Brand Turley Controversy: Teenage Suicide And Cyberbullying

“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 upsets 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.”(Karen 2016) Bullying at the age of 13-19 increases the rate of depression, anxiety, suicide, and other mental health issues. Bullying is plaguing teens across the United States and is causing possible mental health issues later in victims’ lives. Each local community needs to take action to dull the effects bullying has on teens.

Many bullying scenarios have resulted in self harm or even suicide. Just this past June, a girl in Tampa, Florida, committed suicide because of a friend taking a naked picture of her without her permission and shared it on social media. A reporter from Channel 8 News, quotes a psychiatrist, Dr. Walter Afield: “Teenagers are very nasty to each other because they’re so nervous and so forth.When they bully, well you can yell, you can shout, you can shoot back but when it comes on the internet so quickly and so instantly and all around. It gets very aggressive.” 15-year-old was found dead by her aunt from a gunshot in her

Bullying is one of the leading causes in teen suicide today. People bullied in the past or present have been studied and it has shown that they have a lower quality of life. Though they have a lower quality of life, the have better physical and mental health. (“Seaman” 1). Studies have shown that most bullying happens in middle school and high school. There is bullying in elementary school but it is minimal and less serious (“Bullying Statistics” 1). Most kids refuse to speak up while being bullied in fear that the bully will just taunt them more (“Cyber-Safety Act” 2). Bullying has become a very serious issue regarding our society today.

In the article Big Bad Bully by Hara Estroff Marano she discusses the main components of behavior that make up a bully, who can be a bully and why people choose to bully others. In the beginning of the article she focuses on suicide victims who could no longer take the mental, physical and emotional abuse of bullying. Marano (2017), “Months later, in Cherokee County, Georgia, 15-year-old Brian Head grew tired of the same teasing and deeds. The denouement was only slightly more remarkable. He shot himself to death—in front of his classmates. He walked to the front of the classroom and pulled the trigger.” The same teasing and deeds Marano is speaking of is being tripped in the hall, various name calling and being physically bullied. The article goes into depth of how the Western society treats bullying. We are prone to often dismiss bullying as kids being kids and, teachers are in denial that any such behavior exist in their class. However, the sad truth is that more times than not there is always a classroom bully. Because we often overlook the severity of bullying choosing to close our eyes we get a harsh reality when someone commits suicide. It forces us to acknowledge the hard truth with open eyes that we have chosen to close for too long.

I am writing this essay as I have been extremely moved by the recent suicide of a teenage girl in Ireland. Erin Gallagher a 13 year old girl from Donegal took her own life because of vicious online bullying. Her recent suicide adds to the growing number of teenage suicides not just in Ireland but worldwide that have been caused by bullying and cyber bullying or a combination of both. The issue of cyber bullying is something that needs to be addressed immediately both in the home and in schools. UNICEF carried out a study on bullying in Ireland and the results were staggering to say the least. 55% of children questioned admitted to being bullied in one form or another (Changing the Future, 2010). This

In the article, it explains that, “The leading cause of death among children under the age of 14 is suicide” (“Facts About Bullying”). Bullying can result in suicide, and is the leading cause of death of children. If bullying could be put to an end, or even stopped, suicide rates would drop dramatically. According to the article “Bullying and Suicide”, “Over 14 percent of high school students have considered suicide, and almost 7 percent have attempted it” (“Bullying and Suicide”). High school students have suicidal thoughts due to bullying they face at school. Unfortunately, 7 percent of high schoolers have attempted suicide because of actions they are faced with at school. The text says, “A study in Britain found that at least half of suicides among young people are related to bullying” (“Bullying and Suicide”). Bullying has a direct correlation with teen suicide. In more than 50 percent of cases, bullying was the reason a teen committed suicide. According to the article "Bullying Increases the Risk of Teen Suicide" by Michael Ollove, he reports, on October 17th, 2009, a young boy diagnosed with Asperger’s Disorder named Tyler Lee Long, was found dead by his dad, slumped in his closet. Tyler was a victim of bullying from the end of 5th grade, all the way up until high school when he committed suicide. His teacher, Mrs. Long believed the students would eventually mature out of it (Ollove). Bullying needs to be taken more seriously because it can result in suicide. Studies show that bullying and suicide in teens has a direct relationship with each other, therefore bullying needs to be taken more seriously in order to decrease teen

Bullying is something very serious it affects just not our youth, it affects any person who been bully before. Bullying is describing as a superior strength another person have on a person. Bullying is concerning to have an influence on a person in a negative way, which mean they intimidate that person by force he or she to do something they don’t want to do, but he or she do what the person who are bullying say. Teen suicide is when the teen takes their own life due to a dramatically event that they cannot handle, and they feel their no way out but just no being there. Teen suicide happen more during the adolescent stage. It sad to report the third cause of death for a person 15 to 24 is suicide. The Disease of Control and Prevention has mention that it has a least been 25 attempts are made from every completed teen suicide, it points out there are a lot of teens that have experience a dramatical event in their life and they turn to killing themselves because they could feel no way out or no they could feel not love. Bullying has cause a lot of teen suicide, and that is sad. The city where I live in Macon, it has launches Anti- Bullying Program, there have been numerous volunteers has put series of summer program to help kids cope with bullying. June O’Neil the executive project mentor director has offered bullying program in the beginning of summer because, “a lot of children don’t feel safe to get outside and on the street in their neighborhood”. GPB Media

In a high school in Colorado two senior students Dylan Keloid and Eric Harris made an extensive plan to attack and kill students and teachers. Through their actions 12 people were killed and 24 were injured. In the end both students committed suicide. After this shooting much thought was but into why it happened, and how to prevent it from happening again. Idea such as movies and video games were brought into the forefront of discussion (Ross 2014). Bullying was also in question but many pushed it aside saying that the bully’s had graduated the year before (Ross 2014). These people who did not believe that bullying was a part of the cause did not take into consideration the mental effect bullying has nor the amount of bullying that goes unknown to others (Ross 2014). Students told authorities that the two boys had been harassed by many students and athletes throughout high school (Ross 2014). Authorities also found out that the school was notorious for turning a blind eye to bullying (Ross 2014). Though there were many other influences in the decision the boys made bullying was a major contributor to their mental health and view of the

There has been about 4,400 deaths a year do to suicide. Suicide can be caused by many things. A person can be pushed to suicide, if they are bullied and/or deeply depressed.

A lot of teens commit suicide due to bullying because it makes them feel unwanted and lonely. When everyone is picking on them they feel like they have no friends, and no one to turn to or talk to. Also kids and high school tend not think long term and don’t look at the bigger picture. An example of this in Hamlet is when Ophelia drowns herself in the river because she thinks Hamlet doesn’t want her and that he doesn’t love her. Another example although its not in hamlet a transgender teen in Texas committed suicide because she was bullied every day at school and hated going to school as a result of that. Eventually she committed suicide because it had gotten so bad. Also, now with social media being as popular as it is almost everyone has a twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. so that could allow people to harass them on there or commit

Bullying has become a major issue in the United States and around the world. What brought the attention to people about bullying is the number of suicides that are committed by adolescents and the stories they share online or live television. Bullying is categorized to be direct verbal, direct physical, and indirect forms. Not every person has an idea how terrible bullying can be and how harmful it is to the victim. Bullying has driven students to commit actions they have never done before such as cutting themselves, suicidal thoughts, health disorders, and bad behavior. Bullying must be taken seriously, because it results in negative effects on its victims and may drive students to commit horrific actions. Lawmakers should draft anti-bullying legislation, students should stand up for one another, and society should work out what can be done to combat this problem.

Cyber-Bullying is when a child or a gangster humiliate, mistreat or threaten another child which makes the victim feel sad which leads to depression over time. Each year the number of victims increases. Hinduja and Patchin note, “Even though suicide rate have decreased 28.5 percent among young people in recent years, upward trends were identified in the 10 to 19-year-old age group. In addition to those who successfully end their, many other adolescents strongly think about and attempt suicide” . Case Studies Many victims as Hinduja and Patchin said end up thinking about and actually committing suicide.

According to Bulent Dilmac, “bullying is defined as aggression with the intention of hurting (Kepenekci & Çınkır, 2003) and is an anti-social form of behavior that produces negative consequences (Taylor, 2006).” “Cyberbullying is defined as the repetitive use of information and communication technologies by an individual or a group in order to hurt other individuals. (Akbaba & Eroǧlu, 2013).” There have been several cases where cyberbullying causes teenagers to take their own life’s (commit suicide). It can cause individuals to suppress negative emotions within them. Lowering their self-esteem and looking at life with a sense of hopelessness. Jessica Laney was a victim of cyberbullying when she was insulted on social media.

Experience of being a victim of bullying can finally damage the mental health of students and motivate them to commit school violence. "According to statistics in two-thirds of cases of the recent school shootings, the attackers had previously been bullied" (Sampson, 2009, p.1). For most children learning process itself may already be a daily struggle and being a target for bullying at the same time can become "the straw that broke the camel's back", after which they consider suicide as the only possible solution. "A study in Britain found that at least half of suicides among young people are related to bullying" (Detlor, 2010). So, due to the fact that problem of bullying negatively affects students' learning ability, their health and the entire school climate society should take definite and urgent measures to solve it.

Bullying is the cause of many suicides and deaths (Home n. pag). In McCormack’s article, he explains how many students are bullied each day and harassed to the point where they question their own self-esteem. They are no longer