shown, suicide rates have increased exponentially over the span of ten years, which shows how severe suicide rates are among these age groups. The causes of suicide are partially related to bullying and cyberbullying. According to “Bullying Statistics & Information” by the American Society for the Positive Care of Children (American SPCC), “20% of high school students” thought of committing suicide within the “last 12 months” (1). In grades 6-12, 6% of students were cyberbullied and in grades 9-12, 16% were cyberbullied. Though, 55.2% of LGBT students experienced cyberbullying (“Bullying Statistics & Information 1). The American SPCC also states that “60% of middle school students” admit that they have been bullied, yet “16% of staff believes” students are bullied (1). A few other interesting statistics from “Bullying Statistics & Information” include “30% of students who reported that they had been bullied” stated that they also brought weapons to school (1). In addition, an averaged child “has watched 8,000 televised murders and 100,000 acts of violence before finishing elementary school” (“Bullying Statistics & Information” 1), which shows how much violence children are exposed to through media. Bullying also played a role in “2/3 of the 37 school shootings” (“Bullying Statistics & Information 1”) according to the U.S. Secret Service, which shows how much of an impact it has on society. Similarly, these statistics relate with Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine, which is a documentary that discusses the school shooting at Columbine high school and analyzes the impact of violence in America and the media. Throughout the documentary, violence and guns were shown everywhere on media. In the Columbine school shooting, the two shooters had semi-automatic guns and eventually killed themselves (Bowling for Columbine). There isn’t any evidence discussed in the documentary that suggests that the shooters were bullied, but when interviewing three girls, they said that both shooters were quite odd and strange (Bowling for Columbine). In comparison to Bowling for Columbine, Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is written on the importance of moral beliefs and how violence can be derived from that.
In this short story, violence across different age groups differs. The attitude, tone, dialogue and actions exchanged between the grandchildren—John Wesley and June Star—are violent and very disrespectful. Within the story, the parents barely interfere in correcting their kids’ attitude, and in result, the children “began to slap each other” (O’Connor 3) because they didn’t play a fair game. As stated previously from Broll’s article, parents play an important part in a child’s life, which includes prevention from being a victim or an offender of bullying …show more content…
(1). Correspondingly, I phone-interviewed my uncle, Babby Hose. Uncle Babby is 53 years old and is currently employed as a construction worker. Uncle Babby has a lot of first-hand experience with violence because he’s been in and out of jail and prison multiple times. Ever since his parents passed away when he was in elementary school, he tried to make ends meet by stealing food from the store. Eventually, he got involved with gangs and started to sell drugs. Uncle Babby suggests to “never get involved with the street life cuz it ain’t good. You’ll get in trouble and once you’re in street life, there is no gettin’ out” (Hose, Babby). After listening to some of his experiences, he stresses that violence becomes an integral part of your life once you become involved in it; it becomes who you are. Uncle Babby has battled through suicide when times got rough. He has changed his life ever since he got out of prison a few years ago and looks forward to being more involved in his grandchildrens’ lives. Additionally, my experience with violence and bullying reminds me of when my niece battled with cyberbullying and suicide. I phone-interviewed my oldest niece, Cherish Hose, to refresh my memory of her experience. Cherish is currently a freshman in high school and is currently experiencing bullying and cyberbullying in school. From my conversation with her, she explains how the issue of bullying has caused a lot of stress on her life because she needs to focus on school, softball practice, and watching her five younger siblings. In middle school, there were a group of girls who were very jealous of her and would post things about her on Instagram and Snapchat. She contemplated suicide and decided to seek help because she was scared that she would do something she didn’t really want to do to herself. After talking about it with her mother, the school and the offenders’ parents were notified. Cherish often visits the counselor to talk about any bullying issues she’s experiencing. Emerging into high school, she wasn’t bullied in-person as much, but the cyberbullying increased. Cherish states that “shutting off your phone or going ghost from Instagram and Snapchat works best in ignoring the negativity” (Hose, Cherish). She began cutting herself, but immediately sought help afterwards because she knew it was wrong: “I felt all alone and they [the bullies] wouldn’t leave me alone. Cutting myself felt good, but I needed help” (Hose, Cherish). Cherish’s experiences with constant bullying led her to thinking about suicide, but she eventually realized that suicide ultimately is not the answer. Throughout middle school I experienced a lot of bullying because I entered into a new school. I tried to branch out from my shell and make friends, but some of the people that I met were really mean. With the increasing exposure of social media in my life, I was more active on Facebook. I received some Facebook messages that were very insulting about the way I spoke—Hawaiian Pidgin. It got very annoying and overbearing that I contemplated suicide. I told a few of my friends who then sought help. Afterwards, I had to attend a psychological exam and talked to a counselor often. To help relieve stress before I get to my breaking point, I constantly keep myself busy with dancing, walking dogs and doing a lot of community service. In conclusion, bullying and cyberbullying plays a role in some students committing suicide.
The challenges of identifying whether or not bullying can lead to suicide is undetermined, but it is considered a factor that can contribute to suicide. A handful of students experience bullying and cyberbullying in school and outside of school. With the help of legislators, social media platforms, parents, and school personnel, combatting all forms of bullying can be diminished in a child’s life. The next steps that should be taken is to help guide children who are not socially integrated or lack resources and support by recognizing signs of isolated behavior early
on. Writing this research essay differed from writing a regular essay by that I had to remind myself not to include my own personal experiences until the end of the essay. Personally, it’s easier to write an essay based off of facts and statistics because they are given information. I enjoy researching topics like these when writing essays because it’s much more interesting. I don’t like to write about my personal experiences as often because some topics are very emotional for me to express. I researched my scholarly articles on Pace’s database and found one that interested me because it somewhat connects with my major. I then searched up articles online that were recent and found a lot of statistics that showed how bullying affected people. I didn’t realize how much of an impact it had and I learned a lot from writing this essay. Toward the end of the essay, I felt somewhat uncomfortable from transitioning into my perspective of bullying. After writing an essay based on research, I had a harder time adjusting to write about my family’s experiences as well. It hurt a lot when my family members talked about their experiences with violence and bullying. Sharing their stories to others are tough, but stories like these make others realize that these situations are real.