The
global epidemic of bullying is a major risk factor for poor physical and mental
health (Wolke and Lereya 1). “Bullying is a significant public health problem
because it is prevalent and harmful. Between 20% and 56% of young people are
involved in bullying annually” (Hertz, Donato, and Wright 1). The U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services (2018) defines bullying as “unwanted, aggressive behavior among school
aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance.” The worldwide
problem of bullying has been publicized in the media happening in schools as
well as workplaces, sports teams, social groups and even among families such as
parents bullying kids or older siblings bullying younger ones. Bullying research has shown “that there is a relationship between bullying and
depression and that this relationship may help to explain the relationship
between bullying and suicide is fairly consistent across papers” (Hertz, Donato, and Wright
3). There are many disastrous effects
such as “youth who are bullied are
more likely to be depressed or anxious, have lower academic achievement, report
feeling like they do not belong at school, have poorer social and emotional
adjustment, greater difficulty making friends, poorer relationships with classmates,
and greater loneliness”(Wagner1). Schoolteacher,
parents, and law enforcement need to concentrate their efforts to stop the epidemic
of bullying, because it leads to anxiety, low self-esteem, and depression.
Which have negative psychological effects on its victims and overall impact to
society.
History
Bullying is a phenomenon
that has been prominent for centuries but has only been brought to the forefront
with the social and mass media highlights of it. Bullying has been recorded throughout time.
“The Bible is riddled with references to violence festered by the spirit of
bullying. Specific examples include Cain and Abel, the rivalry of Joseph and
his brothers, David and Goliath, and the parable of the Good Samaritan” (Allanson,
Lester and Notar 31).
The types of bullying have evolved over the centuries and so
has the definition, an “antiquated
definitions for a positive sense of the word bully ranged from
“sweetheart”, “fine fellow” and “blusterer” (1530s through 17th century). An
1864 U.S. slang “bully for you!” preserved this positivity, however, the
meaning waned to that of a 1680s version “harasser of the weak” (Hand have
links to the Dutch and French word boel meaning "false talk,
fraud," or "deception, trick, scheming, intrigue" (Allanson, Lester and Notar 31). According to Stopbullying.gov, bullying is
now defined as aggressive behavior that is unwanted. The behavior must be repeated or must have the
potential to be repeated to be characterized as bullying. Currently, there are three types of main
bullying: “social, verbal and physical”
(U.S. Department of Health & Human Services 2018). Prior to the 1980‟s, the problem of bullying
in the U.S. was not considered a serious event, “bullying was considered the
norm or an initiation of rites of passage. However, due to the deaths,
violence, and mental health issues was bullying seen as a major problem that
needed immediate attention. Those victimized by bullying may suffer from: poor
academic performance, low self-esteem, and on occasion take their own life or
the life of the bully” (Allanson, Lester and Notar 33). Mason researcher found “Bullying among
teenagers is a global problem that can take a toll on teens’ health” (Musick
2010). As bullying has become a major concern
in America and all over the world, there is still major work to be done on
ending the epidemic. The social effects
and long lasting effects bullying has on its victims, society and family is
long felt.
Social Effects
The social effects of bullying involve not
only the victim of the bullying but all of society. Bullying affects those who are the target of bullying, the bullies, and observers
of the bullying. Stopbullying.gov
stresses “ parents, school
staff, and other adults in the community can help kids prevent bullying by
talking about it, building a safe school environment, and creating a
community-wide bullying prevention strategy” U.S. Department of Health & Human Services 2018). A major social effect of bullying witnessed
locally was the Santa Fe High School shooting.
Ten people died and more than thirteen others were injured after
Dimitrios Pagourtzis went on a killing attack aimed at his fellow high school
students and staff (Villafranca).
CBS News
wrote in an article on May 21, 2018 “Antonios Pagourtzis, the father of
the shooter, told the Wall Street Journal his son was "a good boy"
and had been "mistreated at school." He said his son was bullied and
said, "I believe that's what was behind the shooting." (Villafranca).
Therefore, it is important that all of
society works to fight the social effects of the world- wide epidemic of bullying
to prevent the negative affects it can cause. According to Stopbullying.gov, anxiety and low self-esteem is
one of the adverse effects of bullying (U.S. Department of Health & Human
Services 2018). “Those who bully others are more likely to
drink alcohol and use cigarettes, to have poorer academic achievement and
poorer perceived school climate, but to also report greater ease of making
friends”. (Hertz, Donato, and Wright 4)
“Involvement in bullying can also have long-lasting, detrimental effects months
or even years after the bullying occurs. Young people who are bullied are more
likely than uninvolved youth to develop depression and anxiety and report
abdominal pain and feeling tense over the course of a school year. One study
examining the impact of bullying victimization of those who were between 9, 11,
and 13 years of age when they were victimized found, that over a 7-year period,
youth who were bullied were more likely to develop generalized anxiety and
panic disorder as adults while bully-victims were more likely to subsequently
suffer from depression, panic disorder, and suicidality” (Hertz, Donato, and Wright).
This incident did not
only affects the victim it affected all of the city of Santa Fe and the country,
especially surrounding communities. The
victims’ families will continue to suffer for a long time. Witness to the shooting will have long-term
mental issues, and the way we all go about our school day will be forever
changed.
Another, consequence of bullying is that victims develop
depression. “Results indicated that each of the predictors were associated
with risk for suicidal ideation and behavior (range, 2.12 [95% confidence
interval (CI), 1.67–2.69] to 4.02 [95% CI, 2.39–6.76]). Significant
heterogeneity remained across each analysis. The bullying perpetration and
suicidal behavior effect sizes were moderated by the study’s country of origin;
the bully/victim status and suicidal ideation results were moderated by
bullying assessment method” (Holt 500). Several recent
studies also found an association between, these studies, in conjunction with
extensive media coverage of the deaths by suicide of several young people who
were victims of bullying, led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) to convene an expert panel focusing on the relationship between bullying
involvement and suicide-related behaviors. The purpose of the panel, held in
September 2010, was to synthesize the latest research about the relationship
between youth involvement in bullying (youth who bully, youth who are bullied,
and those who bully and are bullied) and suicide-related behaviors (attempts,
fatalities, and risk factors associated with suicide, such as depression)” (Hertz,
Donato, and Wright 1).
Unfortunately, depression evaluation is usually omitted
during initial reports of being bullied (Wagner 1). Victims usually have
suffered for long periods by the time depression is diagnosed. This means that earlier detection of the
onset of depression symptoms could aid in preventing bullying victims from
lapsing into major mental problems that could have terrible outcomes (Wagner 2). “Stakeholders
in education and health should consider broadening their focus beyond just
providing services to those who are already involved in bullying or
suicide-related behaviors, but also in implementing strategies to prevent
bullying and suicidal behavior from occurring in the first place” (Hertz, Donato, and Wright
3).
Examples
Bullying has hit a global epidemic. We hear of stories every day from media
reports, possibly witnessing it in our schools, workplace, or even maybe a
victim ourselves.
“A 14-year-old girl in treatment for depression
reported that she was being bullied in
school. She said that girls in her classes constantly made negative comments
about her appearance, dress, and behavior. They excluded her from social
activities despite her desire to participate. She said that the girls were
telling lies about her to boys in the class, which was damaging her reputation.
What upset her the most was that an online site had been created in which
students were encouraged to write all the reasons they hated her. She cried and
said that she could not avoid the bullying even outside of school. She believed
the only way to escape the bullying was to not exist anymore, and she confirmed
that she was suicidal.” (Wagner 1).
The most recent forms
of bullying, such as “Cyberbullying
has become an international public health concern among adolescents, and as
such, it deserves further study”. (Nixon 147) “Adolescents who are targeted via cyberbullying report increased
depressive affect, anxiety, loneliness, suicidal behavior, and somatic
symptoms”
(Nixon 148). I have been a victim of bullying,
which made me suffer a lot of psychological stress. I decided to report an unprofessional teacher
because he was bullying me to my high school principal. He threatened me daily that he would tell my
coach and parents that I was causing trouble in his class if I ever revealed
his “secret” life of hanging out with students away from school. Once I reported the unprofessional teacher,
he was fired from his job. However, the
bullying did not stop.
I became
a victim of cyber-bullying, which made me suffer even more. A girl outside of my social group posted on
Twitter that I was the one who should be kicked out of the school and not the
unprofessional teacher. She posted a
poll on Twitter asking whom between the teacher and Blake should be expelled
from our high school. The social effects
I felt were loss of sleep and depression.
Friends called, texted, came up to me at school, and said they would not
be able to hang out with me because they did not want to be associated with the
negative bullying. I began isolating
myself from my friends and family. Everyone
must understand that bullying can happen to anyone.
I play varsity
football and my girlfriend is the homecoming queen. I have a strong mental state but the
malicious actions of others can often have far-reaching negative consequences. “What
is important for victims is to learn how to take action and deal with bullying
when it occurs” (U.S. Department of
Health & Human Services 2018). The challenges I faced made me
want to encourage government officials to look for solutions to help deal with
the epidemic of bullying.
Solutions
Parents,
schools, communities and children all play a role in stopping bullying. Keeping the lines of communication open with
kids and discussing that bullying is wrong is the first step to stop bullying. Helping kids understand that they need to
communicate to a trusted adult if they are bullied is also an import step in
stopping bullying (U.S. Department of Health
& Human Services). In fact “Being bullied by peers is the most frequent
form of abuse encountered by children, much higher than abuse by parents or
other adult perpetrators” (Wolke and
Leyera 882). Therefore, it is important
to concentrate on solutions to stop childhood bullying. According to Charisse Nixon in her research
found few studies have looked at the prevention of bulling “in fact, 95% of
adolescents are connected to the Internet. This shift from face-to-face
communication to online communication has created a unique and potentially
harmful dynamic for social relationships – a dynamic that has recently been
explored in the literature as cyberbullying and Internet harassment” (Nixon
143).
“Many bullied children suffer in silence, and
are reluctant to tell their parents or teachers about their experiences, for
fear of reprisals or because of shame.87 Up to 50% of children say they would
rarely, or never, tell their parents, while between 35% and 60% would not tell
their teacher”.(Wolke and Leyera 884). Therefore, we must raising awareness among educators,
health care professionals, parents, and adolescents concerning the serious
nature of the epidemic of bullying. This
is one of the first steps in the path to end the epidemic of bullying. Caring adults and mentors must make it a top
priority to reach out to adolescents and establish meaningful relationships
with them so that children feel comfortable reporting bullying to them (Nixon
1580). The U.S. Government involvement
in the epidemic includes websites like Stopbullying.gov and campaigns in
schools to help children understand bullying.
There is not a specific law to prevent bullying according to
Stopbullying.gov but “when bullying is
based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or religion, bullying
overlaps with harassment and schools are legally obligated to address it but
Americans are protected to some degree by” (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services). Solutions and prevention must stay at the forefront of the government,
communities, schools, clinicians, and parents to help end this epidemic.
Camus and Absurdity
Albert Camus “thought
that life had no meaning, that nothing exists that could ever be a source of
meaning, and hence there is something deeply absurd about the human quest to
find meaning” (Maguire). Camus
“philosophical view was called (existentialist) absurdism.” (Maguire). One of the questions Albert Camus examined
was life in the face of death.
Camus main belief was The Myth of Sisyphus. He says, “There is only one really serious philosophical problem,
and that is suicide” (Magurie). Camus’s
understanding of absurdity is best seen in “Sisyphus, condemned for all eternity to push a boulder up a
mountain only to have it roll to the bottom again and again, fully recognizes
the futility and pointlessness of his task. But he willingly pushes the boulder
up the mountain every time it rolls down” (Magurie). Therefore, the question Camus might
ask is “Will Bullying Ever End’? It is a
cycle that has gone on for centuries.
One child bullying another to have another bully someone else. We struggle like Sisyphus to push it to an
end but it just rolls back down. Stop Bullying campaigns are in place at High
Schools but they do not prevent students like Dimitrios Pagourtzis from being
bullied and the consequence of the rock being push to the top to only have it
roll back was seen in his outcome of how to deal with the bullying was to end
lives. If we have an honest
confrontation with the truth but at the same time not let it destroy us, by
facing the epidemic of bullying we address the meaning in it.
Conclusion
In conclusion,
“Bullying is a significant public health problem
because it is prevalent and harmful”. (Hertz,
Donato, and Wright 1). Bullying should be eradicated from our modern
society, because it will led to anxiety, low self-esteem and depression. This can then effect the victim of bullying enough to lead
to deadly consequences such as suicide or mass shooting. Cyberbullying will
ruin someone reputation which can lead to that person having depression, and
anxiety it can also cause psychological distress. Depression and Anxiety go
undiagnosed most of the time, and without treatment, it can lead to serious
effect. Bullying will also led to low
academic performance at school and work. There is a need for societies and
schools to intensify the fight against bullying to protect children and
students from the negative effects of this epidemic.
Works
Cited
Allanson, Patricia, Lester, Robin, and Notar,
Charles. “A History of Bullying.” International Journal of Education and Social
Science: 2:12 (2015): 31-56.
Hughes, Thomas, 1822-1896. Tom Brown's School-Days.
Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, 1882. Print.
Hertz,
Marci, Feldman, Donato, Ingrid, and James Wright. “Bullying and Suicide: A
Public Health Approach.” The Journal of adolescent health : 53.1 (2013):
S1–S3. PMC.
Holt,
Melissa K. et al. “Bullying and Suicidal Ideation and Behaviors: A
Meta-Analysis.” Pediatrics 135.2 (2015): 496–e509.
Maguire,
Laura. “Camus and Absurdity”.
https://www.philosophytalk.org/blog/camus-and-absurdity. 27 February 2015.
Musick,
Marjorie. Teen Bullying a Global Problem,
Say Health Researchers. George Mason University (2010). Web 26 Sept. 2018.
Nixon,
Charisse L. “Current Perspectives: The Impact of Cyberbullying on Adolescent
Health.” Adolescent Health, Medicine and Therapeutics 5
(2014): 143–158. PMC.
U.S. Department of Health & Human
Services. (2018). “What is Bullying”. https://www.stopbullying.gov/. 26 Sept
2018.
Wagner, Karen. “Bullying and Depression
in Youths” Psychiatric Times Vol. 33.
2, (2016): 1-5
Villafranca, O. “Santa Fe High School Shooting Suspect's Father says son was Bullied” CBN News, 31 May 2018
Wolke,
Dieter, and Suzet Tanya Lereya. “Long-Term Effects of Bullying.” Archives
of Disease in Childhood 100.9 (2015): 879–885.
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