Children with disabilities and bullying

Children with disabilities and bullying

Introduction

The term bullying has in the recent time been a point of focus for many scholars. There is an accrued increase in bullying, especially on young children. By definition, bullying is the accrued use of force or threat on an individual in the attempt of abusing, intimidate or dominate others in an aggressive manner (Flynt, & Morton, 2004). Bullying is not a onetime act but rather is often a repeated behavior and it can sometime become habitual.  The central driving force of bullying is the physical or social imbalance between the bully and the victim, and it is this notion that distinguishes bullying from a conflict.  Bullying can be projected or inflicted in various manners including physical assaults, threat, harassment, or even coercion. Sometime, bullying can be minimal to detect based on its physical vividness, and it is sometimes not easily detected until it advanced stages where it eventually develops into a bullying culture. In the contemporary society, bullying has greatly evolved, and it has taken different forms including the cyber bullying which involves the use of social media and another internet platform to bully individuals. Notably, bullying can develop in any context in which human interact with other. One such situation is the bullying of children with disabilities and special needs of their families, society, and other caregivers.  For a long time, children with disabilities and special needs have fallen victim of bullying, but little attention has been paid to this trend due to the inability and limitation of this children to express themselves to the relevant people for help. Most of this kind of this kind of bullying is guided by the general perception that children with disabilities and special needs are a burden to their caregivers and this results in the development of aggression towards them (Flynt, & Morton, 2004).  The central objective of this paper is to explore various aspects, facts, and the notion that revolve around bulling regarding children with disabilities.

Background information and facts about the bullying of children with disabilities

Though there is a small amount of research literature that is available in reference to the issue of bullying of children with disabilities and special needs, there has been an incredible increase in a number of scholars who are interested in this research gap. From the available research, it is evident that children with disabilities and special needs are at high risk of been bullied by their peers and caregivers. This bullying is even more escalated in children with learning disabilities, and it mainly happens through teasing which is a kind of bullying that is relatively difficult to detect. Similarly, children with ADHD are also likely to be more bullied by their peers, but this can also take the opposite direction where the ADHD children bully the other peers. For children with a medical and physical condition that affect their appearance, victimization is the most common type of bullying where they are called names which are related to their conditions (Van Cleave & Davis, 2006). Notably, there has been a recent rise in the number of children who are obese, and this has come with its share of bullying on children with special needs. Researchers have found that obesity might also place children at risk of bullying through teasing and intimidation relative to normal-weight peers. For children with hemiplegia, intimidation might be limited. However, the children might suffer from a lack of friends and accrued victimization. Extensive research also indicates that children with stutter are also likely to be intimidated and teased based on the stammering problem.

How bullying affects children with disabilities and special needs

Notably, bullying can have a detrimental effect on children with disabilities and special needs based on the fact that they have far limited abilities to stand for themselves compared to normal children.  The first effect of bullying on children with disabilities and special needs is low self-esteem. A combination of both disabilities and bullying means that a child will an even lower esteem compared to a normal child who is bullied. They become more depressed, lonely and anxious and their abilities and talents might not be realized. Bullying of children with disabilities and special needs makes them focus more on their inabilities and forget their abilities. Another adverse effect is the notion of suicide. Research indicates that bullying of children with disabilities and special needs has elevated their suicidal thoughts and they have a high likelihood of committing suicide. Another effect of bullying is absence from school (Mishna, 2003). Evidently, most of the children with disabilities and special needs bullying are done by their peers in schools, and this makes them lack interest in education, and they eventually dislike school.

The legal concept of children with disabilities and special needs bullying

A question that many people ask is can bullying of children with disabilities and special needs be illegal. The answer to this question is yes. Bullying behavior can become intense such that they cross the line and become disability harassment as defined by the section 504 of the American with disabilities act which was pinned in 1990. By definition, disabilities harassment is the accrued abuse or intimidation of people based on their disability a factor that interferes with their environment and cognitive abilities. The bullying behavior can take different forms including physical threats, verbal harassment and threat-based written statements. The US department of education is very critical on issues pertaining harassment of children with disabilities and special needs. The department insists that incase a harassment incidence on children with disabilities and special needs are detected in schools the staff must investigate the incident promptly and respond appropriately. It is worth noting that bullying in school does not happen in class only but also can happen in the playground, hallways, cafeteria among other areas. In this regard, teachers and other school staffs should check on all the areas to avoid a case of children with disabilities and special needs

Remedies for children with disabilities and special needs and disability harassment

Dealing with the problem of bullying of children with disabilities and special needs is not an issue of the caregivers and the teachers alone but is a concern of the whole society. For the caregivers being supportive and encouraging a child with disabilities is one of the most basic remedies to this problem. It is good to inform the child is not his or her fought and avoid encouraging retaliation as this will only escalate the situation. In some cases, children with disabilities have limited abilities to note that they are being bullied. As a result, teachers and caregiver should be very categorical and specific in asking children question that is related to the bullying and disability harassment. In case of severe cases of bullying, the matter should be put in writing and taken to the relevant authorities. For instance, if it is school setting, the teacher should try to fix the problem, but when unable he or she should put the concern in writing and forward to the principle.

Another approach is creating a supportive climate especially in schools where children with disabilities and special needs bullying are relatively high. Schools should work to create a system that is guided towards the prevention of bullying including a support system for the bullied children.  Persistence is also important where the caregivers and the teachers take note of the charging condition of children with disabilities and special needs and take note of any changes that might be related to bullying. As stated, it is sometimes difficult to detect cases of bullying in children with disabilities thus a keen eye should be extended to the condition of the children.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there is a notable gap in the level of research that has been conducted on the issue of bullying and children with disabilities and special needs.  Many researchers tend to take a general stand on this issue without noting its importance in ensuring children with disabilities are taken good care of in the society. In this regard, there is the need to extend this research in in order to remedy the problem and ensure complete incorporation of children with disabilities in the society. However, the available research and laws have given recognition to this notion and have provided possible remedies to the problem.  It is the responsibilities of the whole society at large to ensure that the welfare of children with disabilities and special needs is regarded more critically.

References

Flynt, S. W., & Morton, R. C. (2004). Bullying and children with disabilities. Journal of   Instructional Psychology, 31(4), 330.

Mishna, F. (2003). Learning disabilities and bullying: Double jeopardy. Journal of learning           disabilities, 36(4), 336-347.

Twyman, K. A., Saylor, C. F., Saia, D., Macias, M. M., Taylor, L. A., & Spratt, E. (2010).            Bullying and ostracism experiences in children with special health care needs. Journal of             Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 31(1), 1-8.

Van Cleave, J., & Davis, M. M. (2006). Bullying and peer victimization among children with        special health care needs. Pediatrics, 118(4), e1212-e1219.