BULLYING:
A MAJOR SOCIAL PROBLEM IN
OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS
MS. CASON
SOCIAL STUDIES
THE
PS125
Bullies are angry kids who tease, threaten and torment
other children.
Bulling has become an out of control problem in
schools across the
nation. Situations that begin with one student
“teasing” another has
often accelerated into violent irreversible consequences.
Suicide and
murder of the very young seems a daily occurrence. We
have youth
filling our jails instead of being in school. Families
are destroyed. Even
worse, young students, who are the victims of bullying
are denied their
legal right to a productive education. They are
scarred for life with
feelings of fear and anxiety.
All of you have experienced bullying somewhere in your
life. Imagine being afraid to leave your house or go to school because a bully
awaits you.
This must be changed. We live in a democratic society
in which all of us have legal rights under the Bill of Rights. Our freedom of
speech and association are being deprived by bullies who illegally impose their
will on the weak and defenseless. The PRINCIPAL of your school has set up a
committee of student advisers to help him solve this problem. Your class has
been chosen to find policy solutions that he can implement in the
You will have an opportunity to investigate and solve
this social problem that plagues all of us. You have an opportunity to create
public policy for your principal that can end the suffering friends and fellow
pupils. Good luck. Let’s hope you make a difference.
1: Your class has been assigned by the Principal in
accordance with the SAVE Director, to investigate the problem of bullying in
our school.
Your Principal is looking for a model to be adopted
2: Your task will be to prepare a WRITTEN REPORT of a
minimum of TWO PAGES. You report will have extra pages of pictures, graphs and
charts to prove your points.
3: All reports will by typed using MS Word. You may
use illustrations from the Internet resources listed below.
4: You will use the SIX-STEP PUBLIC POLICY ANALYST to analyze the social problem and create new public
polices for your school and for the Harlem elementary schools. This process is
the system by which social scientists evaluate problems such as bullying. The
“PPA” will be explained in the process section of this web quest.
Your class will be divided into groups of five
Each group
will use the six step Public Policy format (previously taught) to complete the
3 page paper.
ALL steps of
the Public Policy Analyst MUST be included in the paper.
Each group
will access the links to the PPA below, read about each PPA step then complete
all the information requested on the PPA worksheets by using the Internet
resources listed in the “resource” section of the web quest
The group will then use these worksheets
as resource material to complete the “task” research paper.
You may use the six PPA steps as the
paper outline
v Go
to the PPA and complete the worksheets:
1. Identify and define the problem of
bullying in elementary school in
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet1.html
2. Gather evidence for this problem and
complete worksheets.
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet2.html
3. Identify the causes and effects bullying
in elementary school in
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet3.html.
4. Create
three of your own public policies that will address the social problem of
bullying in elementary school in
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet4.html
and http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/solutions.html
6.
Finally, evaluate the effectiveness
of your public policy solutions and select the best solution to solve the
problem of bullying in elementary school in
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet6.html
After you have
completed the six steps you will prepare your final 2-3 page report.
Specific web sites for bullying
http://www.cfchildren.org/program_str.shtml
http://www.kidpower.org/Worshops-Services/KidPower.html
http://www.giraffe.org/k12.html
http://www.colorado.edu/cspv/blueprints/model/programs/BPP.html
GENERAL SEARCH ENGINES
WWW.ASK.COM
Grading Rubric
|
GRADE: |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
|
Oral Presentation |
No knowledge of the uses of PPA. Presents no data to support the
proposed policy. |
Little knowledge of the uses of PPA. Presents several sources of data in a
logical format to support the proposed policy. |
Acceptable amount of knowledge Of the
uses of PPA. Presents several sources of data in a logical and
organized format to support the proposed policy. |
Superior knowledge of the uses of PPA. Presents an exceptional amount of data
to support the proposed policy. |
|
Research |
Links are not relevant to support the
proposed policy. |
Enough links but few support the
proposed policy. |
Many links that support the proposed
policy. |
All links support the proposed policy. |
|
Report & Worksheets |
Incomplete Does not use the conventions of
standard written English. |
Weak usage of the conventions of
Standard Written English. |
Acceptable usage of the conventions of
Standard Written English |
Superior use of the conventions of
Standard Written English |
By
completing this web quest you should have learned the dangers and seriousness
of bullying. The social problem that results from bulling destroys lives of
friends, families and fellow students. You should have gained a deep
appreciation for the public policy analyst. You became one! These social
scientists searches out social problems and finds public policy solutions that
help us all. In this web quest you should have found policy solutions that your
principal and elementary schools in
:
Social Studies
Standard 4: Economics
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of how the United States and other societies develop economic systems and associated institutions to allocate scarce resources, how major decision-making units function in the United States and other national economies, and how an economy solves the scarcity problem through market and nonmarket mechanisms.
Standard 5: Civics, Citizenship, and Government
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to
demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments;
the governmental system of the
English Language Arts
Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding
Students will listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding. As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.
Standard 2: Language for Literary Response and Expression
Students will read and listen to oral, written, and electronically produced texts and performances from American and world literature; relate texts and performances to their own lives; and develop an understanding of the diverse social, historical, and cultural dimensions the texts and performances represent. As speakers and writers, students will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language for self-expression and artistic creation.
Standard 3: Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation
Students will listen, speak, read, and write for critical analysis and evaluation. As listeners and readers, students will analyze experiences, ideas, information, and issues presented by others using a variety of established criteria. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to present, from a variety of perspectives, their opinions and judgments on experiences, ideas, information and issues.
Standard 4: Language for Social Interaction
Students will listen, speak, read, and write for social interaction. Students will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language for effective social communication with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the social communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views.