Bullying and Victims

Bullying affects most of the children at least once in the lifetime. Bullying can make a child’s or teenager’s life a very bad experience. Bullying can lead to depression, drug use, suicide and even peer pressure. According to Bully Facts & Statistics (2009), "1 in 7 Students in Grades K-12 is either a bully or a victim of bullying.” (The numbers continue to rise every month). This is a very large amount of victims that are being bullied in school every day. Bullying can also traumatize and hurt a child or teenager all throughout all their life. Bullying can never be forgotten by victim because it is a horrible experience to go thru. Bullying can lead the victim to depression. Without a support from someone that can help them, the victim will be alone and feel afraid of speaking out. The major support for victims of bullying can be parents, teachers, friends, and older siblings. Most of the times the adults help more than other children that see the victims are being bullied. A parent, teacher or school administrator can find out why the victim is being bullied and who is the victim being bullied by. If a parent finds out their child or teen is being a victim of bullying, a parent must speak out and try to find out what is going on in the school. There are several steps a parent of a bullying victim can take to help their child or teen. According to "National Bullying Prevention Center" (2012) (Three Steps to Take If Your Child is Being Targeted by Bullying at School); there are three steps a parent can take to help their child or teen. The first step would be to speak to the child or teen that is the victim of bullying. A parent should ask the victim questions. Some of the questions a parent should ask the victims are: Who is bullying them? What types of bullying is being done? Some of the types of bullying would be verbal bullying, physical bullying, and even cyberbullying. A parent should also ask when and where they are bullied. A parent should pay very close attention and write down all the information given from the victim. The other two steps a parent can take to help their child or teen is first speak to the teachers and principals. A parent can have a conference with them and explain what is going on. The last step would be speaking to the district administrators and try to stop the bulling. A parent or a child should never stay quiet. A victim of bullying should always speak up. Bullying can also lead to drug use. A victim of bullying can look for an escape if no support is found. A victim of bullying can feel alone and with no escape on what they are going thru. Some statistics in several researches show both bullies and victims use more drugs than people who are not bullies or have never been bullies. According to a study done by Nauert (2012), it states that about 13.3 percent of high school students not involved in bullying were marijuana users compared to 31.7 percent of bullies, 29.2 percent of bully victims, and 16.6 percent of victims. Similar results were found for alcohol and cigarette use. This shows more substance use is being abused by the bullies and bully victims. There can be many bad effects because of drug use. Some signs bullying often experience are “Reluctance to go to school and truancy, Headaches and stomach pains, reduced appetite, Shame, anxiety, irritability, Aggression and depression. The effects of bullying often continue many years into adulthood. In the most extreme cases, targets have taken out their anger and despair through school shootings or by committing suicide. Students who habitually bully miss the opportunity to learn an alternative to aggression” According to Bully Facts & Statistics (2009).a child or teen can also start lacking in school. When a child or teen starts using drugs, they can start lacking in school and in their social life. Teens or children that are victims of bullying often want to be alone, in their rooms or in an isolated place. That can also be a sign that something is going on their lives. Bullying can also cause more harm like making a child or teen want to commit suicide. Committing or trying to commit suicide can harm not just the bully victim but all their family. A family loss can be very tragic and cause pain to the victim’s parents. Bully victims are between 2 to 9 times more likely to consider suicide than non-victims, according to studies by Yale University. The same study shows that According to "Suicides Due To Bullying" (2011), “Six out of ten American teens witness bullying at least once a day and that a study in Britain found that at least half of suicides among young people are related to bullying ” (para. Data on Bullying). These statistics show that many victims of bullying look toward committing suicide because they find no way out or no help. All the victims that do commit suicide are forgotten and the bullies look for other victims. The people that really hurt though out their life is the family of the victims. They will never forget that their child or teen committed suicide because they were a victim of bullying. A bullying victim must seek for other alternatives other than suicide. Suicide is a horrible step; it can tear up families apart. A bullying victim must seek for help instead of suicide. A victim must know they are not alone and they can find help. If the victim is afraid of saying they are bully victims, they can call the hotlines provided for bully victims. They should never deal with it alone. Bullying can be a very bad experience especially if the victim is going thru with it by themselves. Any problem can easily be solved with other people by the victims fault. Last but not least, peer pressure can be a reason child and teens bully other individuals. Peer pressure can be a major influence on the bullies or victims of bullying. Other children can be the cause of why children bully their victims. The bullies might bully because they want to fit in with a group of people. Children or teens that see that bullies are bullying their victims should speak out and tell an adult. Saying nothing will be the worst choice they can ever make. Bullying can also interfere with the bullies, bullies victims, and the people that surround them. It can interfere with their learning, social life, and even personal life. According to U.S. Department of Education (1998), it states that grades, attendance, self-esteem, insecurness can be affected by the bullying (Who is hurt?). The same reference states that people and peers that are around the bullying do not do nothing because their afraid to get in the middle of it. Peers and people that surround the bullying also are afraid to report the bullying because they are afraid of being called the “snitch” or “tattler”. The people and peers neither does like to get in the middle of the bullying because they are afraid of getting bullied themselves. Some peers might be also be bullying other people so they do not want to be discovered as well. The right thing to do is never get involved in bullying but speaks up. The best way to get an unlimited resolution for the bullying conflict will be speaking to an adult before there are drastic things happening to the victims or bullies. In conclusion, bullying can affect in many ways. It can affect bullies, victim of the bullies, peers, and even family members. Bullying can make a child’s or teenager’s life a very bad experience. Bullying can lead to depression, drug use, suicide and even peer pressure. There are very serious consequences to bullying; some consequences can even cause lifes’ of innocent people. Bullying victims’ life can be changed in an instance. A victim of bullying might look for other escapes to not feel what they feel while they are being bullied. People who see that bulling is being done toward other people or themselves should always speak up. A person should never stay quiet when someone is being hurt.

References

Bully Facts & Statistics. (2009).
Retrieved from http://www.makebeatsnotbeatdowns.org/facts_new.
American SPCC. (2012). Retrieved from http://americanspcc.org/lp/bullying-01/
Schneider, S., O 'Donnell, L., Stueve, A., & S. (2012).
Cyberbullying, School Bullying, and Psychological Distress: A Regional Census of High School Students. American Journal Of Public Health, 102(1), 171-177. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2011.300308
Cloud, J. (2012).
The Myths Of Bullying. Time, 179(10), 40-43
ALIKA, H. (2012).
BULLYING AS A CORRELATE OF DROPOUT FROM SCHOOL AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN DELTA STATE: IMPLICATION FOR COUNSELLING. Education, 132(3), 523-531.
Stamoulis, K. (2010). Psychology Today.
Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-new-teen-age/201010/7-ways-support-teen-bullying-victims
Mellor, A. (1997). Bullying at School. Retrieved from http://jotamac.typepad.com/jotamacs_weblog/files/bullying_at_school.pdf.
Orenstein, B. W. (2012). Depression and Bullying.
Retrieved from http://www.everydayhealth.com/depression/caregiving/depression-and-bullying-whats-the-link.aspx

References: Bully Facts & Statistics. (2009).  Retrieved from http://www.makebeatsnotbeatdowns.org/facts_new. American SPCC. (2012). Stamoulis, K. (2010). Psychology Today. Orenstein, B. W. (2012). Depression and Bullying.