Chapter 6: The Social Context of Schools By: Dan Bizier

The Issue: The Issue that I looked at was kids who picked on other kids based on their socio-economic status (SES). I will discuss 4 main questions: How will I address the issue, who are the victims, how do we help the victims, and how do we prevent the bullying

Why does it happen? Is Social Class Important? Some people argue that the SES status of students has a far greater impact than anything else. There is a conflicting argument about this though, that SES does not matter because in the United States people have the ability to move up in their SES class (Hall et al p.231).

The Victim and the Harasser The victim, in most cases, of harassment based on SES are the kids that are lower in the spectrum, the kids that are living in poverty. The harassers are, more than likely, going to be the richer kids that are higher up on the SES spectrum.

What would I do? If I were to see a student being picked on due to their SES I would first separate the two children. I would tell the harasser that it is unacceptable to pick on somebody based on their SES, and that not everyone is able to make a lot of money and is as fortunate as they are. I would let the victim know that the amount of money that they have does not matter and it does not reflect the type of person that they are. If the behavior continues I would be forced to give the harasser detention, or even send them to the office for further discipline, so that they know that the behavior is unacceptable.

How Would I Prevent Harassment? To prevent harassment I would make sure that the kids knew the punishments of harassing someone. I would also make sure that they knew what constituted as harassment, so that there would be no gray area. If the students know what constitutes harassment then that may be an effective tool to prevent harassment.

In Closing Harassment is a serious issue that needs to be dealt with. A student being harassed will have lower self esteem and a worse outlook on life. School is a place where a child should feel safe and respected, therefore harassment should not be taking place.