Bullying Behavior Is A Worldwide Phenomenon That Has Become An Urgent Public Health Concern

Bullying is defined as the prolonged malicious act of harming peers by abusing their own--or an existing imbalance of--power, and has become one of the most common sources of trauma among adolescents. One report shows that one of three children were victims of bullying during some point in their life, and that 10-14% of all adolescents were victims of chronic bullying for at least six months prior to participating in the survey. Children who were victims of bullying are also found to be at a higher risk of diagnoses for anxiety disorders and depression during young and middle adulthood. These victims are reported to be more likely to have lower levels of general/physical health, and lower educational acquirements than young and middle-aged adults who were not bullied (Wolke & Lereya, 2015). Because bullying is such a prominent problem, citizens, policymakers, and social scientists alike, should feel or have some social and moral obligation to address, and hopefully avert bullying. The state of bullying, and how it is enacted, is constantly changing and adapting to social frameworks. Because bullies can adapt to social changes and regulations, we, as a society, should be equally adaptive in how we perceive, address, prevent, and punish bullying.

Bullying has been recognized as a risk factor in improvement and personal growth of children and adulthood. It is a form of hostile conduct in which an individual engages to cause another individual harm or distress (Kirves, & Sajaniemi, 2012).. Therefore, it is vital to be able to detect signs of bullying in order to stop further consequences, such as self-harm, and suicide. Children who have experienced bullying become hopeless, anxious, have low self-efficacy, and have recurrent negative thoughts (Kirves, & Sajaniemi, 2012). Research in bullying has also concluded that children who bully other children are more prone to become anti-social and engage in criminal activity (Kirves, & Sajaniemi, 2012).

Bullying among school-aged children is regarded as a widespread problem in the United States and there is no one-size-fits-all solution to the problem. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), over one third of students in elementary and middle schools are impacted by bullying (Klein, 2012). Bullying is defined as “unwanted, aggressive behavior among school-aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time” (Klein,2012). Studies show that the consequences of bullying not only include students who are bullied, but the effects extend to those who bully and

Bullying involves an observed or perceived power imbalance and is highly likely to be repeated behavior. A young person can be a perpetrator, a victim, or both (also known as a "bully/victim") (Cite). In order to study bullying in the United States, this paper will provide a thorough definition of bullying, which includes characteristics of bullies and those that are victims of bullying. This paper will also examine

Everyone experience certain level of hostility, but most do not live with the anticipatory fear of pain and humiliation caused by the repeated aggression that characterizes bullying. Predatory individuals seek power and control over others, but carefully aggress against the most vulnerable victim repeatedly over time (Mah, 2009, pp.12-13). There are two types three types of bullies; the aggressive, follower, and the relational bully. Aggressive bullies overt aggression either physical or verbal as well as threats and intimidation. The follower is less likely to begin bullying, but is motivated to follow because the aggressive bully if the act of bullying is rewarded. Finally, the relational bully uses indirect forms of violence to inflict

Bullying is a very serious and present issue in today’s society. Those who are “bullied can experience negative physical, school, and mental health issues” (“Effects of”). These children are also “more likely to miss, skip, or drop out of school” (“Effects of”). Annually, there are about “5.4 million students skip school” due to being bullied (“The Effects”). Victims

Bullying is an issue that has been overlooked for many years because of students being frightened to tell that they are being bullied. Many teachers, administrators, and school counselors underestimate the amount of bullying that takes place within schools. The behavior of bullying has impacted so many students’ lives to the point of causing a student to want to cause harm to his or her self or others. Many students that bully threaten their victims by telling them if they decide to tell an adult they will get beaten up worse. Bullying can cause a student to suffer from emotional distress that interferes with the student’s learning ability.

Bullying has become much more than a student or a school issue it has transpired over to the community and society issue as well. School bullying has apparently, always been a part of violence in schools. Although this is an old form of school violence, it has just begun to be looked at systematically as a problem in the United States in the over the past two decades. School bullying is often times underrated yet widespread and is frequently dismissed, denied, tolerated and ignored. A great deal about the bullying phenomenon has been learned in the past two decades however much is still unknown about this complex dynamic and previous research paves the way for future directions in bullying research. Where do educators and researchers need to go from here? It clear that researchers need to address serious definitional and methodological issues in order to better assess bullying (Espelage, & Swearer

“Bullying” has three key features (Olweus, 1978): aggressiveness, repetitiveness, and power imbalance. First, bullying involves aggressiveness intentionally enacted by a group or individual. Next, bullying is repeated over time upon the same victim. Finally, the bully–victim relationship is asymmetrical in power, such that victims are unable to defend themselves by their own efforts. Bullying does not specify the age or life stage of involved parties, although bullying in school is the most talked about. Bullying remains a serious social problem from childhood through early adolescence and adulthood, as college and the workplace provide frequent sites of bullying. In college, 40–45% of students experienced some form of bullying on campus (Lento,

Bullying is such a broad topic and therefore, has many definitions and interpretations. Gladden et al. (2014)

Research examining characteristics of youth involved in bullying has consistently found that both bullies and those bullied demonstrate poorer psychosocial functioning than their noninvolved peers. Youth who bully others tend to demonstrate higher levels of conduct problems and dislike of school, whereas youth who are bullied generally show higher levels of insecurity, anxiety, depression, loneliness, unhappiness, physical and mental symptoms, and low self-esteem.1-4,8,15-25 Males who are bullied also tend to be physically weaker

Bullying has been a major issue for years and in recent years, it has been getting progressively worse. According to StopBullying.gov, between 1 in 3 students in the US state have been a victim of bullying. I am currently interested in this topic because many of my clients are currently going through this. Bullying can affect just about anyone whether the person is getting bullied themselves, bullying others, or may have witnessed someone getting bullied (“Effects of Bullying,” n.d.).

Did you know each year there are over 3.2 million students that are bullied? (11 Facts About Bullying ) Bullying has been a fundamental human demobilizing act for centuries; that has been woven into the crevices of non-physical cruelty and abuse. A simple meaning of bullying is the need for control. (contributors) It has always involved power, pain, persistence and premeditation. Emily Bazelon wrote an article, defining bullying as physical or verbal abuse, repeated over time, and involving a power imbalance. (Bazelon) Bullies typically treat people as objects to be manipulated, radically altering their humanity. People that are bullied often feel violated.

School bullying and bullying as a whole has become a growing concern. The need for more intervention is more recognized, as incidents of bullying and inappropriate acts towards others occur in places outside of the classroom. This literature takes a closer look at bullying in schools. Olwesus (2013) states “the field of bullying research is to some extent plagued by problems, disagreements, and unresolved issues” (p.752). Whether if anyone will agree on the root of bullying, the fact remains that bullying has to be examined at its very core to remedy the matter before it becomes a bigger concern. There is a dire need for intervention based programs to be set in place to address the fact the act of bullying has lasting effects on the bully and the victim. When intervention programs are put into place to address bullying, the act of bullying decreases due to the gained understanding of the effects.

As kids we probably never understood the term “bully” or why we were subjected to being bullied or why other peers were getting bullied. The fact that some children are constantly harassing other peers verbally, physically, and socially to a point of self-harm is very heartbreaking. Bullying has definitely been an issue in schools for years and now it’s affecting our children as early as elementary school. According to an article from Family Circle, bullying amongst students has reached epidemic proportions, and it’s taking a heavy toll on our children. Therefore, the main objective of this research is to obtain understanding and awareness about the causes and effects of bullying in children.