The Negative Effects Of Bullying

In 2015, roughly one out of four students (22%) reported being bullied (National Bullying Prevention Center). These students develop social withdrawal, symptoms of anxiety and depression, and physical complaints throughout their primary and secondary educational years (B.B. 77). Sometimes, it does not stop there. Students that have been bullied are 2.4 times more likely to report suicidal ideation and 3.3 times more likely to report a suicide attempt than their peers who report not being bullied (National Bullying Prevention Center). Measures need to be taken so that these statistics aren’t as high and alarming. Bullying is a problem, but it is a problem that can be resolved.

Issue: If you or your child have ever been a victim of bullying then you know how horrible one can feel. There are many emotions and fears associated with bullying, and no one should have to be subjected to it. Bullying can have a lasting effect not only in one’s present life but their future as well. Bullying is very prominent in schools today, and there has been an increase in school shootings, which is the extreme reaction to being bullied. Children need to consider each other’s feelings before they decide to bully or pick on each other.

Sleepless nights, grades dropping dramatically, social outcasts, tears shedding, not wanting to go to school and bruises are just the minor signs a kid goes through when being bullied. It happens every day. It happens at school, in grocery stores, parking lots, work offices, and even at home. Bullying comes in many forms such as verbal, physical, emotional, and cyber. The long term effects can be devastating and can lead to mental illnesses such as depression and suicide.

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 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 conducting 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.

Bullying is recognized as one of the most significant public health concerns in the United States facing school aged children. As well as, most common type of school violence. Resulting in psychological and behavioral issues for both the victim and the bully. According to Brown, Low, Smith and Haggerty. “victims of bullying [exhibit] more loneliness and depression, greater school avoidance, more suicidal ideation and less self-esteem than their non-bullied peers” (Brown, Low, Smith & Haggerty, 2011, p.424). While victims of bullying tend to display more internalizing outcomes, bullies externalize the effects. Leading to conduct problems and delinquency. Bullying has a negative impact on school performance for both victim and bully resulting in lower levels of academic achievement, school avoidance and more conflicts with teacher and students (Brown, Low, Smith &

Bullying is a growing epidemic in today’s society and has become a pressing social and educational concern. It is often dismissed as typical adolescent behavior but ignoring the problem could be detrimental to the bully, the person being bullied, and even those who stand by witnessing the unkind acts but do nothing about it. Bullying can hinder academic, social, and emotional development and because it manifests in different forms, it is important to recognize the signs and address it with all parities immediately.

“I really want the public to be aware of the link between mental health issues and bullying. Whether students are involved as bullies, victims or bystanders, in many cases anxiety and depression may be co-occurring problems” (Swearer, 2010, para. 15). Young adolescents live in fear of being bullied, some even suffer from stress and depression because of it. The mental and physical damages of bullying is an issue that should not be tolerated anywhere or towards anyone at any time. T. Jungert, B. Piroddi, and R. Thornberg (2016) have claim that a person should, “never put someone else down to make [themselves] feel better” (p. 8). It is no surprise when reading that teenage victims who have been bullied suffer from long-term problems as they get older. To learn more about the effects of bullying in adolescents, one must know the correct definition, and go over the different characteristics of victims and bullies, along with the consequences of it.

Childhood bullying is a significant problem nationwide, and its impact on education can be profound: Statistics show that 160,000 children in the United States miss school each day as a result of being bullied. In addition, bullying can cause mental and physical stress,

Bullying affects children and teenagers because it can lead to low self esteem, isolation, depression, and even self-harm or worse, suicide. There are many websites that are not conclusive because they contain anecdotes without statistical evidence or case studies and research. “Bullying Is a 'Serious Public Health Problem,' Experts Say” by Ashley Strickland’s audience ranges from parents to teenagers. Strickland provides credible information on bullying because she includes essential content, statistical evidence, and solutions, which makes this article as an important and valuable source to use for a cause-and-effect essay.

Bullying has been around for years, but it has never been taken to the extreme as it has today. According to Berthold and Hoover, Slee, Walker, Ramsey and Gresham, “targets of bullying may suffer greatly in terms of their social and emotional well-being, become anxious, and depressed, isolate themselves from peer groups, and avoid school for fear of being bullied”. With the help of school-based intervention programs, the frequency of bullying has the ability to be minimized greatly. Many theorists and practioners believe programs have already been put in place to intervene bullying, but too many tragedies are still occurring, so there needs to be more of an effective intervention.

Bullying is continuing to grow as a problem in schools today, affecting 1 in 3 children in the United States (Shetgiri, 2013). Studies show that between 15-25% of U.S. students are bullied frequently, while 15-20% of students report that they bully others with some frequency (Nelson et al., 2001).This makes bullying an important public health problem and it is gaining more recognition as a problem affecting the well-being and psychosocial functioning of school-age children. The focus of this paper is limited to bullying during the school-age period, which includes children from six to twelve years of age.

Bullying in children and adolescence is becoming an ever increasing issue as it is prevalent in various forms including physical, verbal, relational, and cyber space (Wang et al., 2011). Bullying can be defined as a subtype of aggression that involves repeated exposure to negative actions with the intent to cause harm or discomfort and an imbalance of power between the bully and victim (Hong, Kral, & Sterzing, 2014). Youth who are being bullied have been found to have significant risk of developing depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation and attempts, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (Yen et al., 2014). Studies have shown that depression is associated with exposure to bullying, so it is crucial that health care professionals

Bullying in schools is believed to be a normal part of school life, however, when people begin to have this mentality, they forget that bullying is physically and psychologically harmful to both the bully and the victim, therefore, bullying must be eradicated from schools by raising awareness and increasing supervision. The act of bullying or the fear of being bullied underlies almost everything kids do these days. No longer can students leave the gossip and self-doubt at school and go home for an overnight respite. Now, with internet connections thorough cell phones or computers, they never get a break from the drama. Research indicates that bullying can have some long term psychological effects.

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.