Sticks and stones may break my bones but words feel more like daggers. This simply says that mere name-calling does give rise to a cause of action. It is not necessary to be physically harmed in order to suffer lasting harm. Bullying is usually the intimidation, the process of intimidating or mistreating someone weaker or in a more vulnerable state. This could be teasing or taunting a class mate because they are in some way different. But what happens when our school yard bully becomes our Facebook harasser? This is definitely nothing new to society but thanks to the internet, instant messaging programs, E-mails, text messaging and social networks teens are now being bullied online. Some may feel that bullying is a part of growing up, they may assume that it builds character but in many cases this form of harassment has become a huge problem and the results have become fatal. The experience of being bullied can cause lasting damages to an individual. Victims of cyber bullying may endure and experience long-term emotional damage, anger, low self-esteem, depression, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts.
Bullying is a form of abuse. It is a selfish and destructive act, those who organize bullying denote others for the thrill of aggression and dominance. Mark Dombeck, PH.D, writes in his article, The Long term effects of Bullying that “Narcissists treat other people as though they were objects either to be used, or discarded, and the bully both uses his victim for purposes of self-gratification and aggrandizement and then discards him”. Aggrandizement is the expansion of power. Making something or someone appear greater or more intense. David Frattare states that “Kids feel more powerful when they do not come face to face with the ...
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• Ybarra M.L, Mitchell K.J., Wolak, Finkelhor D. Examining Characteristics and associated distress related to internet harassment: Findings from the second youth internet safety survey. 2006
• Newman, Valerie Teens and Bullying. 26, August 2010
• Seanman, Andrew M. Bullying amongst kids tied to suicidal thoughts, suicidal attempts. The Baltimore Sun. 10, March 2010
• Bowie, Liz Facebook and Md. Schools partner to combat bullying. The Baltimore Sun. 3, October 2010
• O’Connor, Christi Fight Cyber Bullying in Maryland. San Francisco. 12, March 2013
• Dombeck PhD., Mark The Long Term effects of Bullying. MentalHelp.net
• Welch, William. Slanglin, Doug Two Girls are arrested on bullying charges after suicide. USA Today. 16, October 2013
Bullying has become a real problem in the last decade or two. If there isn’t a stop to these actions done by the bullies then suicides and school shooting are to become more prevalent in the future to come. Everyone should take a stand against these horrible, misunderstood people. “Unless and until programs are instituted to address the seriousness and potential life-threatening bullying that is prevalent in most schools today, the teen suicide rate will undoubtedly increase” (Clarke 1).
Suicide due to bullying has been given the name of bullycide. One example of bullycide would be Jon Carmichael from Texas who was bullied so harshly that “one day they stripped him naked, tied him up, and stuck him in a trash can, and they taped it with their cell phones and put it all on You Tube” per his mother’s account (Texas Monthly, Hollandsworth). A few days later Jon was found hanging by a rafter from their barn after committing suicide. The perpetrators of this abuse were his fellow classmates and it is reported that “60% of boys who bullied others in middle school had at least one criminal conviction by the age of 24; 40% had three or more convictions” (van der Valk, 41). Bullying behavior not only negatively affects the victims that are singled out and tormented, but from a legal perspective can lead to long term criminal
Mahoney, Diana. "Bullying and school violence." Clinical Psychiatry News June 2007: 36. Academic OneFile. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” Martin Luther King Jr. knew it was better to speak up than to stay quiet. This is a lesson that needs to be taught throughout both middle schools and high schools. All around the world, suicide rates are going up, and most of these cases relate back to bullying. The children often do not say anything because they are afraid the bullying will only get worse. When nothing changes, they are driven to suicide to relieve the pain that they are feeling. As Marge Piercy examines in “Barbie Doll,” students are picked on for being or looking different than others. No matter what type of bullying it may be, it hurts people more than they are willing to let on. All forms of bullying, whether it be in schools, physical, verbal, or online, have an impact on teen suicide ideation.
Bullying can be define as “ intentional, usually recurrent, action designed to inflict physical and psychological harm on another person or persons by one or more persons and is part of a complex interplay of dominance and social status”( Marsh,). Bullying can take place when a target child exposed to social egression by some of his or her peers, who perceive hem or her in lower state. Aggression behaviors and bullying can be confused together as perceiving them as they are the same thing but they are not. Aggression behaviors and bullying can be confused together as perceived as they are the same thing. They are not the same think because psychologists explained that aggression behaviors are the aggressive actions that people express against each other for specific period of time. While bullying on the other hand, is continuous aggression against specific person in which, this person exposure to aggressiveness is not limited to a one time incident. ”( Marsh, H). Being a bully or a victim sometime is not exclusive to certain individuals or groups because sometimes individual play both roles. An individual can be a bully due to his or his past experience of being bullied. Contrary, a former bully can be a victim as a consequence of his or her past behavior.( Marsh,)
This is a tiny, partial list of young children who have committed suicide over the last couple of years as a result of being bullied in school. The kinds of bullying were diverse: Phoebe was bullied by several girl classmates because she had started dating a boy in their school; Jaheem and Carl Joseph were bullied because classmates saw them as gay, although what that meant is that they were physically small for their age; many of the children on this list – most, actually – were bullied because they were gay; Asher was bullied because of his religious beliefs; and Ashlynn was bullied by her classmates and called “slut, ugly, and
Bullying pushes people to believe that suicide is the only way out. Many teens have chosen suicide over obtaining support or telling someone. Some examples would be Nicole Dagan, Megan Meier, and Sydney Sanders. They all were bullied in different ways, but they all came to the same conclusion. They felt that suicide was the best way to end it all.
Medina, Jennifer. "In Person or in Pixels, It's Still Bullying." New York Times 13 Feb. 2014: 7. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 31 Jan. 2015.
People commit acts of self-harm and attempt suicide on a regular basis; the mental issues that cause suicidal thoughts and actions are often linked to victimization by bullying. When individuals survive they often report similar mindsets and emotions such as, depression, anxiety, loneliness, and hopelessness, which impact mental health and cause them to make impulsive decisions regarding their lives. Victims of bullying are more likely to experience the mental issues that affect cognitive function and emotional stability then people that have never experienced bullying personally.
Bullying has been a part of schooling for as long as children have been congregating. To some it seems like a natural, though uncomfortable, part of life and school experience, while to others it can mean terrifying experiences which spoiled and characterized otherwise happy years in school. Dan Olweus, a pioneer in bully behavior research documented that 2.7 million children are affected as victims, and that 2.1 children act as bullies (Fried, 1997, as cited in Aluedse, 2006). With bullying cited as the reason for violent, gun-related crime in the past few years, school districts as well as national governments have put anti-bullying policies in place. Bullying is a complicated phenomenon, involving more than one child demanding lunch money from a smaller child. It is a worldwide epidemic hitting schools everywhere. Virtually everyone has seen or experienced bullying. With technological advances, bullying is even hitting the internet. Parents, teachers, students and governments agencies alike are attempting to put a stop to bullying practices.
Source 2: Hinduja, S.& Patchin, J. W. Bullying, Cyberbullying, and Suicide. Archives of Suicide Research (14), 2010:206-221.
Bullying by definition is a form of aggressive behavior in which someone intentionally and repeatedly causes another person injury or discomfort. Bullying can take the form of physical contact, words or more subtle actions. [Why] Bullying has grown new outlets over the last decade. With social media outlets and text messaging added to the game, bullying is not just about getting tormented face to face anymore. Cyber bullying can include sending out mean or threatening emails and instant messages about a person, spreading rumors about someone and also include photos that a person would consider to be humiliating. [Chamberlin] Bullying can have many outlets. The most common form of bullying is still face to face confrontation. But the other outlets, such as cyber bullying are definitely not something to take lightly or consider low on a scale of importance. Sexual harassment, racial differences, not being “cool enough”, or just simply being viewed as a weaker individual may attribute to many of the reasons a person is preyed on.
Douglas J. Boyle. (2005). Youth bullying: Incidence, Impact, and Interventions. .…Newark, New Jersey: University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
“Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” These words have been repeated countless times, but they are not accurate. In truth, words can kill. Bullying has become a highlighted problem within our society, and bullying in the school systems is even more prominent. According to the news, there are countless cases of bullying, many of which do not have happy endings. The rates of suicide due to bullying are currently higher than they have ever been before. Suicide is the third top causes of death in young people within the United States, averaging at 4,400 deaths a year, with over 50% of these deaths as a result of some sort of bullying. Studies also show that there are 100 suicide attempts for every one successful suicide performed (“Bullying and Suicide”). These numbers are disturbingly high. Bullying is affecting more kids in ways that some adults may never understand. The fact that words and actions can lead to cutting and suicides is still a distant concept to some and needs to be brought to immediate attention. Laws are now being put into place to prevent these tragedies, but what is really being done to prevent them within the schools or even within the students’ homes? There is a lot of finger pointing when it comes to this topic. But we all want to know what the cause is behind this nationwide crisis and who is responsible for it.
Bullying is a form of violence, a way to gain the power to repress the weak.