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NAME: BROOKE JORDAN

SCHOOL: SIGNAL HILL COMPREHENSIVE
TEACHER: MRS JOHN-BAPTISTE
SUBJECT: COMMUNICATION STUDIES IA
CLASS: 6B

Introduction
All over the globe children are being bullied whether it be physically, emotionally or via internet
which is also known as cyber bullying. Bullying by definition is the form of aggressive behavior
in which someone intentionally and repeatedly causes another person injury or discomfort. This
harmful act can however lead to depression, anxiety, suicide and even death.
As a lower sixth student and an aspiring sociologist I believe it is my duty to research the theme
The Effect of Bullying on Teenagers since this is the study of social behavior
many sociologist come in contact with victims of bullying. This topic was chosen after I realized
there was a drastic increase in the number of bullying incidents around children my age over the
past few years, one incident being the death of a close friend of mine. . She committed suicide
after being bullied for 3 years. The purpose of this research is to investigate and analyze each of
the effects of bullying and find possible solutions which can be used in order to curb this
situation. The target group of this portfolio is teens aging from 13-18.
In my reflective piece, I creatively expressed myself on my theme where I chose to do this
through a short story and a poem highlighted in the story. In the expository section the issues and
changes revolving around this theme would be resented for 10 minutes and the validity of the
sources used will be evaluated.

Reflective Piece

In front of the mirror I stood in my bathroom looking at myself. I could see the scars from
cutting myself frequently which I hid with long sleeve jerseys and some from getting beaten
from my bully, Alex. With no one aware of my situation I stood there with a gun that I found in
my fathers closet, ready to end my life. This is how it started
It was the first day of high school, laying in my bed I could hear my brother tom shouting,
Momz mi cyar wait to see mi fren dem. Everyone was excited except me, I hated school. In
preschool and middle school I was always considered to be the weird-looking one in my class.
Being tall as a lamp and weighing twice the size of the children my age, it was always a hard
task for me to make friends. So I always tend to sit in the back of the class writing in the diary
that I got from my aunt for Christmas. Oh how I loved literature. Such an introvert I was.
As slow as a turtle I crawled out of my bed, dressed for school and headed downstairs for
something to eat. Mawing Anna said my mother, yuh nah go school. I quickly non-chalantly
nodded my head and continued eating. As soon as I finished eating, I picked up my back pack
and with shrugged shoulders I slowly walked out the door and headed for school. On entering the
gates of the school there was so many unfamiliar faces that I encountered as I looked for my
classroom. There it was room 403. As fear engulfed my body I gingerly opened the classroom
door and quickly headed towards the back of the back of the class.
As I sat the in the back, I noticed I was the fattest girl in the class. While everyone was already
making friends, I sat in my desk, took out my diary and began writing. Fully engrossed in my
writing, I hadnt noticed that my teacher was already in the class and it was a rule that everyone
had to stand up on her arrival. Geh up nah up fatty! retorted Alex Miss, Anna is sitting . As I
slowing lifted my head and stood up, there was my teacher standing with a smirk on her face and
hands on her hip. My first day was already ruined and from that day on I was constantly bullied
from Alex both physically and verbally. Words like fatty and cruise ship were few of many
names that Alex called me.
Every day when I got home from school I always tend to stay in my room, crying rivers of tears
because of the physical pain caused by the blunt punches from Alex. No one knew that I was
bullied except the pages of my diary. I always began...

Fat, ugly, worthless, these are the words I hear,

Did you know that you are my biggest fear?
Day by day you torment me,
It takes so long for my heart to heal.
All I ask for is one true friend,
But you make me want my life to end.

Every day I wake up with regret,

All I want to do is forget.
Its not just hitting and punching its the words u say,
They hurt so much I want them to fade away.
But one more thing before u go,
Did you enjoy my little show?
Remember words hurt more than the punch
Believe me now? Cause this was just a hunch.

But it was one incident that made me really want to give up. One day after school as I walking
through the halls Alex approached me. Where are you going fatty? he pontificated. why yuh
en leave me alone, I answered. With his muscular hands he started punching me in head so hard
that I felt I was going to die. He then later ran off. I was able to get up and hurriedly ran home.
With thoughts of death running through my mind I ran in my parents room and retrieved my
fathers gun that he always bragged about. As I stood in front of the mirror with the gun in my
hand these words fatty ran through my mind. As I saw the reflection of the scars on my body I
got flashbacks of Alex bullying me. With no hope and no one to talk to, well so I thought, I
placed the gun to my head ready to take my life when my mother entered. wuh u doin,she
screamed. She quickly took the gun and hugged me. Few days later I was taken to a phycologist
where I got help. Alex was expelled from school and my days of bullying was now over.

Preface

The following reflective piece will take form of a narrative story with a poem highlighted in the
story and the purpose of this is to highlight the negative effect of bulling on teenagers such as
self-harm, low self-esteem and even an attempt suicide. The fictional characters of this reflective
piece will demonstrate the effects on bully through the interaction between the bully and the
victim. This reflective piece is intended for an audience aging from 7-18 since children all ages
are bullied. This group was selected as a target audience because the moral of the story written
by this candidate informs bullies around this age the pressure they put these victims through.
This reflective piece will be presented orally via television in a public context. There is a number
of reason why this method is chosen, it provides a verbal and non-verbal message using visual
means to create an advantage in a sense that the audience would be more enlightened. It would
also be more interesting compared to a printed document. Graphics and pictures would also be
included in the television presentation in an effort to augment the presentation as well as the
message being conveyed.
The research anticipates that the narrative will not only be entertaining but also informative to
the audience.

Analysis

The reflective piece attempted suicide recounts the experiences of a girl who was bullied
physically and emotionally by her class bully Alex. In this reflective piece a combination of
registers, dialect variation, communicative behaviors and attitudes to language were employed
but in this portfolio only two would be examined.
The two that will be examined are language registers and communicative behaviors. Language
register is a variety of language used for a particular purpose or in a particular setting. Language
register may be identified as formal, casual, intimate, consultative or frozen. Intimate registers
was found in the early part of the reflective piece where the subjects brother was conversing with
the mother in which he said Momz mi cyar wait to see mi fren dem. Instead of using the word
mother he uses momz which indicated an intimate relationship between the two.
The second language register was formal. This is evident when Alex said while communicating
to his teacher when he said Miss, Anna is sitting . in this setting he codes switches from Geh
up nah up fatty! to Miss, Anna is sitting . Instead of using creole to address the teacher he uses
Standard English. Because of the prestige attached to the standard language, it tended to be the
language of choice on this formal setting when addressing the teacher.
Communicative behaviors by the definition refers to communicating impressions without being
aware of doing so. In this story this through body language or kinesics. This was evident in the
setting where the subject shrugged her shoulders and where the teacher hands were on hip and
smirked. This shrugging of shoulders indicates that the subject doesnt care or is not interesting
in attending school.
The second communicative behavior shown is hands on hip and smirk on face. The interpretation
of these body language indicates that the teacher is annoyed or not happy that the student is
seated on her arrival. Vocalics is used when the mother entered and saw her daughter with the
gun and she screamed Wuh u doin! this is used to denote emotion sound and pitch to indicate
that the mother is really concerned. Proxemics is used in the story when it was pointed out that
the subject always tend to be in her room. This hinted that she didnt like to be around people;
she liked her own space.