Category: Bullying

Bullying has been an epidemic for all ages. Several television shows and movies recently have been centered around bullying, for example, ‘13 Reasons Why’, ‘A Girl Like Her’, ‘Cyberbully’, and even ‘Mean Girls’. These movies and TV shows were produced to openly speak up about bullying and the harm that it causes to some people. Bullying is on the rise in majority of schools across the world. Parents, teachers, and other staff members are often not aware of all of the bullying that constantly goes on in their school. When it comes to bullying, there are a diverse number of categories that contribute to this situation. One type of bullying is homophobic bullying or gay bullying, which will be discussed in this essay.

Homophobic bullying or gay bullying is currently a massive issue, especially in the 21st century. Homophobic bullying occurs almost everywhere you go. Sometimes, this type of bullying is not even at school, it can occur at a job, on the street, or even at a restaurant. The more shocking factor is that it is not just high school students who gets bullied by this, it is elementary school aged kids as well. “In a classroom of twenty-eight, you could more than likely expect approximately three students to be of non-heterosexual sexual orientation All students are developing their understanding of sexualities as a concept and as part of their identity” (Van Leent, 13). Homophobic bullying starts when an individual uses a derogatory term towards another individual. Also, homophobic can also occur from a family member or best friend being homosexual. For example, students could bully another because one has two moms or two dads, or even a brother or sister that has become a part of the LGBT community.

Some people do not believe this, but gay bullying is a hundred times worse than normal bullying because some parents teach them that it is unjust and wrong. For some, it comes down to what their religion believes in. “Homophobic bullying is often motivated by prejudice against particular groups, for example, on grounds of religion, race, or sexual orientation. Students may be a target of homophobic bullying because of their appearance, behavior, or physical traits as well as friends or family who are LGBT or question their sexuality” (Orue, 95). Gay bullying is nothing compared to traditional bullying because members of the LGBT finally want to have a chance to really shine and be their true selves, but can’t because they are terrified of what others will think. That is one of the reasons why members of the LGBT take a longer amount of time to come out. Some are usually very afraid of being hurt, possibly even killed, or maybe some are just not fully ready.

The consequences of gay bullying are dire and long-lasting. Victims of this type of bullying have a higher chance of depression, alcohol or drug problems, and suicidal thoughts.

In my opinion, bullying is something that needs to end, and soon. People should be able to respect and love each other no matter what color their skin is, what they look like, who they like or how they dress. We must be loyal to sexual minorities and finally give them the opportunity to live a ‘normal’ life without fear of self-expression. We live in an era of drastic changes and one thing that honestly needs to be changed is the fact that love is love and that we should remain kind in any situation.

References

1. Jung, Youn Ah. “What Makes Bullying Happen in School? Reviewing Contextual Characteristics Surrounding Individual and Intervention Programs on Bullying”. Ilkogretim Online, vol. 17, no. 1, Jan. 2018, pp. 1–6.
2. Nazir, Tehseen, and Falak Nesheen. “Impact of School Bullying on Psychological Well-Being of Adolescents”. Indian Journal of Health & Well-being, vol. 6, no. 10, Oct. 2015, pp. 1037–1040.
3. Orue, Izaskun, et al. “Homophobic Bullying in Schools: The Role of Homophobic Attitudes and Exposure to Homophobic Aggression”. School Psychology Review, vol. 47, no. 1, Mar. 2018, pp. 95–105.
4. Perron, Tracy. “Looking at the Factors Associated with Bullying and Visits to the School Nurse, in the United States”. British Journal of School Nursing, vol. 10, no. 6, July 2015, pp. 288–295.
5. Thwala, S’lungile Kindness. “Adolescent Girls’ Behavioral Characteristics and Their Vulnerability to Bullying in Manzini High Schools”. South African Journal of Education, vol. 38, Oct. 2018, pp. S1–S9.

It all started one afternoon when Liam decided to give his phone to his mother. When asked by his mom why was he was giving up his phone, he gave her a slight shrug and went on to his room. This was just the first of weird moments that would later nudge Deidre Fell-O’Brien, Liam’s mother, to question her son about his suspicious activity. Deidre started to realize Liam’s bike was in the garage more and his interest in soccer was becoming less prominent. Liam’s appetite also began to diminish and his weight started to decrease dramatically. After one morning when Liam refused to go to school, Deidre knew she needed to figure out what was going on. Shortly after sitting down with her son, the truth was finally revealed. Liam confessed to being bullied for over a year by a group of boys who believed he wasn’t good enough to be on the soccer team. These boys did everything to make Liam feel as little as possible. They physically hit him, called him names, told him that he was worthless, and was even told to kill himself. Once Deidre finally gotten to the bottom of what was happening in her son’s life, she turned to the school and the bullies’ parents for answers. After talking with both, she soon realized that no one was being held accountable for their actions.

Unfortunately, Liam’s story is not that unique, and bullying is still a major issue that many children are dealing with. Over 70% of school staff have witnessed bullying within the school and 62% have seen two or more accounts in the last month. Only 25% of students reach out to teachers and staff due to the lack of confidence in the help they will receive (‘Facts About Bullying’). This most common grade of bullying is in grade 6th, and once a student reaches high school, they reach out less than any other grade. Many schools have even implemented anti-bullying programs that work in some and not others. So why is bullying still an issue even though there is an increase in awareness and anti-bullying programs?

In a recent study conducted by Ditch the Label researched why people bully others and the scientific reasoning behind it. Ditch the Label is a very well-known anti-bullying charity that provides support to those who have been negatively treated and bullied in their life. It was founded in 2012 by a man named Liam Hackett, a young man who was also bullied when he was younger. Ditch the Label in 2015 helped nearly 500,000 young people get through bullying, and in 2016 received the most comprehensive bullying survey by the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. Originally founded in the UK, Ditch the Label is now spanning across the United Kingdom and the United States to help those in need of overcoming bullying.

In 2018, Ditch the Label spoke to 8,850 people to ask them a series of questions about bullying. They were first asked their definition of bullying and whether or not they have bullied someone before. Then asked very intimate questions about their lives, such as trauma, relationships, home life, and their general stance on themselves. Of the 8,850 people, only 1,239 agreed to bullying in their life. All answers were then compared by those who have never bullied anyone, people who have bullied once, and those who bully others daily. The data showed that those who have experienced some type of drama or stress in the last 5 years are more likely to bully others. Some of these causes of stress come from relationships, parents divorcing, and even the death of a relative. This can make sense, as all people have different ways of dealing with these hardships in life. Some find positive ways to help relieve the stress, while others turn to a much worse alternative. Many people do not know how to properly deal with stress, so they turn to bullying as an answer. Males were also the majority of bullies being 66% of the overall study. In this society, women are supposed to speak out on their feelings, yet men are looked down upon when they do so. They are often looked at as weak when they try to reach for help or express what they feel. In return, guys respond in a very negative and aggressive way, which helps them cope with their issues. Another major reason for bullying is the bully’s home life. The study showed that 1 in 3 people who agreed to bullying feel as if their parents don’t have enough time to spend with them. It also shows that it normally happens when the family is larger, therefore, less communication is distributed throughout the family. Not being able to communicate with the people who are supposed to support you the most makes one feel rejected, causing them to take it on others.

Dr. Dan Olweus is a professor of physiology and the world leader of research and developing programs to help end childhood bullying. He was one of the first people to research bullying in the 70s, and his research was published in 1978. Dr. Dan Olweus has a program known as the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program that originated back in the 1980s in which it was first put to test. After a few decades of tweaking the program, it is now enrolled in seven projects in the United States. In particular, a study in Pennsylvania shows that bullying in school decreased when this program was enforced. Dr. Dan Olweus says that the school should be held responsible for bullying within the schools, not so much the parents. The parents put trust in the schools to protect their children and allow them to receive an education in a positive work environment. The program works in just three levels which are the school level, the classroom level, and the individual level. The school-level refers to the staff being present and intervening when bullying is occurring. The classroom level includes a number of anti-bullying policies and a positive message portraying that our school is anti-bullying. The individual level is the consequences that a bully might receive if they decide to disobey their warnings. Dr. Dan Olweus stresses that teachers are the key to help prevent bullying. He says: “You must not only have a good program, but you must also have a good implementation moral so this becomes an everyday life of the school”. That sentence alone directly answers why some of these anti-bullying programs aren’t working and others are. It’s not about these programs as a whole, it’s about schools not practicing it enough for it to take action in their schools. If these anti-bullying programs are being enforced in schools, then they should be held responsible to make sure that everyone is abiding by it.

Running out of options, Deidre decided to turn to social media to get Liam’s story out. Out of her surprise, Liam’s story went viral, and their family began to realize that they weren’t alone. Many families reached out and explained that they had gone through similar experiences with their children as well. Liam’s story went so viral that t-shirts and even billboards were being put up in honor of him saying ‘#WESTANDWITHLIAM’. Liam went on to complete his 10-week long care to help battle his depression and eating disorders. Once out of care, Liam decided to return to his old school and finish out his year playing soccer, and become much more open with his family. He’s found new interests and even rekindled with old friends that help support him significantly. Bullying will only come to an end when we all decide to fight it together.

Bullying has always existed. In the late 1970s, when studying suicidal trends among adolescents, researchers found that most of these young people had suffered some kind of threat, and therefore, bullying was evil to fight. The popularity of the phenomenon grew with the influence of electronic media such as the Internet and television reports, as the pejorative nicknames and offensive games were taking on greater proportions.

School bullying is a situation that is characterized by intentional, verbal, virtual, or physical aggression, made repeatedly by one or more students against one or more colleagues. Physical or moral aggression must have four characteristics: the author’s intention to hurt the target, the repetition of the aggression, the presence of a spectator audience, and the target’s agreement regarding the offense. When the target overcomes the reason for the aggression, he reacts or ignores, demotivating the author’s action.

What leads the bullying author to do it is to want to be more popular, to feel powerful, and to get a good image of himself. He is a person who has not learned to turn his anger into dialogue and for whom the other’s suffering is no reason for him to stop acting. The author is not just like that at school. Usually, he has a family relationship in which everything is resolved by verbal or physical violence, and he reproduces this in the school environment.

The viewer is a key character in bullying. The typical spectator is a witness to the facts, as he does not go out in defense of the victim or join the authors. This passive attitude can occur due to fear of being attacked or lack of initiative to take sides. The viewer closes himself off from relationships, excludes himself, because he thinks he may also suffer in the future.

The target is usually a teenager with low self-esteem and withdrawn both at school and at home. Because of these characteristics, it is difficult for this young man to be able to react. That is where the question of repetition in bullying comes in, because if the student seeks help, the tendency is for the provocation to cease. In addition to psychological traits, the targets of this type of violence tend to have physical peculiarities. The attacks can also address cultural, ethnic, and religious aspects. It can also occur with a novice or a beautiful girl, who ends up being chased by colleagues.

The student who suffers bullying, especially when he does not ask for help, faces fear and shame of going to school. He/she may want to drop out of school, do not feel good to join the group, and have a low income. Those who manage to react can alternate moments of anxiety and aggression. In some extreme cases, bullying affects the young person’s emotional state in such a way that he chooses tragic solutions, such as suicide.

Thus, school bullying, as a manifestation of intentional aggression of one or more students against others, is a serious mass problem of modern society and can have extremely negative, long-term consequences. School bullying needs due attention from the society and the adoption of measures to combat it.

There is a problem running rapidly through America’s schools today. Bullying is seen throughout many of hallways and playgrounds at schools. By saying this, imagine your child coming home from school with twelve bruises on his or her stomach. His or her face is as white as a sheet. He or she is grabbing one’s stomach as they run to bathroom trying not to throw up everywhere. Unfortunately, the bully is just giving a slap on the wrist. Would you become just another bystander or would step in a say enough is enough? According to Levinson and Levinson, “One out of every four children will be bullied by a peer in school this month”. By stating this, our schools need to come up with better solutions. For instance, a major solution to bullying would be to provide a harsher punishment for bullies.

First, bullying can demonstrate mental and emotional effects. For example, some of the mental and emotional effects of bullying are depressive disorders and low self-esteem. The issues that a depressive disorder can cause a child are social isolation, being sensitive to rejection, and feelings of sadness and emptiness. In addition, having a depressive disorder can lead a child to despicable crimes, such as mass murders in schools. According to Ellis Ross, “Being bullied and being rejected lead to feelings of isolation and powerlessness. In turn, victims often feel an intense desire and need to regain power by turning to violence, such as mass shootings”. For example, a familiar car pulls into a parking spot a local high school. A recent graduate steps onto long grey pathway leading to the entrance of the school. He or she then heads toward the doors of the school where he or she was a victim of bullying. The once bullied student grasps tightly in his or her hand a loaded assault rifle. The only thing going through his or her mind is ‘I will regain my power that was taken from me’. He or she swings open the door violently and walks into each room, shooting violently. Innocent victims become part of a bloody grave, and the gruesome screams echo through the halls. The shooter, who was once a victim, now becomes the bully.

Another mental and social repercussion of bullying is low self-esteem. For instance, many children who are bullied about their weight can fall to the victims of bulimia or anorexia. According to Chelsea Kronengold, “As many as 65% of people with eating disorders say bullying contributed to their condition”. Also, cyberbullying can play a factor in bulimia or anorexia. For example, a child comes home from school. The child then goes to his or her computer and sees an email from one of his or her classmates from school. He or she opens the email and sees a link that displays the words ‘click me’. The child then clicks on the link and then a picture of the child eating hamburgers and the words displayed ‘pig’ flashing above the picture. The child then stands in front of the mirror and starts judging his or her body by saying to themselves: “You’re so fat and disgusting”. The child then begins to stop eating just to hopefully get relief of the bullying.

Also, suicide is running rampant through the victims of bullying. For example, it has become obvious how much bullying and suicide tie in with each other. While some people may find bullying not a big issue, studies show it is the leading cause of suicide. According to National Bullying Prevention Center, “A meta-analysis found that students facing peer victimization are 2.2 times more likely to have suicide ideation and 2.6 times more likely to attempt suicide than students not facing victimization”. In addition, children often go without reporting bullying because they are afraid it will make the bullying worse. As a result, the victims tend to keep it a secret and feel the need to deal with this issue on their own. The bullying then gets worse as time goes on, and the child sees the only way out of the pain is to ends one’s life. Picture this. A fifteen-year-old girl receives a friend request from very attractive boy on Myspace. The girl starts interacting with the boy by messaging back and forth. Overtime the girl begins to fall in love with this boy. Suddenly, she receives a message stating that they were a relative to the boy. The message states that the boy had taken a cocktail of pills and committed suicide. Moments later she receives another message stating that this was all a scam and that she was part of a joke. The next day, she walks the halls and the ‘mean girls’ continue to tease her, calling her a fool and that she should do the same thing and take a cocktail of pills like her ‘imaginary’ boyfriend. The girl later returns home after school and replays the same message over and over in her head ‘Maybe you should take a cocktail of pills’. The girl can’t take it anymore and feels like the whole world is laughing at her. She walks up to her parent’s medicine cabinet and throws back a variety of pills. By saying this, the foolishness of bullying needs to be put to a halt once and for all.

Furthermore, a child’s education is often affected by bullying. For instance, children feel the only way to avoid being a victim of bullying is to drop out. According to bullyingstatistic.org website, “A reported 15 percent of all students who don’t show up for school report it to being out of fear of being bullied while at school”. Although that is a smart way to avoid a bully, it wouldn’t be very smart on the education level or life level. As a result, children who drop out of school because of bullying retain a risk of not being hired on a job due to not having a high school diploma. Also, bullying can cause a child to skip school. According to Levinson, “160,000 miss school for the fear of being bullied every day”. As a result, a victim of bullying will result in poor academics in school because the lack of participation. For example, if a child doesn’t retain academic skills like reading, he or she won’t be able to read emails, street signs, or simple instructions on cooking.

One solution that schools should require harsher punishment for school students. To enforce this method, schools should require logical consequences. For instance, by providing loss of privileges. For example, if a child is caught harassing another child on the playground, the child should lose the privilege of recess. Another way a child should be punished for bullying is in school suspension. This will be effective because the staff can keep an eye on the bully, and besides, the bully will not get behind on homework. Also, in worse cases criminal charges should be brought against the bully. For example, if a child causes physical harm to another child he or she should be fined, and if it continues after the fine, then the child should be placed in juvenile detention. In addition, the school staff needs to be more observant of children behaviors on school grounds and property. For example, the NSW Department of Education argues that “having clear expectations for student behavior and planning for areas around the school to be well supervised can also minimize the likelihood of bullying behavior”. Also, school staff should provide mandatory counseling with a bully. For example, by providing counseling to the bully, one can begin to help the bully with the underlying issue of why he or she possesses this kind of behavior.

Another solution is that schools need to strictly stand by the zero-tolerance policy. For example, school’s staff needs to make sure this policy applies to all students. For instance, a child should not be giving lesser punishment just because he or she plays sports, or he or she has a teacher that is a parent at the school. Also, it can help a victim who has been preyed upon by a bully. Consider this. A child becomes a victim of bullying for quite some time. Over time the bullying becomes worse, but instead of the bully being verbal, he or she becomes physical. The teacher then takes all the students to the principal’s office. While there, the principal uses the zero-tolerance policy which will the bring the bully to the right punishment for his or her actions. Having a zero-tolerance policy will help keep the violence down in school and help teach a child life lessons.

Lastly, many school’s staff will argue that they simply do not have enough staff to keep an eye on every child. Although this is true, the kids should be able to attend a school knowing they are safe to walk the halls. Schools can hire subs to fill in for teachers who are unavailable to take on playground duty or ride on the back of the bus to keep an eye out for bullying behaviors. According to the National Bullying Prevention Center, “Students reported that the most harmful things teachers can do are: tell the student to solve the problem themselves, tell the student that the bullying wouldn’t happen if they acted differently, ignored what was going on, or tell the student to stop tattling”. In addition, if staff members do not want to make sure the students are kept under control, they need to resign from their positions. By saying this, it should be a requirement for all staff members, upon being hired, to have a mandatory to learn about how to teach students become more confident and conflict, resolution skills needed for preventing bullying. School staff can also make it mandatory for students to take a bullying class each year to teach about how bullying will not be tolerated under no circumstance.

In conclusion, monsters in the closet, preparing for a test or being tardy for class are just some of the fears that many kids face every day. Imagine if your child visited a place that was supposed to be for learning, but instead became his or her prison. He or she walks down the halls constantly looking over one’s shoulder, or steps onto a bus, knowing that his or her bully is just waiting to use his or her body as a punching bag. His or her heart is screaming for help as the bully mutes the scream with another scar. By saying this, this horrifying epidemic needs to come to an end before another child ends up being placed in a casket as his or her final resting place.

Many children and adults of all ages are victims of bullying. When bullying occurs, there is always two people involved, the one doing the bullying and the one getting bullied. Bullying is aggressive behavior among children, that is repeated over and over throughout school, social media and work. Aggressive behavior involves mistreating or harassing someone. It is now a common feature that has become an international issue. A serious issue, which causes negative high effect on the victims. In the United States, 1 in 3 students are bullied in a school year. When bullying occurs, it affects bullying victims in different ways, leading to depression, suicide, short- and long-term consequences, taking actions to their own hands (school shootings). Children or adults who bully use their power in different ways, which are verbal and physical bullying. Due to social media bullying rated have increased throughout the years.

Where Does It Happen?

Bullying occurs in two ways, traditional bullying and cyberbullying. Traditional bullying is when bullying happens face-to-face, for example, at school. As advancement has happened with technology, it went from ‘traditional bullying’ to cyberbullying. Cyberbullying occurs through technology, for example, social media and texting. Bullying has always been around; bullying happens when people try to compete, have popularity, or because the one bullying has problems and tries to make people feel bad so they can feel better. These two are mostly the same, however they both hurt other differently. The advancement of technology has made it easier for people to bully. Technology makes it easier for bullies to hurt their victims since the victim is unable to know who the person responsible behind technology is. Which makes it easier for bullies to say even meaner things to their target. Cyberbullying is a problem because people don’t usually report it since they have no attacker to blame. So, victims will carry their bullies around throughout the day without knowing who it is. For this same reason, bullying doesn’t just stop at school, but follows targets even after school. Because of technology, group chats messages can be created through social media. Within the group chats, the one who created it can choose who is able to be in the group. Which makes it easier to talk about the gossip that has been going around about others. The gossip that is talked about in these group chats are about people who these bullies call ‘ugly or fat’. There have been many incidents where personal information has been leaked out to other people that would be disturbing to the target. Another source that is considered bullying is when a person blogs anonymous, stating information of their victim.

Verbal and Physical Bullying

Verbal bullying examples are teasing, name-calling, inappropriate sexual comments, threatening to cause victims any harm, spreading rumors, and taunting. Bullies tend to verbally bully the ones who are insecure about themselves and those whom have different physical traits. Different physical traits that are called out by bullies are having big ears or eyes, a person is overweight, too much hair or a person is too short. When sexual comments are said, they are usually said to a woman, which makes them feel very uncomfortable. Physical bullying is when someone hits, kicks, pinches, trips, spits on someone, breaking someone’s things, and making mean gestures. One article stated that “their research indicates that males are significantly more physically victimized than females….” (Li, 2006). This includes fist fighting (physical) rather than verbal bullying as with women.

Depression and Suicide

Traditional bullying and cyberbullying are the biggest cause for depression. Depression is a disease that not only does it affect the person’s life, but also social relationships with everyone. Low self-esteem, anxiety, loneliness and suicide are big factors caused because of depression. Today, in our society, it is easy for children and young adults to have access to electronics, having an entrance to social media like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram and other social media; because of this, bullying now doesn’t just stop at school. Psychological and physical pain is associated with suicide. Due to the pain the person has, it results in self-harm, causing suicide. Suicides happen when people are cyberbullied by peers; sharing things that are personal on social media. Victims feel discouraged or worthless because they are convinced ‘they don’t belong’, since they are unable to make friends sometimes. However, people who are victims of traditional bullying tend to have higher impacts with depression, low self-esteem and anxiety. However, it follows victims home now, bullies can now send messages or post things that can keep hurting their victims even after school. Victims might feel like there is nothing more than they can do, but keep it to themselves, so they don’t report the issue. As much as they try to avoid being bullied it haunts them through social media. Sometimes, bullies don’t know that their behavior or actions cause harm to others because it is considered ‘normal’ at their household.

What Causes Bullying?

Bullying behavior is so common among children of different ages that without a doubt there is a great interest in preventing it. School seems to be the most common setting to experience bullying. Since bullying “infringes on the child’s right to human dignity, privacy, freedom, and security” (Aluede et al., 2008), it is important to understand the causes of bullying.

According to Oyaziwo, bullies tend to target others who are different to them and investigate taking advantage of those differences to embarrass the victims. Oyaziwo believes bullies select victims who will not retaliate because they are different: fat, wear glasses, have big ears, or obvious physical appearances that are easy to pick on. In addition, victims are usually people who are anxious or insecure since they are easy to pick on.

Additionally, bullies engage in this type of behavior because they are dealing with a broken home or they are mistreated by their own families. The article, ‘A Review of the Extent, Nature, Characteristics and Effects of Bullying Behavior in School’, states that bullies see their behavior as normal because they have been growing up in families where everyone screams, gets angry, and constantly put each other down. Needless to say, many bullies have experienced social problems, aggression, power imbalanced, and traumatic experiences. According to Litwiller and Brausch, youths who experience violence are more likely to act violent towards others. With this in mind, a cycle will continue to repeat itself. The victim could eventually become a bully, thus increasing the number of bullies and victims.

Other studies suggest that people engage in bullying activities because bullying is self-reinforcing. When their friends support and laugh at their actions, they tend to repeat the behavior to continue getting approval from their peers.

Victims in Great Danger

Since bullying can experience behaviors that are usually intended to harm and caused over a period of time, the effects can last a lifetime. In the United States, suicide is the 3rd cause of death, and sad to say, some studies have identified bullying as cause to these suicides. The number of victims and aggressors, in relation to bullying, keeps increasing since the options to bully grew tremendously with the technology. Although there are other factors which might lead to suicide, like depression, low self-esteem, and anxiety, these factors might be triggered through bullying. Studies have shown the big correlation between suicide and bullying. Since studies have shown that engaging in violent behavior might increase suicidal thoughts, engaging in violent bullying increases the suicidal chances. Moreover, unsafe sex is also related to bullying and youth suicidal behavior. Because they have been involved in bullying, they might seek the positive attention that a sexual relationship might offer. However, reports suggest that this sexual behavior could be a way to cope with negative consequences of bullying. To add to the negative situation the victim is already in by being bullied, engaging in unsafe sex can add worst feelings of victimization, thus increasing the chances of suicidal thoughts. Victims of bullying are in great danger of suffering at the hands of sex predators. With false promises and a weak state of mind, the victim is easily sneered into sex without really attachments to create a positive relationship.

Without a doubt, being a victim of bullying can have devastating emotional and physical consequences. Consequences that not only affect teenagers, but adults that have gone through bullying in their life.

Stop It!

With all the information presented about the negative effects of bullying and the great number of victims who have been exposed to bullying, it is only right to explore positive ways to prevent bullying. Numerous schools have implemented procedures to deal with bullying, such as awareness assemblies, step-by-step procedures to investigate bullying, and counseling sessions to assist victims. However, many believe that bullying is mainly being approached with a reactive method instead of a preventive method. Teachers, counselors, and administrators will usually deal with the bullies once they have committed an offense, rather than having session before they have hurt someone. Bullying affects not only the victim, but also the bully, since he receives consequences that affect his academic performance as well his interaction with others. One of the best ways to prevent bullying starts by dealing with the root cause. Since bullies are exposed to negative experiences at home, educating parents about bullying and providing strategies to deal with positive parenting would help reduce the negative experiences at home.

Conclusion

In summary, bullying is a serious problem of the modern world, because its consequences are extremely negative, and sometimes catastrophic, both for the victims and for the bullies. In order to prevent bullying, we must teach children compassion, encourage participation in positive acts of kindness to others, and help others, allowing them to experience the benefits of doing so.

References

1. Aluede, O., Adeleke, F., Omoike, D., & Afen-Akpaida, J. 2008. “A Review of the Extent, Nature, Characteristics and Effects of Bullying Behavior in Schools”. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 35(2), 151.
2. Donegan, R. 2012. “Bullying and Cyberbullying: History, Statistics, Law, Prevention and Analysis”. The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, 3(1), 33-42.
3. Due, P., Damsgaard, M. T., Lund, R., & Holstein, B. E. 2009. “Is Bullying Equally Harmful for Rich and Poor Children?: A Study of Bullying and Depression from Age 15 to 27”. The European Journal of Public Health, 19(5), 464-469.
4. Huang, Q., Singh, V. K., & Atrey, P. K. 2014. “Cyberbullying Detection Using Social and Textual Analysis”. In ‘Proceedings of the 3rd International Workshop on Socially-Aware Multimedia’, (pp. 3-6). ACM.
5. Kim, Y. S., Leventhal, B. L., Koh, Y. J., Hubbard, A., & Boyce, W. T. 2006. “School Bullying and Youth Violence: Causes or Consequences of Psychopathologic Behavior?”. Archives of General Psychiatry, 63(9), 1035-1041.
6. Li, Q. 2006. “Cyberbullying in Schools: A Research of Gender Differences”. School Psychology International, 27(2), 157-170.
7. Litwiller, B. J., & Brausch, A. M. 2013. “Cyberbullying and Physical bullying in Adolescent Suicide: The Role of Violent Behavior and Substance Use”. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42(5), 675-684.
8. Pollastri, A. R., Cardemil, E. V., & O’Donnell, E. H. 2010. “Self-Esteem in Pure Bullies and Bully/Victims: A Longitudinal Analysis”. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 25(8), 1489-1502.
9. Varghese, Mary E., and M. Carole Pistole. 2017. “College Student Cyberbullying: Self-Esteem, Depression, Loneliness, And Attachment”. Journal of College Counseling 20(1):7-21.

Bullying is the term used when a person or group of people brutally subjugates another person or group of people. Bullying has been a problem throughout education for many years, and it affects people’s whole lives. Overall, it almost always tends to affect their education. This is because bullying more often than not happens or starts at a school age. When people think of the word ‘bullying’, they always only think of physical bullying. Pushing, kicking, hitting, pinching, other forms of violence and threatening behavior. However, unfortunately, this is not the only form of bullying. Another, no less popular form is verbal bullying, which will be analyzed in this essay.

Verbal bullying is when someone is bullying someone with words. It’s usually done between people that tend to know each other. A bully will spread rumors about a person, he will deliberately upset him with name-calling, constant jokes, talking about someone behind their back, etc. Verbal bullying can also be mistaken for teasing. But teasing is between two people that find it funny and are in the joke together, whereas verbal bullying is the complete opposite and is towards someone that does not agree with the taunting and is very upset by it. Verbal bullying can have many effects on a child. One of them is becoming angry, just like their bully. They start to use anger and aggression to bring their emotions out. They can also turn aggressive towards themselves. Self-harming is something that victims do to cry out for help silently. They take the pain out on themselves because they don’t want to talk to others about it. Sometimes they feel like they are a burden. Their self-esteem and confidence will shatter, and they may become a complete shell of who they were. Words can really hurt someone, and sometimes cut deeper than physical bullying. Especially when other people are involved. Like I said before, verbal bullying tends to be between people that are in the same environment, such as a school classroom. The bully may know the victim, and the victim will become embarrassed when a rumor is going round about him. School is hard enough at the best of times with the teenaged hormones, etc., without adding bullies to the mix. Self-destruction can also turn into substance abuse too. Substance abuse is often done because the person wants to forget about what is happening. Again, this will have a major effect on their education when they don’t turn up to class.

Bullying is a serious problem. In whatever form it manifests itself, it has a huge impact on the child’s lifestyle. No amount of bullying makes a child happy. Despite the popular belief that physical bullying is the worst, I believe that words can sometimes hurt just as much. Mental health problems, increased stress and serious anxiety problems are just some of the possible consequences.

Bullies are everywhere. Normally at school, they torment their peers by making fun of them, hitting them, and/or taking something from them. But bullies are usually not supported by others, unless they are bullies as well. However, popular kids are almost always supported. So, what happens when a popular kid is the bully? Would people tell because they are bullying someone, or stay quiet because they are popular? It is a tough choice, but the right one should be obvious to most people.

If I saw a popular kid bullying somebody, I would tell somebody about them. Bullying is never a good thing, so it does not matter whether the bully is popular or not. However, telling somebody is might not always be very effective in stopping the bully. The school staff does not always help with bullying very much. The bully should be stopped, but telling on them is not necessarily the best option. I would first try to stop them directly, but if I cannot, I would tell somebody about them. Doing something would be the choice that I would take, but it has its pros and cons.

Telling could help to stop the bully and to help the victim. If nobody stops them, the victim could be seriously harmed, physically and/or mentally. “He thought he heard some students picking on one of his classmates. When he heard a knife open, he shoved the bully away from his classmate” (Mallard, 2013). Bullies normally do not know when to stop, so they tend to end up going too far. Telling might be the only way to protect the person that is being bullied. Whoever is told can stop the bully before it gets too bad.

If I told one of the school staff and I succeeded to stop the bully, there is a slight chance that I would get respected for that. “Stepping in is ‘heroic’ as he is helping to take a stand against bullying and helping others see how hurtful and scary bullying can become” (Patel, 2018). Stopping bullies is normally admired by others, so telling might also count as if I had stopped the bully myself. People might see me as a hero for doing that, depending on the severity of the bullying. Also, the bully themselves might respect me for that, and them being ‘popular’ would spread that respect further still. But even if I would not get respect, it is still worth doing something.

Telling might stop the bullies from bullying. “‘Schoolyard heroes’ might hold the power to stop bullying, experts say” (Taylor, 2018). Sometimes, the school staff can stop the bullies, and if the staff constantly steps in, the bullies might not want to bully anymore. Even if that is not the case, the staff can stop that time of bullying itself, and that is still important. Stopping the bullies from bullying is something that needs to be done.

But sometimes telling might not help. “So many teachers mishandled the situations, and the repercussions were often worse than the incident itself” (Birkett, 1996). Getting the staff involved can sometimes worsen the situation. The bully can get mad at the victim and treat them even worse than they treated them previously. Or, the staff might choose not to do anything at all. Sometimes they just tell the bully to stop and do not do anything else, which rarely has any kind of effect towards stopping the bully. Other times, they just ignore the situation.

Moreover, if I tell somebody about the bully in that situation, I could get made fun of. “While I would never encourage telling on somebody for something minor, like chewing gum in class or wearing headphones in the lunch line, I can’t help but take issue with the idea that no matter what somebody does or says to you, you can’t say anything to a faculty member or you’re a ‘snitch’” (Wong, 2015). People who tell staff about bullies are often made fun of by their other peers as snitches. The ‘snitches’ (the people who tell on other people) are almost always disrespected. That can make the bully me along with the previous victim.

Also, telling can very commonly tend to make things worse. “If we implement an intervention intended to solve a problem, but the problem gets worse, we must seriously entertain the possibility that our intervention had something to do with it” (Kalman, 2014). Telling can make the bully angry, and bully even more. It can also make the bully enjoy bullying since now there is a risk. The bully could also start bullying in secret instead.

Sometimes, the reason that the bully is popular is because of fear. If they bully people very often, they would get a lot of attention. And that attention would be seeing them as stronger than the victim, so people might think that the bully is stronger than the victim. However, even if they do not fear the bully, the popularity might still be a negative kind of popularity. They may be popular in the way that everybody knows them and hates or dislikes them. If that is the case, it really does not matter if the bully is popular.

In conclusion, if I saw any kind of person, popular or unpopular, bullying somebody, I would tell somebody with authority. I would try to stop the bully in any way that I can, no matter how popular. Telling might not be very effective, but it might be the only way to stop the bully. Directly intervening might help better, though. So, telling somebody about the bully definitely has its pros and cons.

Bullying has become a major problem. Unfortunately, many people do not take this problem seriously because they do not feel that bullying is an issue. As for me, I am convinced that bullying is a serious problem that needs proper attention from society. In this essay, I am going to argue my position on why bullying is so bad.

Bullying is purposely hostile or hurtful behavior that is repeated over time against another person. Verbal bullying, such as mocking, spreading gossip, or name-calling, is the most common type of bullying. Another type of bullying is physical, such as punching, kicking, or vandalizing the property of someone else. There is also non-verbal or non-physical bullying, such as threats and excluding someone from a community.

My reasons why bullying is bad is that it can lower self-esteem, put too much pressure on the person being bullied, and it can lead him/her to commit suicide. First explanation is that a person who is constantly bullied will develop low self-esteem eventually. Self-esteem is traditionally defined as a person’s view of themselves. How much a person appreciates and enjoys himself/herself can also be calculated. The childhood years of a person are very significant because it is a period that can impact the development of his or her self-esteem. If the child is continually being threatened, whether physically or verbally, then he/she may begin to lose self-confidence, and may even begin to hate him/her for their so-called weak points or imperfections. Second explanation is that the person being bullied is putting too much pressure on him/herself. Times like this may be really hard for middle and high school students. All of these kids are looking for their peers’ recognition and esteem. Often, they isolate themselves, withdraw from school activities, and can show signs of general or particular anxiety when they experience a lack of acceptance. And my third and final explanation for bullying is that it can lead to suicide. Increases in suicide risk in young people who are victims of bullying are associated with bullying. Depression is a significant factor in suicide, along with rises in depression and other suicide-related concerns. Bullying, which can continue into adulthood, has long-term impacts on suicide risk and mental health. After being bullied, if someone is able to go on, then each person needs to learn to adjust after this happens.

These are my reasons why bullying is so bad. I believe that this is a question that should not be adjusted, it should be erased. People, regardless of what type they belong to, should not go through life being victims of bullying. Bullying is taught, so if it is possible to teach someone to bully, then they should be taught not to bully. If the child is taught to treat individuals respectfully, and appreciate empathy at a young age, the child will be part of a potential community that will completely wipe out bullying. Parents and educators should also be interested in this bullying case. It is the responsibility of a parent to protect their children in any way they can, and it is the role of a teacher to protect the child while in their care. Parents and teachers must understand the signs of bullying and maintain an open line of contact with the child so that they can assist if appropriate.

Bullying is one of the worries that beings deal with every single day. This kind of harassment is very common to teenagers; they wake up with fear of attending school because they have to suffer another day of getting bullied. This is a very alarming topic for today’s society. This essay will give additional information and a better understanding of what bullying is really about. This will also serve as an eye opener that this society is a hypocrite society where awareness and ignorance is raised at the same time by the same people.

Bullying, a typical concern in the current society in which many are still confused and lack knowledge about. This is a behavioral problem wherein use of bodily strength or harshness of words towards any being is present. The outcome of bullying does not only cause harm to one’s physical attributes, but also affects them emotionally and mentally. Bullying as a kind of violence in which actions are repeatedly done by the bully themselves, most likely to be school aged children. Verbal, relationship, physical, most used by teenagers, cyberbullying are the four main kinds of bullying. Physical bullying take place when a person uses their bodily strength to harm their target. This may be kicking, pushing, etc. Verbal bullying is the use of harsh words to insult a person they dislike. This is most likely humiliating, name calling, etc. Then goes relationship bullying, this is when a person separates another person from its peers usually through gossiping, spreading malicious rumors, etc. Last but not least is cyberbullying, which mainly occur through the Internet, with the help of technology. This comprises bashing, use editing to change one’s appearance to make fun of them, etc. The knowledge of knowing what bullying is and its way of occurrence increases our awareness towards how we treat the people and to help the avoidance of hypocrisy surrounding one another.

There are 3 main people involved in bullying: the bully, the target, the bystander. Frey, Hirschstein, Edstrom, and Snell (2009) said that a bully is a person who intentionally harms a person. Typical bullies are controlling, hot-tempered, does not appreciate others and are aggressive towards adults. Most bullies came from a family where they lack parental guidance or have been abused physically and emotionally at home. The victim, on the other hand, has low self-esteem and are physically weak. In addition, children and adolescents with obvious physical and mental issues are more likely to be bullied in school because of their conditions. Even children who excel in academics, or those who have different cultural background and new students also undergo bullying. Parents of the victims tend to overprotect their child, which makes it hard for their children to communicate in school. Bystanders are the students who does not participate but have witnessed the bullying incident. They can be part of the problem or solution to the problem. Sometimes bystanders usually do not interfere with the bullies in the fear of being the next victim because they also lack the skills to stand up for the victim.

This act of violence often happens in public and private schools from elementary to high school. Places, where bullies tend to attack their victims is where there is a lack or no adult supervision, like the playground, where elementary students frequently experience bullying. Bullying also takes place inside the classroom during class and class breaks or when the teacher is not around. Restrooms, corridors, locker areas and other school premises where teachers and other authorities do not usually stay are some places where students say they have been bullied. The mention of attributes such as when, where, who is involved provides the background study toward the accumulating events of bullying, particularly in school. We are not to take this situation lightly, students mainly bystanders, instead of being a witness we must build courage to take action, to avoid the ignorance of the people, this sets as a good example and a courageous act.

Bullying, one of the dangerous acts out there, but what are its causes? Bullying happens due to some circumstances, such as the bully does not like the person or simply because they somewhat feel tough about it. They victimize people due to multiple reasons, such as jealousy, insecurity or misunderstanding from one individual to another. These are just one of the few common factors that causes this behavior within this toxic society. People judge these aspects thinking so highly of themselves, that they forget the word respect. Some people just cannot accept that there are other people that could be better than them in some ways. Another cause of bullying is also abuse. Some bullies were abused that is why they put their anger out to others, while other bullies seek attention from others which they do not get at home.

These acts of bullying can affect both the bullies and the victims, and some of the damages of these effects can be permanent. The effects of bullying to the victims are that they are forced to skip classes due to fear, self-harming, develops eating disorder. Some effects can be crucial to their mental well-being, and these are social anxiety, depression, which can even be the cause of suicide in most teens. The effects for the bully are that they become more violent if their acts were not tolerated in their early years and can be easily be involved in fights. The effects for the bully also include poor performance in school due to suspension of classes because of his actions, having a difficulty maintaining a good relationship with others, and increased risk of substance abuse. Bullying can also have long-term effects on the bully, such as ending up as an unemployed, risk of abusing their spouse and children, and substance abuse.

As already mentioned, bullying is one of the dangerous acts out there, but why is that millions claim that they are against bullying, but are still oblivious toward it? Knowledge of its affect and the reason behind why there is a bully is a wakeup call for us to take action rather than to ignore.

In the first paragraph of the essay, I have mentioned that we are a kind of society where awareness and ignorance are raised at the same time by the same people. To understand this, here is a recent incident of bullying that blew up last 20th of December 2018. A video of a junior high school student and taekwondo athlete of Ateneo de Manila University where he attacked his fellow student in the school’s restroom, which caused the victim’s nose to bleed. Days after the video went viral, the Ateneo de Manila University released a statement that the bully has been dismissed from the school and is no longer allowed to enter the school premises. The Philippine Taekwondo Association also said that the bully is in an indefinite ban from the sport. The video gained a lot of attention from the netizens. Various opinions were put forward regarding this issue: some gave constructive criticisms about the school and the bully’s family, while others commend the victim for choosing dignity over violence. But in reality, more people gave more fuel to the fire. Awareness was raised, but ignorance was raised higher. Meme after meme, hate comments after hate comments, some netizens even posted their address online. People did this to a 15-year-old bully because it served him right for what he has done to the victim. Most of them were against bullying, but there they are doing the same thing on him. People should have helped a 15-year-old bully see his mistakes and learn from them instead of going overboard by bashing him all over the Internet.

People had the choice to stop bullying, but they choose to continue. There are a lot of other ways to teach not just him, but also all the other bullies to teach them their lessons. Bullies should be given proper sanctions by their school. Their parents should undergo counseling to help them become more responsible parents to their children. And for the victims of bullying, do not keep the pain to yourself and be brave to speak out and as help from others, do not let the fear prevent you from giving the bully the punishment they deserve. Fight the bully not with the way they want you to, but by defending yourself in the right way. Bystanders can also help stop bullying by standing up for the victims through reporting the incident to the authorities. Schools can conduct seminars to help students know more about bullying and programs that will protect its students from bullying. Parents could also help their children who suffer from bullying by being their support system. Parents should make their children feel that they are not alone and that they are loved. The society has more power to stop or to continue bullying. This society should learn how to accept, accept that everyone is different in their own unique way, and nothing is wrong with that. And if this society cannot accept that, then this society really is a hypocrite society where awareness and ignorance is raised at the same time by the same people.

References

1. Bonilla, R.R.C. (2018, December 25). Taekwando Body Bans Ateneo Kid. Retrieved from https://businessmirror.com.ph/taekwondo-body-bans-ateneo-kid/
2. Bullying No Way! (n.d.). Why Does Bullying Happen? Retrieved from https://bullyingnoway.gov.au/UnderstandingBullying/WhyDoesBullyingHappen
3. Ditch the Label (2017, September 1). Top 10 Tips for Overcoming Bullying. Retrieved from https://www.ditchthelabel.org/top-10-tips-for-overcoming-bullying/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1Oi81LbU3wIVy6uWCh1V1Qv5EAAYASAAEgLo8_D_BwE
4. Hurley, K. (2018, September 26). Short Term and Long Term Effects of Bullying. Retrieved from http://www.easybib.com/reference/guide/apa/website
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6. Kaplan, K. (2014, March 10). Teens Taunted by Bullies Are More Likely to Consider, Attempt Suicide. Retrieved from http://articles.latimes.com/2014/mar/10/science/la-sci-sn-bullying-cyberbullying-suicide-risk-20140310
7. Nelz, J. (2018, December 21). Identity of Ateneo Student Involved in Bullying Incident Revealed. Retrieved from https://philnews.ph/2018/12/21/identity-of-ateneo-student-involved-in-bullying-incident-revealed/
8. No bully (n.d.). How Does Bullying Happen? [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.nobully.org/about-bullying/how-does-bullying-happen
9. STOMP Out Bullying (n.d.). Are You Being Bullied? How to Deal with Bullies. [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.stompoutbullying.org/get-help/about-bullying-and-cyberbullying/are-you-being-bullied
10. The SONET BULL (n.d.). Where Does Bullying Occur? Retrieved from http://www.sonetbull-platform.eu/where-does-bullying-occur
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12. YNARA (2018, December 23). Ateneo Dismisses Joaquin Montes In Bullying Incident. Retrieved from https://newsfeed.ph/news/39871/ateneo-dismisses-student-in-bullying-incident/

Bullying is a world phenomenon that has the achievable of impacting on youth each physically and psychologically. It on occasion reasons teenagers to drop out of school and permanently damages both the psyche and education of the child.

Bullying is defined as an intended and continuous misuse of power towards others through verbal, social and physical behavior aiming to cause harm physically, psychologically or socially. It usually takes place when an individual or a group misusing their power towards another individual or a group who are unable to defend themselves. There are certain defining factors of an act of bulling. First is that a bully finds pleasure in intentionally harming others. This act is severe and occurs continuously. Bullies usually exercise their power towards individual who are weaker, younger, bodily smaller, or not the same gender as them. Victims of bullying are selected because of their inability to defend themselves. Lack of concern by the people around the bulling victims results in withdrawal of reporting the incidents, and this causes them issues which last longer, such as dropping out of school or recreational activities.

Three main forms of bullying can be distinguished, namely: physical bullying, sexual bullying, emotional bullying and cyberbullying. Physical bullying consists of bodily acts such as punching, poking, strangling, suffocating, burning, poisoning, hair pulling, biting, stabbing and/or shoving. However, this type of bullying also consists of forcing any individual to hand over pocket money or possessions, or demanding to copy a person’s homework. Emotional bullying includes a vary of things to do such as terrorizing, defaming, humiliating, blackmailing and ostracizing someone. It additionally includes deliberately excluding any individual from group activities, spreading rumors and name-calling. Sexual bullying can be verbal (making remarks about a person’s body, telling inappropriate sexual jokes or spreading sexual rumors), bodily (grabbing a girl learner’s breasts, flashing of genital organs or mooning, pinching in a sexual way) or visible (displaying nude pictures, making obscene gestures). When a tween or a teen makes use of the Internet, a smartphone, or one-of-a-kind science to harass, threaten, embarrass, or purpose some specific person, it is cyberbullying. If a grownup is concerned in the harassment, it is referred to as cyber-harassment or cyberstalking. Examples of cyberbullying consist of posting hurtful images, making threats online, and sending hurtful emails or texts. Because teens and tweens are consistently plugged in, cyberbullying is a creating concern amongst younger people. It’s moreover turning into extended extensive due to the truth bullies can harass their pastimes with heaps much less hazard of being caught. Cyberbullies regularly say matters that they do now no longer have the braveness to say face-to-face. Technology makes them feel anonymous, insulated, and detached from the situation. To the ambitions of cyberbullying, it feels invasive and never-ending. Bullies can get to them every and each and every time and anywhere, generally in the protection of their very own homes. As a result, the penalties of cyberbullying are significant.

There are three categories of bullying. Proactive bullies are extra aggressive in nature and want no provocation to harm or humiliate every other person. Reactive bullies have been previously victims themselves and retaliate by bullying other smaller and weaker people. Proactive victims provoke fights with other children and if challenged, they are speedy to cry or show exaggerated responses.

Due to the fact that bullying is most common in the school environment, for its prevention in these conditions, teachers, administrators and learners must understand what it constitutes. Teachers and school staff must Identify potential bullies and victims. Different forms of bullying must be identified and described. The extent of bullying must be determined by means of observations and questionnaires. This may enable the school to develop an antibullying policy. An anti-bullying committee consisting of staff, parents and learners must be established, and it should plan awareness and prevention activities.

In conclusion of this short essay about bullying, I’m can say that it is a serious, noteworthy problem. Parents and educators must stay vigilant, look for these warning signs, and attempt to address problems quickly. Learners must feel safe at school; parents and other adults can help learners who suffer at the hands of bullies by paying attention to warnings signs. For instance, when kids come home with unexplained scratches, bruises, and torn clothing, sudden decreased interest in school (wants to stay at home), or talks about being sad, anxious, depressed, or having panic attacks. Improved communication among school administrators, teachers, parents and learners will encourage bully victims to open up, and this will reduce chances of continuous bullying.