Social Epidemics: Bullying by Amy Hartzog

Bullying is a worldwide issue; there are many different types of bullying that happen everywhere. My boyfriend's little brother has a bit of autism in him. It is his first year in high school, and he hates it because all the kids are cruel and like to push him around. This causes him depression, anxiety, sadness, loneliness, etc. Kids nowadays don’t think about what others go through every single day. Nobody can just look at someone and just know his whole life story. This worldwide issue is a solvable situation and is a topic everyone needs to focus on.

The history of bullying has evolved over the years. the cause of this is the people and how evil this world is. Social media has made it easier for others to attack one another, over the years... There are many different types of bullying, and the social effects it has on others are anti-social effects such as avoiding school and people and causing self-harm. When people talk about being bullied, usually what pops up in everyone's brain is being physically bullied, but there are about four different types of bullying as in verbal, physical, relational and cyberbullying. This affects all youths, the attackers, victims and even the ones watching.

Verbal bullying can carry enormous weight, meaning name-calling, or disrespectful comments made. Words go a very long way in this generation. Girls are more likely to use this type of bullying; this type of bullying seems to affect their image to others which leads to low self-esteem and depression. Words contain much power behind every word that is spoken. This leads to missing school and falling behind in classes just to avoid conflict.

Physical bullying is one of the more serious types, meaning continuous hitting, unwanted pushing, tripping, spitting, and even damaging possessions of others. Boys are more likely to participate in this type of bullying. People who usually receive this type of treatment start to follow that path of turning into a bully and will start being more aggressive or might turn to suicide or other harmful items.

Relational bullying is very common in all ages, which is leaving someone out of the activities just because they are different or not good enough to be in the group. Just treating someone like they are invisible and making them feel unwanted usually happens usually between friend groups and is a little quieter than the other types of bullying, which is because the gossiping, information, and stories are being spread around the circle of friends.

Cyberbullying is the most common and easiest one everyone uses. This happens all over social media, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, text, and even Snapchat. The victims usually get attacked by the pictures they post or the comments they make for everyone to see. Cyberbullying is always made up of fake lies and information just to make someone else look bad. The victim doesn’t know who is bullying them all the time, even with the fake accounts that are made or the fake identities the bully hide behind. It is easier to bully using social media because most people won't say it to your face. They like to hide behind a screen and are ruthless from the comments they make.

Bullying has a big impact on society. Children take their lives every day and it affects many people. A little town in Kentucky a 10-year-old boy that was born with a birth defect killed himself because the children were picking on him. “There were three suicides in 2017-18 among students in Jefferson County Public Schools, which has more than 95,000 kindergartens through 12th graders” according to Renee Murphy the spokeswoman (Li 1). This affects the little town with the number of suicides happening in the area. This is very stressful and has a lot of people worried about their own child's life.

My family had experience with bullying. My cousin was never the most popular, and all the kids would isolate him from all the activities. One day the same group of boys were picking on him because of his weight. He spoke up for himself, but the bullies would always find out and start pushing him around. One day they followed my cousin home from school, and he hid from them in his neighbor's garage. The man told the three young boys to get lost before he called the police. My cousin suddenly stopped telling everyone that he was getting picked on. The bullying continued, and the three boys the next day went to my cousin's neighbor's house and wrecked his car. The boys went to jail and stopped bullying my cousin. It is sad how someone can speak up about what is happening, but nothing can be done to prevent that at the time.

There was a survey taken back in 2016; (Stringer 1). 80,000 students around the world replied to a survey about what other kids bully them about. Some of the top percentages were on how the student look, 44% of students (1). get bullied from this situation, which is ridiculous because nobody is in control on how they are born. God made everyone beautiful, but kids just don’t understand that nowadays. Another high percentage was 16% of students (1). voted that they are getting bullied because of their race, which is the society's fault for having such hatred for another human being and teaching our children that its expectable to treat someone like that. Nearly 14% of the students (1.) voted that they get bullied solely because of their sexual preference weather its homosexual, heterosexual or pansexual. Love has no boundaries and shouldn't be made fun of. Last high percentage is 12% of students (1). voted that they get bullied because of their parent's income. Reading this is absurd since you never know the reasons or challenges of them being less fortunate. So, it is never funny for someone to pick on someone with that issue. Teachers need the be more aware about this issue because sometimes they don’t even know what their students are going through, “I think that the school should be more controlling on cyber-bullying. They are not aware that their students are being bullied or harassed on social media.” (1).

The less percentages were on how students get bullied from their religion, 9% voted (Stringer 1). Once again there are students all around the world who were brought up with different beliefs and traditions, our school systems have become very diverse in today's time. Another 9% of students (1). are getting bullied from where they came from. Seeing how other students are fleeing from their countries that are in war and poverty to seek better life doesn’t seem right. 8% of students (1). are getting bullied by gender, which is insane, but we been dealing with gender differences for a long time now. Then 7% of students (1.) get bullied by the disabilities they have; nobody should ever say anything to anyone about a disability because it is wrong and cruel. Most people are born with a disability and can't help that. “The data showed administrators that there was a disparity between how they and the students defined bullying. Students reported being verbally harassed in person and online, while some adults assumed that if bullying occurred, it would look like physical aggression” (Stringer 1). Always be kind to others, the world is full of enough hate.

There is not just one single solution out there to prevent bullying, but the main one is everyone always needs to tell an adult or a higher authority. People need to make everyone aware, so maybe someone will stand up and help with the situation. The bully needs to be punished because this might be the only way they realize when it starts affecting them. Bullying is not taken seriously nowadays because it happens every day, and most people take it out of context. “On the heels of a recent story about a 1-year old Georgia girl who was granted complimentary plastic surgery from a foundation to help ward off school bullies, the topic has sparked notable controversy and debate” (Hamilton 1).This solution has any different arguments about it, first kids are more likely to get bullied just by the way they look, so changing how you look when that is how God made you is not a solution to make. But some people take this into consideration because it does stop the bullies most of the time.

One solution to stop the mean comments and the constant torture these kids put up with every day is to simply take it into your own hands. These solutions to stopping the bully doesn’t always work. It does start by getting the bully thinking, as in the kid will get the hint to back off and to stay away. As in, taking new routes, staying near an adult, or even telling someone who could help. There are many people in the world that can't stand the fact that people are being bullying, most of them have been in that situation before. So, a lot of people will stand up and make a change. This would work because usually if someone bigger stands up for you the bully gets scared. A bully never likes to be called out or have people against them.

There are billions of people in the world and if you think about it every single person is a bully. Everyone talks bad about someone; everyone says hateful words to one another. So, really everyone is a bully just others take it by being physical. There really is no way to stop what someone says or what they do. This world is an evil place, everyone needs to learn how to stick up for themselves and if that doesn’t work, find someone who cares and that will help you.

Sadly, bullying is not illegal, so no legal actions can be taken to prevent the situation happening, so that is why it is very frequent. “In particular, when a youth dies by suicide, it is misleading to cover the story as a crime. Rather, consider covering it as a public health issue” (Facts about bullying). This shows how our world really hides the truth because they don't want to put the work in to helping the society. But when someone starts to harass someone else, it does break a federal law, and the bully can be sent to jail. This is why the solution to bullying doesn't work in our world is because nothing can truly prevent or get the bully away from the victim.

Bullying can happen anywhere and at any time. School is like a second home and a place where children are supposed to learn and grow into the person they will be in the future. When bulling is taken into the school the child will no longer be focused on what is important. Bullying is very important because this happens all over the world, in all ages. Bullying usually attacks people who look different, have disabilities, or even what they like. Just because someone is different and wasn't born perfect. That gives no reason for anyone to bully them.