The African American Children considered as an ethnic minority in America. Ethnic majority or minority significantly direct the attitude, behaviours and treatment of a group towards another particular cluster. According to Baldry, Anna and David Farrington, (2000) American African Youth more frequently encounter bullying from the past decades. Grahams and Juvonen (2002) conducted a study on American African School Children, the sample consisted of 417 seventh grades students, and the results of the study indicate that African American students were more victimise of bullying than the white students.
Bullying
Bullying has been a critical and deadly issue in the school in recent time. In the 18th century, although the bullying was newly recognised, peer-on-peer harassment was reported as prevalent as it is today. At that time the criteria of violent behaviour were entirely different from now, while bullying has been a critical issue, throughout the past years. Many studies have been conducted on the bullying, which gave the clear understanding about the phenomenon. The term bullying concept has been changed significantly over time, as in 18th and 19th centuries bullying refers to physical or verbal harassment commonly associated with, death, strong isolation or extortion in school children. The highly aggressive behaviour was considered to be normal. In fact, according to Boyd (2003), bullying was thought of as innocent or childish misbehaviour among school children’s. This type of deadly bullying was observed at King’s Boarding School in the U.K, when a teenager junior boy was killed from bullying behaviours by his senior classmates, and considered to be a normal part of student adventure.
Play Therapy
Play therapy was first introduced earlier in the 20th century by the therapists and theorists such as Anna Freud, Margaret Lowenfeld and Melanie Klein. The primary focus of their work was to develop such ideas helpful to develop insight into a child’s inner emotional world through play because play therapy plays a vital role in the development of perspective with the collaborative work. The theories which had the significant contribution to understanding the child perspective was presented by Piaget, Erikson and Vygotsky. The above theories underpin the work of the therapist. Attachment theory is also had vital importance in providing a basis for understanding the origin and current problem of theJudgement child. At the beginning of a play therapy the troubled child was given a freedom, to explore and define his or her ideas and feelings about self and others through play.
The bullied, had difficulties in building a healthy relationship with others due to discriminatory behaviour, and cognitive skills through play therapy may develop the problem-solving approach. The play therapy enhance cognitive skills because according to great thinkers, Aristotle and Plato play is a fundamental source of happiness, uplifts our spirits and improves our outlook on life, expands self-expression, self-actualization self-knowledge, and self-efficacy, overcome stress and boredom, connects us to people in a positive way, encourages creative thinking and exploration, regulates our feelings and emotions.
The Association of Play Therapy defines (2001) play therapy refers an efficient use of a theoretical model to develop an interpersonal process wherein skilled play therapists use the therapeutic rules of play to help clients inhibit or resolve psychosocial problems and achieve optimum growth and progress. Play therapy helps the child to develop positive and healthy changes in the child’s way of responding to the world and the behaviours of others. The play therapy game gives a direction to students in learning about the ways to handle bully scenarios that occur in school or home. The exposure with bullying in the supervision of adults surrounding broadened the child insight, and he will gain more understanding to handle such situation. Often the victim of bully children finds difficulty verbalising their emotions and feelings when directly questioned, because they are fortified, or they do not feel familiar with those feelings, and find it most threatening. Through play therapy, they are involved in such game, in which children’s defences are reduced or broke, and they are encouraged to talk about their feelings which allow children to communicate their feelings in enjoyable, amusing, and non-threatening manner. It is also taught them through play to raise their voice in the manner fully when something is going wrong or unfavourable, without the violation of the rights of others.
Afrocentric Perspective
The Afrocentric Perspective stands for the rights of African Peoples and the history and nationalism. According to the Afrocentric perspective, every social phenomenon should be assessed or manage in psychological and cultural perspective, as human action and progress cannot be understand without emotion, attitude, cultural, and functional analysis. The Afrocentric raise the issue of their physical appearance and which highlight the attitudes full of prejudice toward the environment,my people, preferences for colours, religion, and towards the historical background of African people. Afrocentricity answers this question by emphasising the central role of the African theme within the framework of African history, thereby removing Europe from the centre of the African reality. School bullying with African American children is the prevalent issue of current time. The Afrocentric perspective was based on a Eurocentric perspective to resolve the wrong premises.A minority refers to a subservient group of people whose members have significantly less control over their lives than the members of a dominant group of people. In America, African Americans were considered to be minority and children have been poorly treated especially in schools from the very past years. The Afrocentric Perspective stands for the rights of American African Peoples, about core values, and gives an innovative modification in thinking proposed as a construct adjustment to black bewilderment. The Afrocentric asks the question, “What would African people do if there were not similar to white people?” which highlight the attitudes full of prejudice toward the environment, preferences for colours, religion, and towards the historical background of African people. Afrocentricity answers this question by emphasising the central role of the African theme within the framework of African history, thereby removing Europe from the centre of the African reality. School bullying with African American children is the widespread issue of current time. The African American student is the victim of bullying by the school authority and the American students as well, as the African American children have no rights to become a class leader or disrespect because of their body structure, their worries and concern being ignored, their questions remained unanswered, fault finding, social and gossiping exclusions. The childhood age is a period when there are underdeveloped assumption and schemas, regarding racism, ethnicity, and other social or cultural difference. According to Piaget (1896-1980) gave the concept of ego-centrism, according to that children view the world from their perspective, but at school going age they began to view the world and self from others perspective, and develop schemas accordingly. The discrimination and bullying treatment in school leaves the bad effect on the mind of the African American children like they began to develop the Emotional, behavioural problem and negative self-concept, low self-esteem, inferiority complex and low self-confidence. As a result, they may be fearful of attending school, such fear and anxiety can cause trouble for the child to concentrate in the classroom, make their learning slow or more difficult. The school bullying behaviours consist of direct behaviours, e.g. hitting, teasing, taunting, stealing, threatening, and that is started with one more students against a victim. Indirect bullying makes a victim isolated through intentional exclusion from gossip or other things indirect or direct both are harmful physical and psychological well-being. The continuous bullying can create a serious risk to students‟ academic performance; through psychological or cognitive intervention, the problem could be controlled. The Afrocentric perspective intends to eradicate the cause of bullying victimisation from the society and have a positive approach to achieve the desired results.