THE ISSUE OF RUMOURS
Caption
The issue highlighted here was chosen because it was one of the interesting issues which arose while on my teaching practice. The following is a summary of how the issue of rumour spreading came up as well as how it was dealt with by the Dean to whom the student complained. It highlights effective communication as a source of conflict resolution and also suggests various whole school approaches. The details of the issue are limited because of my limited exposure to the experience however I do think I captured the essence of the problem noticed. This report would have been more scholarly if I were able to conduct a in-debt study into the causes, effects of the issue as well as a study into the effectiveness of the method used to solve the problem.
THE ISSUE
A rumour is a defined as: gossip (usually a mixture of truth and untruth) passed around by word of mouth. During my school visit I witnessed an incident or dear I say confrontational situation between two friends with the issue being that a rumour was being spread about one of the girls. Spreading rumours are a seen as being a form of bullying and is well documented because of the effects which rumours cause. While the situation I observed was not a heated confrontation it is noted that this form of bullying can lead to harmful outcomes. The book “Bullyproof Your Child: An Expert's Advice on Teaching Children to Defend Themselves” eludes to the point that more and more today with the addition of cell phones and computer technologies, this type of bullying is very common (Vitali & Brouillard, 2007). Another book “No Kidding About Bullying” dedicated an entire section to sensitize persons about rumours and their effects with one of their objectives being to get students to “understand the negative effects of spreading rumours” (Drew, 2010). On a wider scope therefore rumour spreading is a form of bullying and is seen as having many negative effects. As such I thought it a good issue to look at for the purpose of this assignment.
BACKGROUND
The issue came to light when one student came to the dean’s office asking the Dean whether she could tell her about something. The Dean willing allowed the student to speak as she seemed rather troubled. She spoke to an incident where a rumour was being spread about her. The rumour being spread was that she had been texting the boyfriend of her best friend and that she was in a relationship with her best friend’s boyfriend. This rumour started to come between her and her friend as she said it was untrue but her best friend believed the rumours. She broke down in tears as she was very much hurt by the effects the rumour was causing.
APPROACHES
The Dean decided that to get to the heart of the issue the best friend needed to be called in too dialogue with her friend. The best friend was indeed called into the office. The initial girl was allowed to speak to her feelings in front of the friend so that her cards would be on the table. The student started to become very emotional and thus I was at that moment asked to leave the room so as to make all parties more comfortable and open. They all went through a mediation process whereby the two girls were allowed to state their feelings and view while the Dean managed the whole process. With the talking out process, various misconceptions were cleared up on account of both students. Students left the room with their friendship intact.
There are a lot of ideas which would have come out of this issue. Various social and personal competencies would have been identified as lacking, needing work and even being evident. I can surely say that the assertiveness of the student who saw the rumour as being a problem to her friendship, showed by her ability to come in and ask for assistance. Her willingness to listen and express her views are commendable. On the part of the student i think that she had a personal drive to overcome the issue. From this issue we can see the importance for proper communication in the decision making process.
We can therefore take various points from this experience. Rumours can lead to further gossip and must be “nipped in the butt” early. When parties involved do not COMMUNICATE properly, the rumours can lead to fallouts. Thankfully this wasn’t the case in this instance. Communication can ensure misconceptions and rumours do not hurt existing relationships. Conflict resolution skills can help regulate or subdue harmful actions which may arise from fallouts and may even prevent any drastic fallout. Further to this a person’s self concept is important in dealing with the issue of rumours spreading. One’s self concept can define the decisions a person takes in terms of their emotional actions and reactions (Lerner, Lerner, & Finkelstein, 2001). (Decision making skills) High self esteem can ensure that rumours and by extension bullying (Rigby, 2002), have little effect on one’s emotional and mental composure. Labelling will not lead to any self fulfilling prophecy if one’s self esteem is high.
In my view the approach taken by the Dean was adequate as she supplied individual attention to the situation and did not shun students concerns. She then went through a careful process whereby the conflict was resolved. The entire process helped students build their communication skills as well as their decision making skills. It must be mentioned that the dean created a comfortable environment for the students by asking me to leave. This would have opened up students to feel at ease and speaking their mind without reserve.
Other measures can also be put in place to aid in the curbing of the problem of this form of bullying. Administration can organise workshops for the whole school on the issue of spreading rumours. A Psychologists or outreach organisations can be brought in to for one such exercise. In addition specific classroom instruction can be done on topics relation to or even matching the topic of issue. The book “No Kidding About Bullying” offered many examples of some such lessons which can be used. Assemblies can also be used to promote certain life skills within students and will help limit the instances of bullying or in some cases the effects of bullying.
While the issue of rumour spreading is one that needs attention there are many routes to take in overcoming it. Whole school approaches, peer mediation, restorative justice approach and peer counselling, as mentioned by (Mishna, 2012)just to name a few.
There are a lot of ideas which would have come out of this issue. Various social and personal competencies would have been identified as lacking, needing work and even being evident. I can surely say that the assertiveness of the student who saw the rumour as being a problem to her friendship, showed by her ability to come in and ask for assistance. Her willingness to listen and express her views are commendable. On the part of the student i think that she had a personal drive to overcome the issue. From this issue we can see the importance for proper communication in the decision making process.
We can therefore take various points from this experience. Rumours can lead to further gossip and must be “nipped in the butt” early. When parties involved do not COMMUNICATE properly, the rumours can lead to fallouts. Thankfully this wasn’t the case in this instance. Communication can ensure misconceptions and rumours do not hurt existing relationships. Conflict resolution skills can help regulate or subdue harmful actions which may arise from fallouts and may even prevent any drastic fallout. Further to this a person’s self concept is important in dealing with the issue of rumours spreading. One’s self concept can define the decisions a person takes in terms of their emotional actions and reactions (Lerner, Lerner, & Finkelstein, 2001). (Decision making skills) High self esteem can ensure that rumours and by extension bullying (Rigby, 2002), have little effect on one’s emotional and mental composure. Labelling will not lead to any self fulfilling prophecy if one’s self esteem is high.
In my view the approach taken by the Dean was adequate as she supplied individual attention to the situation and did not shun students concerns. She then went through a careful process whereby the conflict was resolved. The entire process helped students build their communication skills as well as their decision making skills. It must be mentioned that the dean created a comfortable environment for the students by asking me to leave. This would have opened up students to feel at ease and speaking their mind without reserve.
Other measures can also be put in place to aid in the curbing of the problem of this form of bullying. Administration can organise workshops for the whole school on the issue of spreading rumours. A Psychologists or outreach organisations can be brought in to for one such exercise. In addition specific classroom instruction can be done on topics relation to or even matching the topic of issue. The book “No Kidding About Bullying” offered many examples of some such lessons which can be used. Assemblies can also be used to promote certain life skills within students and will help limit the instances of bullying or in some cases the effects of bullying.
While the issue of rumour spreading is one that needs attention there are many routes to take in overcoming it. Whole school approaches, peer mediation, restorative justice approach and peer counselling, as mentioned by (Mishna, 2012)just to name a few.
FOR THE POWERPOINT VERSION (CONDENSED) DOWNLOAD THE FILE BELOW.
an_issue_of_rumours.pptx | |
File Size: | 419 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
Resources
Drew, N. (2010). No Kidding About Bullying: 125 Ready-to-Use Activities to Help Kids Manage Anger, Resolve Conflicts, Build Empathy, and Get Along. Minneapolis: Free Spirit Publishing.
Lerner, J. V., Lerner, R. M., & Finkelstein, J. (2001). Adolescence in America: A-M. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO.
Mishna, F. (2012). Bullying: A Guide to Research, Intervention, and Prevention. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Rigby, K. (2002). New Perspectives on Bullying. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Vitali, K., & Brouillard, A. (2007). Bullyproof Your Child: An Expert's Advice on Teaching Children to Defend Themselves. New York: Skyhorse Publishing Inc.
Lerner, J. V., Lerner, R. M., & Finkelstein, J. (2001). Adolescence in America: A-M. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO.
Mishna, F. (2012). Bullying: A Guide to Research, Intervention, and Prevention. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Rigby, K. (2002). New Perspectives on Bullying. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Vitali, K., & Brouillard, A. (2007). Bullyproof Your Child: An Expert's Advice on Teaching Children to Defend Themselves. New York: Skyhorse Publishing Inc.
VIDEOS OF INTEREST TO THE TOPIC
|
|