Bullying by Erica Morhet

              

             Bullying is something that has gone of for years. It seems there is always a new form of bullying. Bullying sources from anger and strong behavior intended to hurt another person. It can be done repeatedly and intentionally to cause harm to another individual. Many of times it usually is the more timid or smaller individual that gets targeted. Many people do not take the right precautions to help those being affected. Bullying comes in many different forms, and happens in many different places such as; schools, homes, work places, social media, and society.

            Unfortunately, bullying is not anything new. It has gone on for years and years. Many people did not recognize this occurring way back in time, but it did. Bullies have always been a part of different groups and cliques especially in schools and work places (ASIS). It even started in the earliest civilizations, religion, teams, families and neighborhoods.  Bullying in schools is a big thing that has gone on for as long as we know. It is something that is open to the public eye. People may feel here is not much that can be done to stop bulling because it happens a lot of times between closed doors, and is never talked about or brought up. For one, out of fear or kids just blow it off. Bullying in a workplace as we know of today first entered the public in the early 1980’s. Sexual harassment was a big issue during this time (ASIS). This type of bullying still goes on in our work places to this day. Many people might not see these types of actions that go  on in a work place as bulling, but  it is actually four times more common in the United States than anywhere else in the world. In behavioral studies bulling is now linked to suicide and other violent actions(ASIS). As for bulling in schools it’s been a serious issue for decades. It has been going on since the 18th century (Tamietti). During that time in the 18th century bulling was not understood and little recognized (Tamietti). What is seen as violent behavior nowadays might not have been perceived as violent back then. In many ways research has made a huge impact on bulling and expanded its meaning in many ways. The term bullying has changed over the years drastically. In the 18th and 19th centuries bulling was viewed mainly as verbal or physical abuse (Tamietti). Every type of bullying has changed tremendously over time, and in todays time it is still something serious.

            Bulling can have many effects on people. Those directly involved and even bystanders, could suffer major long term effects. School bulling needs to be responded to whether or not the person shows serious or immediate harm (Impact). By responding to the action immediately it can keep the problem from escalating or even happen again. Feeling unsafe to go to school because of bulling can cause kids to want to stay home. This could lead to other problems. Other strong impacts from bulling can result in depression, anxiety, and other social problems including being in groups. Researchers have identified negative effects in adults many years later down the line (Impact). Many kids who are bullied online also get bullied in person by the same people. Being bullied online can also lead to social, psychological, and educational issues (Impact). Online bulling can actually cause more harm than being bullied in person. It can create strong levels of social anxiety and a sense of loss of dignity and ‘agency’.  Agency is the sense of  a persons ability to make choices, and their control over what has happened in their life. (Impact). These people who have been bullied can find them feeling powerless and unable to stop the horrible act, it can lead to lasting harm on this individual. The effects of bulling are entitled to each individual. The effects on people can be different depending on if they have been effected by being bullied for a long period of time or for a shorter period time. Many times the reason people bully others is because they are not happy with themselves or their life situation. Although bullies can seem as a small problem, in time it may lead to criminal actions later on in their life.

            Looking back on high school I can see where even myself, personally have been bullied. I remember a few times back in my junior year I was dating someone, and we had broken up but were still really good friends. I assumed this one girl liked him at the time because of her actions. I would still go over to his house and visit as friends. We lived in the same subdivision it was just a short walk around the block. One evening were outside, he was working on his car and this car full of girls came driving by saying some really mean and hurtful things to me. I just blew it off and didn’t let it get to me. We both where a little confused. We found out it was that one girl and her group of friends. They all continued to pick on me in school as well. They would pass by me in the hall and give me dirty looks and say “ew” as they passed by, I still continued to ignore them and go about my business. They then started to threaten me that they where going to beat me up, but in my heart I knew that they where all talk. Nothing ended up happening, they eventually stopped and we all went on with our lives. Another time I can think of when one of my friends was bullied by one of the neighborhood kids, we where just in fifth grade. Two of my best friends, Bethany and Mercedes, and I we were walking around the neighborhood talking having a good time when this boy was walking the other way. He had said something and we ignored him, then he said something again, and it was not nice at all. He was saying rude things to my friend Mercedes, saying horrible things about her being Mexican and other rude accusations.  I knew it hurt her feelings so I went to go stick up for my friend, I usually don’t let things slide when it comes to my friends. I had walked up to him and said something to him about his comments. He then pushed me down on the ground and that was when it was all over with. I probably should have just walked away but now, I felt I had to stick up for myself. I then pushed him back and that ended up leading to us being in a full on fight. I was swinging protecting myself as he was coming for me, somehow it all ended and I went home to tell my parents what had happened. A little later on there was a knock at the door, it was the boy with his Mother. His mom made him apologize,  go to the store and get flowers and a card for the both myself and my friend Mercedes. In the end he learned a lesson and never picked on us again. Bulling can happen at any age in any place. Always do the right thing and stick up for yourself.

            Bullying will forever be a problem in our society. It has gone on for years and will continue. Every person should speak up about getting bullied to others and to adults. This could help prevent these problems from happening a second, third, or fourth time. If you are the one going through these issues, it may feel very challenging to get through,  but eventually it will come to a stop if you take action.  Many people have dealt with bullies from being in a school classroom to a desk job, it can happen anywhere at any age. There many ways to take

precautions to prevent bullying that comes at them in many different ways. As mentioned, talking to an adult, friend, parent, someone you trust, and even sometimes the person afflicting pain upon you, this is a great start.

            With bullying being such a common thing you would think people could stop it, but that’s not the case. There are many solutions to stop or even prevent bullying from happening. Since, bullying is so big in schools it is usually a bigger problem. Bullying is usually done when teachers or peers are not around. If you are being bullied, tell them to stop, and if they do not, try to get away as fast as you can from that situation. Once you have left the situation go to a teacher, or an adult that you trust and tell them what happened. You never want to let it go and not tell anyone, because it can continue to happen if the situation is not addressed. By, having an adult talk to the people that are bullying you might open their eyes and realize what they are doing, and it could get them to stop bullying you. If, you see someone else getting bullied do not just walk by like you never saw what occurred. Try to stop them from harming another individual, get in between them, and tell them to stop. Go get an adult to help stop the situation, tell them exactly what is going on. Once the problem is solved maybe try to be the kids friend who was getting bullied, maybe he did not have many friends that is why he was getting bullied. Take their side and stick up for them when you see that something isn’t right or going their way. “A great solution to stop bullying is to train students and teachers how to recognize bullying” (Six). This could be a big impact on lowering the amount of bullying going around in schools. If, students are aware of the bullying happening in their schools maybe they would look out for one another more often. For, teachers to recognize bullying is a big thing because they are the adults that these children in schools mentor. If, students see teachers ignoring bullying so will they. Teachers are a big impact on younger generations so it is so important for them to protect the kids who they are teaching and influencing. There are many clubs or groups you can join in schools (six). “By starting an anti bullying club that could help stop bullying in many schools” (Six). By, kids joining this group to stop bullying it could create a safe place for these kids to join each other and protect one another from bullies in their school.

           Imagine how many kids get bullied every day. There have been many surveys and polls run with kids getting bullied daily. One survey said that “67% of kids who took the survey witnessed bullying happening in their school” (Bullying). As you can see on this graph above, there are so many ways kids can get bullied. A percentage of it comes from social media. Name calling and spreading rumors are some of the big issues of bullying. Kids do not care what they say or how it makes another person feel. Until, it happens to them they will continue to bully because they do not know what it feels like to be hurt and called different names. Many kids do not realize they are bullying another individual. Some kids are raised differently than others. Many do not have a filter so whatever comes to mind is exactly what they are going to say to you. This could be harmful to other kids their age because they do not know how to filter out the good and the bad. They could take it the wrong way as it was not intended. By, having a joke with one of their friends who gets it and saying that joke to another person who has never heard it before could take it to heart and think they are serious. It is all about perception and how you speak to others. Tone is a big issue with speech, someone could say the same thing in many tones and it could mean something different every time. Being kind always to anyone you see or meet is the best solution to not hurting one’s feelings. Why is it so important to prevent bullying? By, trying to prevent bullying it helps keep kids safe from the harmful words other kids say. By stepping in and taking action on someone getting bullied it could help that kid from getting bullied again, and maybe make the bully realize it will not be tolerated.  Standing up for one another could help decrease the amount of bulling going around and maybe even completely stop bullying all around. There are so many types of bullying and places it is happening, it is everyones job to look out for it and stop it. No matter how much you do not want to get involved always step in and help out the person getting bullied, be the bigger person and share kindness wherever you go. I think Albert Camus would have seen bullying as being absurd. He saw individuals as being free in their own way By kids bringing other kids down is not letting them be free in their own way.

Works cited

“A Brief History of Bullying.” ASIS Security Management, 1 May 2017, sm.asison                                    line.org/Pages/A-Brief-History-of-Bullying.aspx.

“Bullying.” American Psychological Association, American Psychological                                                  Association, 1 Feb. 2018, www.apa.org/topics/bullying/.

Bullying Awareness Guidebook: Students Staying Safe in School. (2013). Retrieved September                           25, 2018, from https://www.accreditedschoolsonline.org/bullying-awareness-                                         guidebook/

“Bullying Solutions.” HEAR, project-hear.us/bullying-solutions/.

“Impact of Bullying.” Bullying No Way!, 2018, llyingnoway.gov.au/Understand                                                ingBullying/Pages/Impact-of-bullying.aspx.

“Six Simple Solutions to Bullying.” Not in Our Town, 25 Sept. 2012,                                                                    www.niot.org/blog/six-simple-solutions-bullying.

Tamietti, Robin. “History of Bullying.” History Of, 1 Jan. 1970,                                                                             bullying190.blogspot.com/2012/10/history-of-bullying.html.