students and schools

face. In fact, over the years, it has been viewed as being so commonplace

in schools that it has been overlooked as a threat to students and 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. Therefore, this harassment is not isolated to

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 through a school system. It is here

that school staff can intervene, support and educate students about

ending bullying behaviors directly and indirectly; breaking the bullying-

cycle. High school is the last opportunity educators have to work with

students at building citizenship, building character, and building self-

responsibility. For some students this may be the last opportunity for an

intervention to change behaviors and attitudes associated with bullying or

victimization before they become adults in the workplace, with a family

and in the community at large.

Reacting to School Violence versus Bullying

In the 1970s Dan Olweus began extensive research on the causes and

effects of bullying in Scandinavian schools and has since been a leading

voice on this topic. But it is only in the last ten to fifteen years that

researchers in North America have been actively studying the causes that

lead to bullying, the long and short term effects it has on students, and
how schools and communities can effectively reduce incidents from

occurring as well as intervening and supporting students when it does.

This research is a result of the increase of school violence and the media

coverage it has received. On one hand, the sensationalism of school

violence has very much been needed to wake up generations of

educators, parents, and students to say ‘the behaviors leading to this

violence are not okay in my school, they are a problem and we need to

find a way to fix it’. However, on the other hand, reacting out of fear for the

worst is not the best approach either, because it gives a message of fear

to staff and students that school violence will be the end result if these

behaviors are not taken care of. While this violence is a real threat that

schools have been facing and educators do need to be aware of it,

prepared for it, and actively working towards ending it; the fear of school

violence should not be the sole reason that schools need to watch more

closely for bullying behaviors. For years students have been experiencing

power struggles, embarrassment, fear, isolation, guilt, loss of self-esteem,

loss of friends; issues that follow a person into their adult years if they are

not intervened. This alone should be enough of a concern to educators,

parents and students to want to work towards finding better solutions to

bullying and harassment issues in school, not the fear of it escalating to

school violence.
Bullies

Ross (2002, p.108-114) summarizes characteristics of bullies, home

environments that breed bullying behaviors and possible outcomes for

bullies who do not receive interventions for their behavior. She has

echoed Olweus’ work explaining that within the category of bully there are

primarily two distinct groups; aggressive bullies and anxious bullies. The

characteristics of aggressive bullies tend to be that they are stronger than

average, active, and impulsive. They use threatening behaviors or

postures, can be easily provoked, and have an underlying positive attitude

to violence. They may experience their world through paranoid thoughts

and feelings, are skillful in avoiding blame, and feel no empathy for their

victims or remorse for their actions; often perceiving their actions as less

severe than how the victim perceives them (p. 108). A major difference

between aggressive and anxious bullies is their self-esteem. While

aggressive bullies typically have popularity among their friends and a

higher level of self-esteem, anxious bullies lack confidence, have low self-

esteem, and have few friends. They often display uncontrolled emotions

such as temper outbursts. Because of their low self-esteem and

eagerness for friends, they are often loyal followers of the aggressive

bullies. Anxious bullies will often join in to a bullying incident that an

aggressive bully has started and take the blame for it to prove allegiance
(p. 113-114). There is a third group of bullies that is defined more as a

subgroup of the aggressive bullies, or the hard core of a bullying sphere.

Their characteristicsoverlap those of the aggressive bullies, but the key

difference is that they are cold and manipulative. They are highly skilled

experts in social situations, using subtle, indirect methods of interactions

with others organizing groups of followers who will do their dirty work

leaving them blameless. This group may display extreme anti-social

behaviors and do not fear negative consequences making any type of

intervention or counseling very difficult and ineffective (p. 110-111). Social

learning theory explains the development of bullying behaviours and

attitudes in the family. Children that witness aggressive behaviours in the

home and experience inconsistent feelings of safety and love have a likely

chance of becoming bullies once they enter school. Ross summarizes

findings that depict mothers lacking in warmth and caring for the child and

fathers that are the authoritative power in the home (p. 111). The parental

style of discipline is inconsistent and the child learns to never know what

to expect. Due to this, in moments of uncertainty the child will expect the

worst and act accordingly. The parents have unusually high tolerance for

child’s aggressive behaviors toward other children and may encourage

physical aggression for conflict resolution with other children. If the child is

punished for something, the parents will use power-assertive disciplinary

grow up in, helps to understand how the victim-bully cycle takes place.

Recognizing that these children who have been labeled bullies are most

likely victims of bullying as well is an important factor for more effective

interventions for their behaviors. Ross summarizes a study that was done

in Finland explaining that during their adolescent years bullies are just as

likely to be at risk for depression and suicide as victims and when

depression is controlled it is bullies who have a higher suicide ideation,

concluding they are more like victims than previously believed (p. 110).

If the bullying behaviors are not intervened then some of these children

could continue into a life of violence and potentially crime. Ross shows in

a longitudinal study by Eron&Huessman, that children who bullied at age 8

had a 1:4 chance of having a criminal record by age 30. Children who did

not bully at age 8 had a 1:20 chance of having a criminal record. Those

with criminal records were convicted of crimes ranging petty theft to

serious crimes such as murder. The study also showed that they did not

achieve as well academically (many having dropped out of high school) or

professionally. It also showed that they were socially below the non-bully

group and more abusive to spouses and children. Perpetuating the victim-

bully cycle, this study showed that their children were labeled as bullies as

well (p.109).
Definition of Terms

Bullying -is a situation which is characterized by intentional verbal or

physical abuse, made repetitively by students against to their fellow

students or more peers.

Cyber Bullying- is any bullying done through the use of technology. This

form of bullying can easily go undetected because of lack of

parental/authoritative supervision.

Verbal Bullying- This is any bullying that is conducted by speaking. Calling

names, spreading rumors, threatening somebody, and making fun of

others are all forms of verbal bullying. Verbal bullying is one of the most

common types of bullying. In verbal bullying the main weapon the bully

uses is their voice. In many cases, verbal bullying is the province of girls.

Girls are more subtle (and can be more devastating), in general, than

boys. Girls use verbal bullying, as well as social exclusion techniques, to

dominate and control other individuals and show their superiority and

power. However, there are also many boys with subtlety enough to use

verbal techniques for domination, and who are practiced in using

wordswhen they want to avoid the trouble that can come with physically

bullying someone else.