P/CP: (Counterpoint) Anti-bullying measures disputed
Anti-bullying programs apply focus to the wrong problem
March 5, 2014
Although 49 of the 50 states passed anti-bullying legislation, these laws fail to address the real problem. If anti-bullying programs are to succeed, they need to go deeper into the root of the problem: the bullies themselves.
A 2013 study by the Journal of Criminology shows programs designed to prevent bullying actually increase the amount of bullying in the school. This shows that these programs are not as effective as they could be.
According to Marc Brackett, director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, the only real way to truly end bullying for good is to teach kids how to understand their emotions and the emotions of others around them, something the current anti-bullying programs do not do.
Additionally Brackett concluded many bullies go through some kind of internal struggle themselves, and feel the need to gain power over something they can control when they lose hold of their other emotions.
Programs such as the Olweus bullying prevention program, which is designed to change the nature of the school to discourage bullying, are also extremely expensive, costing up to $125 per student, totalling $6 billion nationwide. This money could be better used funding social and emotional learning programs, which are essentially classes to teach students how to deal with their emotions. According to Brackett, these programs are effective anti-bullying methods, yet are still not ubiquitous.
Simply telling people not involved in the bullying to be aware and help prevent it is not effective. School programs need to go to the source of the problem and correct it there, or bullying will continue.