This article, printed originally in the New York Times aims to address the perception of bullying among middle and high school students. Authors Danah Boyd and Alice Marwick work to debunk the differences between "drama" and "bullying" as used in the every day vocabulary of America's student population. "Teenagers say drama when they want to diminish the importance of something", the reporters noted. Bullying, in opposition, is a term that refers to a more aggressive, personal attack on another person. Left behind in the wake of bullying is hurt feelings, victimized children and clueless adults.
Boyd and Marwick present an interesting approach to this topic. They purportedly interviewed students that align with the middle and/or high school age groups and represent their ideas in this piece. What I found absent from this article were direct quotes and explanations from students in these categories. Paraphrasing their verbiage is an ineffective tool in this case because adults theoretically know what bullying is, but we have failed to realize how bad it has become. If children and young adults were allowed to define bullying in their own words, it would probably sound a lot different from what adults would imagine. The reporters do quote the children interview, including a line here or there about their experiences, but hardly enough to gain the ethos of the reader. Undoubtedly, that is a weakness I cannot ignore. To print a piece about how bullying rhetoric is wrong, and leave massive parts of the argument unexplored is to partially equip your readers, creating a gap of mis- or under-informed citizens.
Additionally, in omitting information from kids who have been bullied and those who are classified as bullies decreases the validity of this article. As an adult, I am aware of my own perceptions of bullying in elementary and middle schools, but to read an account of a young person would heighten my awareness and present a new dimension to the anti-bullying campaign.
Additionally, in omitting information from kids who have been bullied and those who are classified as bullies decreases the validity of this article. As an adult, I am aware of my own perceptions of bullying in elementary and middle schools, but to read an account of a young person would heighten my awareness and present a new dimension to the anti-bullying campaign.
I'll have to agree with you Samantha the writer did leave out some important information that would have been useful to the reader. That point aside the author did well with arguing their point. I find that the main point throughout the article is that when teenagers do ask for help, it is often too late or the person they asked for help from simply does not know how to deal with the situation.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the author doesn't use a lot of facts to back up his claim, he does use the audience's emotions. This play on emotions really benefited the author's point of view during the argument. Most people can relate to the topic, even if they have never been a victim they may have witnessed it.
I really liked that this article was bringing this topic out into the open. As a victim of middle school "drama" and a future teacher of middle or high school, this topic really interests me. This is becoming a huge problem in schools today, and youths really do try to make bullying seem insignificant by calling it by a different name.
ReplyDeleteI thought the authors did a good job with using their experience within their research to support their argument that bullying is a big problem and something needs to be done to solve it. I there were a few qualifiers used throughout this article, mainly words like "should" and "must" in order to emphasize their point. I didn't see any rebuttals in this piece, I think this is mainly because the point of the piece is to inform and encourage to stop bullying. I don't think many people would see any other options than what the authors presented.