Bullying
and its Effects on the Youth
Technology has improved
over the years and with that comes more ways for bullying to occur. There are many people who say that bullying doesn’t
lead to increased suicides or that the bullies don’t have their own
insecurities however this is not true.
People who bully tend to have their own insecurities but instead of
dealing with them they tease and put down others. There are many hotlines and people that
bullies and bullying victims can talk to, to sort through everything that is
happening. Bullying does not just effect
the victims but it effects everyone who is involved whether it be the parents
and/or friends of the victim, the bully themselves, and many others.
Bullying has always been
a huge issue in society, but over the years the
severity of the issue has increased dramatically. Many of the factors that have contributed to
the increase in bullying is a result of technology and the growing use and availability
of it. Technology has made it all too easy for
people to bully who wouldn’t normally bully someone because it would have had
to be face to face. Now they can hide behind their computer screen
and say whatever they want and some how they feel better about it.
So when is enough going to be enough for us to
take serious actions to help stop bullying and cyber-bullying?
In the Report to the
Anti-bullying Alliance, they defined bullying as
an aggressive, intentional act or behavior that iscarried out by a group or an individual repeatedly and over time against avictim who cannot easily defend him or herself. Many times bullying stems from the bully
having many of their own situations or self-esteem issues they haven’t dealt
with and so they take it out on other innocent people. Bullying can come in many different forms,
such as,
face-to-face, text messages,
chat rooms, and social media: Facebook, twitter
etc. Before technology took off and many social
networks came to be live chat rooms is where cyber-bullying took place. Now days there is Facebook, twitter,
Instagram, and snap chat just to name a few. Many people comment destructive posts on kids
facebook and instagram which makes it that much more difficult to control. Due to the fact that it is more accessible
for people to cyber-bully and not have to be face-to-face because of the amount
of outlets and being able to connect with more people virtually.
The effects and
consequences that come with bullying are very severe. It can not only cause emotional damage, but
it can also cause physical damage too.
Many people either don’t think about how destructive their words can be
to a person or they do and they still continue to harass someone. No matter what these words can have many
psychological consequences and effects.
Bullying can cause a person to lose their self confidence which would
make them become more quiet and less involved.
It can cause depression which in turn can cause self-harm or
hatred.
According to stopbullying.gov
bullying is linked to many negative effects such as depression, drug and/or
alcohol abuse, and suicide. A very small number of bullied kids sometimes alsoretaliate very violently through school shootings. Bullying doesn’t just effect the
victims personal life, but it can also effect their school life and every other
aspect of their lives. Their grades can
start to drop, their health can start to be effected also, and how they deal
with day to day things can also be effected.
Often times it is seen as
the victim is the only person who is impacted in the effects of bullying, but
that isn’t true. There are many people
who are impacted by the effects of bullying, such as, the victims family and
friends (dealing with how their family member or friend has been effected), the
bystanders or those who witness the bullying, and the bully themselves. According to the 2013 article on Bullying Statistics,
over 25 percent of adolescents and teens have been bullied repeatedly throughtheir cell phones or internet. Suicide is the third leading cause of deathin the U.S. claiming 4,400 lives a year.
Many groups or people
believe that cyber-bullying has nothing to do with the amount of teen
suicides. That the kids had mental
health issues before this that led to them committing suicide or cause harm to
themselves or others. While that might
be somewhat true, bullying also plays a major role in teen and adolescent suicide. The punishments and laws implemented on
bullies shouldn’t depend on whether or not the victims had mental health issues
before the bullying took place. If a
child already struggles with depression, self-esteem, or is having difficulty
finding where they fit into in the world, bullying isn’t going to make matters
any better. It causes the victim to
struggle even more than they were before and it can also lead to the consequences
being more severe.
There is a great debate
that the school systems aren’t doing anything to prevent bullying and or
cyberbullying from happening in the schools.
According to the Cyberbullying Research Center, the punishment for the
bullies depends on how bad the consequences of their actions are. If the victim has depression because of it
that would be a different punishment than if the victim were to commit suicide
or retaliate on the school. Which I both
agree and disagree, because bullying on any level should not be tolerated. If it is not dealt with right away then who
knows how bad it could end up.
So what is being done to
help prevent bullying? Many schools are
implementing strong policies that any form of bullying will not be tolerated. Some schools are making it possible forstudents to file complaints to the school if they’re being bullied or havewitnessed someone being bullied. The consequences for bullying vary depending
on which state you’re in, but they can range anywhere from civil penalties,
such as school intervention and suspension to jail time for criminal
misdemeanors and even felonies.
Bullying should never be
tolerated no matter how minimal the severity is. There are groups and people out there who
victims can talk to so they can help stop and put an end to the harassment. Teens and adolescents should never be afraid
to stand up for themselves and should never be put down and feel like they’re worthless. If you or anyone you know is being bullied
please reach out to someone and know that there are people who will help you
and that it will be ok.
I completely agree with your stance on why we should stop bullying. Today is not uncommon to go onto Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and other vices and find comments toward individuals that sport some very crude view points. I think that the idea of prevention needs to be addressed, because much like a disease you can get information before it strikes and increase prevention, or you can wait until something tragic has happened in order for realizations to set in. I don't think cyber bullying/bullying is talked about enough in school settings and that is easily something that could be done, we just need to realize how big of a threat this is becoming to students everywhere.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I think your post was very effective on getting your point across. I guess I did not realize just how prevalent bullying is. Furthermore, I found your report of the debate done on school systems especially interesting. I agree with you in the fact that no matter what form of bullying it is, it should not be permitted. Moreover, stopping an act of bullying can prevent that student from possibly continuing these habits or prevent the student being bullied from having these emotional consequences as a result. I know my brother is a principal in a school in Nebraska. He deals with bullying on a regular basis and I agree that it should be prevented.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with your argument. This is a very serious issue and I've seen this kind of bullying happen throughout middle and high school, as well as read about some very sad tragedies that have happened because of cyber bullying. I definitely agree with your point that schools need to take drastic measures to intervene and provide consequences for bullying of any kind. I think it's important for schools and parents to emphasis the importance to youth of not standing by if one is witnessing bullying and to take action even if they are just a bystander. Your blog was well written and provides solid information that persuades me logically. I do feel that bringing in a story about someone specific who has experienced this kind of bullying and the ramifications that resulted from it would strengthen your blog. I think this would have proved your point even further by giving readers something to relate to through sympathy or empathy. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThis is a very serious issue that needs to be addressed, especially to kids at a young and understanding age. As you said, there is a motive behind most bullies; like having a violent past or being bullied by somebody bigger than them and they reciprocate those acts to others who are smaller than them. Also, it is true for bullies to find easy targets like the mental and physically disabled or smaller in size. Also, social media was made for a positive advancement for the human race, but as it comes to no surprise bullies use it to their evil advantage. To improve upon this blog, I might have included a bullying story and how the victim overcame depression or the hateful or possible physical abuse.
ReplyDeleteI think you have a very good argument over an increasingly popular topic of discussion these days. Bullying has probably always been around, but it seems recently it has become a larger issue. I found it surprising that bullies can actually have jail time as a consequence--I think that brings up an even bigger debate over how far is too far? My mom is a first grade teacher and with so many kids in the classroom, I'm sure she misses some of the bullying that occurs. In addition, she knows her job is to teach the kids and not parent them, so there are some issues that she lets the kids handle on their own, instead of the school stepping in. This isn't to say I agree that bullying is okay, I'm just arguing that it is going to be hard to judge if a person is contemplating suicide or just depressed due to bullying to determine their punishment in the school system. I know not all bullying can stop, but it's people like you who speak out against it that will get us closer one step at a time.
ReplyDeleteWhen kids are growing up, there are so many things going on that the child and even authorities such as teachers or parents accidentally overlook. One thing would definitely be bullying. I agree with you that bullying is serious and should be looked for and treated as fast as possible. Like many people say “children are the future,” bullying can be very dangerous. In the future when these children grow up, it will not be good when all of them are depressed. I agree that technology plays a major role in bullying now. Verbal abuse through technology and all acts of bullying should not be tolerated and handled well enough that the bully will never think twice about doing it again.
ReplyDeleteThis has been a tough subject for year. I really like what you said about the post because bullying can be overlooked and kids do get hurt from this. I feel when people think of bullying they think of physical more than anything does. But like how you talked about cyper bullying and i think that is some of the worst type. People never have to worry about videos of them but people take videos all the time trying to make fun of people. On Facebook they make videos of the people of wall mart and a lot of the people can’t help their situations and they still get made fun of which I feel is the worst type of bullying and it takes away peoples comments. I thought it was interesting about how the schools are trying tougher policies because it can hurt the children as well because when a bullying gets in trouble it can make them meaner in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that something has to be done to prevent and stop bullying. It is already bad that somebody is being bullied face to face. But when it is done through a social network it makes it worse. Children can be very sweet, but they can turn into little demons. Oh, yes. They are just discovering the world and preparing themselves for the next stage in their lives. They can feel jealousy of one another very easy though, so the bullying begins. Teenagers are very prone to the cyberbullying because for them it is very important to be included in a group. They are more active on social media, so the bullying makes it harder on them. Your blog is very interesting and we should all put effort to prevent bullying.
ReplyDeleteBullying issues are quite even common among youths; therefore we have found these issues in schools, colleges, workplace and many other places. This will bring several kinds of negative attitude in our behavior and personality and kills our positive sense; so we should avoid these kinds of behavior as much as possible. We can get all kind of features and details about bullying in this article; therefore we should try to utilize some good qualities in our behavior instead of bullying.
ReplyDeletePersonal Coach