This week I looked at several books that had
information that would be useful for my topic. I chose to use the book “Homophobic
Bullying: research and theoretical perspectives” by Ian Rivers. By starting to
look into this book, I learned that traumatic events that are experienced in
childhood and adolescence can have a long-term and debilitating effect upon the
quality of their adult life. Much of adult depression can steam from events
that took place during their childhood such as bullying. I also learned that in
a study it was found that rates of self-harming behavior and suicidal thoughts
was effected by experiences of homophobic bullying in school during their
youth.
This week I learned how to use the Leatherby
Libraries to better search for books and eBooks that would be helpful to my
research on my specific topic. I learned how to use the information I found in
the Leatherby Libraries to find the same book on different websites where I could
read and research the book further. This week’s video tutorials and readings
have been very helpful in learning how to find books, as well as research and
skim the books for information without having to spend an entire day (or more)
reading an entire book just to find out it isn’t right for my research.
One thing I found frustrating while researching was
that not every site offered usable information. Probably a little bit selfish
of me to expect the information to be easy to find and at my fingertips when I needed
it, but a girl can dream right? J It was a bit of
a downer realizing the book I chose was not available as an eBook version,
however I made the decision to purchase the book (as a kindle version) because the
book was low cost and I feel it will be useful later in life while I am working
towards my credential. I would like to own the book rather than just borrow it
from the library. Also, the book was not available in my local libraries. I
feel like this might possibly turn into a capstone project when it comes time
to complete my credential program. I am hoping to find that there is much to
learn on this topic and that I will be able to continue my research and learn
about ways to help students who are dealing with homophobic bullying. I am
hoping that my research here will help me in my career as a teacher to be able
to help students in need of an outlet or be able to help put a stop to bullying
in the school I end up working in.
Melissa Rae Andersen
Hi Melissa,
ReplyDeleteI think it's great that you chose a topic that is so relevant to important current events. I also think it was wise of your to focus on a specific aspect of bullying because that will hopefully make your research easier having such a specific target. I think it is really important to inform kids of the damage bullying cause to their peers, which you mentioned specific examples of. In your research, are you finding any ideas on how to effective combat bullying?
-Tessa Ente