Bullying

Just a report/editorial paper I had to finish for school. I switched it up a little bit. It used to be directed towards teen audiences. Maybe you can relate to it. I'm sure everyone should be able to relate to it, unless you've never ever attended school in your life.

Have you ever seen bullying or harassment going on? Did you do anything to try and stop it? With many issues in the world today, important problems that are going on in schools are not receiving as much attention as they should be. One of these problems would be bullying. Today, more kids than ever before are getting bullied. Most of the bullying goes on at school; a place kids and teens have to attend everyday. Whether it’s going on behind the scenes or in public, it’s there, and it needs to be stopped. These days, not enough is being done to prevent bullying. With everyone so busy and caught up in their own lives, people do not realize that bullying is a more serious issue than it is taken for.

Besides being able to cause physical problems, bullying can cause long-term severe psychological and emotional problems, like anxiety, depression, withdrawal, or a need for complete control. According to ScienceDaily.com, about 9 percent of students have a video game addiction, as a result of not being able to handle real-life situations due to bullies. Mark Dombeck, a specialist in psychology who was also bullied as a kid, says “Being the repetitive target of bullying damages your ability to view yourself as a desirable, capable and effective individual.” Many long term affects of bullying are not easily identified, therefore people take the issue very lightly. If the affects of bullying were easier to see, perhaps there would be more realization of how serious the issue is.

Bullying affects the everyday lives of students. Many students are being controlled by their fear of not fitting in. In many cases, not fitting in means getting bullied. Statistics on 4TroubledTeens.com, a website that focuses on issues teens deal with, show that every seven minutes a student gets bullied. 85% of the time other students do not interfere, for fear of making themselves a target. Bullying also interferes with academics. 8% of students miss at least one day of school a month to avoid bullying. Not only are parents of bullies and peers not doing enough to prevent bullying, but schools aren’t either. Many parents have been reported to taking their children out of school for home schooling, as a result of the school board not recognizing bullying as a serious problem. Should such action have to be taken to escape this harassment? Why is this harassment going on to this extent in the first place? In order to effectively prevent this problem, more than one group of people need to make an effort. Parents, teachers, and even peers need to step up to the plate, or else we will get nowhere in stopping this.

Many do not realize that the outcomes of bullying can be very severe. Edartical.com states that between 1994 and 1999, over 128 students committed homicide or suicide relating to school events. 28 of these students committed suicide. When bullying takes place, not only is the victim harmed, but in some cases the bully is put in danger as well. There has been many incidents where a victim of bullying has gone out seeking revenge towards their aggressor, and sometimes the revenge they choose to use is very dangerous. Many people do, in fact, know that bullying is going on. It does not affect their own lives though, so therefore the do not recognize it as a problem. If bullying continues to go on like this, we will just see worse results.

More of a stand needs to be taken against bullying, before the situation intensifies. With students having withdrawals, missed school days, and suicide attempts, this problem needs to stop. The chances are very high that you know someone that is getting bullied. Students should be able to go to school without fear, and receive their education in peace. If you see a bullying going on, please step up and help. We need to do more to fix this issue. By ignoring and avoiding this problem, it only gets worse.