Teen Bullying Must Be Stopped

1442 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Bullying in schools

Bullying in school environments is not a rare or recent development by any means. However, it would appear the intensity and consequences have reached new, devastating heights in more recent cases. I was shocked to discover that there have been five recent teen suicides from bullying, in the high school in my current city.

According to one of my local news-station’s website, www.foxnews.com, in Mentor High School (Mentor, Ohio) there have been four cases of teen suicides from bullying in a little more than three years. The suicides were from one teen who was bullied for being gay, one being bullied because of a learning disability, one for a boy who liked to wear pink, one from an overdose of antidepressants and the most recent case; Sladjana Vidovic. Sladjana was a sixteen year old Croatian girl; who tied one end of a rope around her neck and the other around her bed post and jumped out of her bedroom window in 2008.

In Sladjana’s suicide note, she wrote of the daily torture she endured in Mentor High. According to Fox News, she was called names such as, “slutty-Jana” and “slut-Jana-vagina.” Food was thrown at her, a water bottle was thrown at her face, she was attacked because of her thick accent, and was pushed down stairs. Sladjana endured this cruel behavior from her peers in spite of, or perhaps because she was beautiful, charming and enthusiastic.

It may seem this story is at this point already as terrible as it could get, but it becomes worse. According to Sladjana’s parents, they had begged the school several times to help the situation. The school promised they would, but nothing was done. A week before she took her own life, Sladjana had dropped from Mentor High and enrolled in an online school,...

... middle of paper ...

... Nuss. Associated Press. “Families Sue Ohio School After Four Bullied Teens Die By Their Own Hand.” FoxNews.com. Fox News. 08. Oct. 2010. Web.10. Nov. 2011.

2.) n.p. Bullyingstatistics.org. Bullying Statistics. n.d. Web. 10. Nov. 2011.

3.) n.p. Teendepression.org. Teen Depression. n.d. Web. 10. Nov. 2011.

4.) Debra Bradly Ruder. “A Work In Progress: The Teen Brain.” Harvardmagazine.com. Harvard. Sept.-Oct. 2008. Web. 10. Nov. 2011.

5.) Gary Goshgarian. Kathleen Krueger. Dialogues: An Argument Rhetoric and Reader. 7th edition. New York: Longman. 2011. Print. 176. 10. Nov. 2011.

Show More
Related

  • Marge Piercy's Barbie Doll: The Impact On Teen Suicide

    578 Words  | 2 Pages

    “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.

    Read More

  • Bullied Past the Breaking Point

    1150 Words  | 3 Pages

    (Imagine a kid being bullied to the point of them not wanting to live. Kimmie was one kid out of many who dealt with the situation of being harassed. She told her mother that kids at school were bullying her because of her weight and how she looked. Kimmie’s mom ignored her thinking she was over reacting, little did she know she was not. Kimmie would receive daily threats online telling her to “kill herself” and saying things like “Why are you still alive?” The next morning after Kimmie’s mom dropped her off at school she ditched class and went into an abandoned apartment building down the block to wait for the school day to be done, so she would not have to face the kids who tormented her. At the end of the day Kimmie made sure to be at the school before her mom picked her up, because she knew that if her mom found out, she would not understand her reason behind skipping school. After many weeks’ Kimmie’s mom started to notice that she was not talking as much as she used to, and she was not participating in family activities. Kimmie’s mom ignored it thinking it was a phase she was going thorough because she was getting older. A couple months later Kimmie’s grades dropped, and she skipped many school days just so she could to go to that abandoned apartment building. With no one to talk to about her problem’s Kimmie had to deal with them by herself. Soon she starting to deal with an eating disorder because she was not happy with the way she looked. She also started to self-harm. Kimmie lost all hope, and she started to believe no one cared about her. Still not happy with herself, Kimmie then committed suicide. Her body was found by an abandoned apartment building down the block from her school. Police say she jumped from the roof. ...

    Read More

  • Suicide, America’s Hidden Devastation

    1878 Words  | 4 Pages

    There are many things which can drive a teen to commit suicide some of them are as simple as making fun of the “fat” kid in class; others can come from the mental images from witnessing a shooting. There are four major issues which contribute to teen suicide such as depression, family problems, risk factors, and teens reactions to there climate. Depression, unfortunately, is one of the biggest factors of today’s teenage suicide problems and some of the reasons for it are from the student’s own peers, “being depressed is triggered by loss or rejection (Joan 59).” Depression can be f...

    Read More

  • Social Norms 'And That Night'

    1416 Words  | 3 Pages

    In life, changes mark a new chapters in one’s journey and it happens in a variety of ways alongside a variety of people. The short essay “Suicide’s Forgotten Victims” by Lisa Keiski and the excerpt from the novel That Night by Alice McDermott both demonstrate how young people gain valuable lessons from the experiences they go through. From these happenings, they start to get a larger perspective on life and thus become more knowledgeable about everything around them, ultimately maturing in the process. Keiski and the children learn from society, authority figures, and peers.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Marge Piercy's Barbie Doll

    1880 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Issue of Bullying

    1757 Words  | 4 Pages

    Not only is it already hard to be a teenager, but having to deal with constant teasing and harassment is just something no one needs. There is a point in life where bullying can become so terrifying that students will rather stay at home than have to face their bully. Darnell “Dynasty” Young is a 17 year old gay teen who has gone through every possible way to stop his bullies from harassing him. His mother has tried everything but hasn’t been able to put a stop to it. Until one day, Young’s mother bought Darnell a stun gun. His mother told him to bring it to school and when the bullies began to torment him to take it out. He did just that, he did not actually shoot anyone he just waved it up in the air to intimidate his bullies. He not only got suspended but he also got arrested, yet the six boys teasing him and calling him names received no punishment whatsoever. (CNN) Young is one of the many kids that go through this type of abuse in a place where they should feel safe. This is an example of the school failing to do anything to prevent this kind of behavior, even after the parents try to intervene. This is also a great example of parents failing to implement high behavior standards by enforcing them to retaliate. Parents should be there to advice a peaceful way of resolving this in a non violent way not give them the weapon. By implementing prevention programs such as activities that help fight bullying can ultimately lead to the end of this horrific thing some kids face each day.

    Read More

  • Bullying and Mass School Shootings

    3834 Words  | 8 Pages

    “Once I got teased, I could see where the anger came from and what can make someone want to kill,” said Stefan Barone, a fourteen year old. (ABC News) The anger and depression is overwhelming and hard to control. There is no doubt that bullying cause’s suicide, and those bullied often commit acts of violence against others.

    Read More

  • The Growing Problem of Teen Suicide

    2340 Words  | 5 Pages

    A 17 year old boy, Douglas Stewart, came home from school to find his mother lying on the sofa with a strained back. Being concerned for her he rubbed her back briefly then put on some easy listening music. Douglas then proceeded downstairs to his bedroom. Two of his friends came to the door. His mother waited to see if he would return to answer it; minutes later she answered and then yelled for him to come up. When he did not come, she went downstairs to get him. That is when she found him strangled and her son’s body dangling from the ceiling. This is a senseless tragic sight for a mother to endure. The mortality rate from suicide in 1996 showed 9.5 per 100,000 for 15-19 year olds. This also shows boys are four times more likely to commit suicide then girls. However, girls are twice as likely to attempt suicide. (American 1996) It is imperative to reverse this trend and in doing so we need to understand the characteristics, behaviors and events associated with youth suicide.

    Read More

  • Article Review: The Teen Brain

    1196 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bradley-Ruder, D. (2008). A work in progress: The teen brain. Retrieved November 18, 2011 from http://harvardmagazine.com/2008/09/the-teen-brain.html

    Read More

  • Bullying in Today’s Society

    910 Words  | 2 Pages

    Bullying is a growing concern in a society where status and exercising power over another human being are increasingly important in developing one’s social circles. Dan Olweus (Norwegian researcher and founder of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program) defines it as an “aggressive behaviour that is intentional and that involves an imbalance of power. Most often, it is repeated over time” (Violencepreventionworks.org). School victimization is an especially delicate matter that has only really been in the public eye for the past half century, as more and more researchers and psychologists pointed out its short- and long-term negative effects on targeted individuals. It has since been widely investigated and numerous programs have been developed in an effort to address and prevent the many forms of bullying that exist today. The negative effects of such an abusive behaviour are various and can greatly differ from individual to individual. However, there are three main consequences that can be associated with school bullying, which are: school avoidance, depression/anxiety and even suicidal attempts.

    Read More

  • Bullied to Death in School

    614 Words  | 2 Pages

    "Fat. Gay. Or just different from the crowd. These are the reasons children are being bullied -- sometimes to death -- in America's schools, with at least 14 students committing suicide in the past year alone." --- Bullied to Death in America's Schools - ABC News - Oct 15, 2010

    Read More

  • How Does Bullying Affect Teenagers?

    1044 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bullying is an issue that has been around for decades and is something that can affect everyone, no matter what his or her age is. Even though bullying has changed over the years from being physical abuse and harassment that happens on the playgrounds of schoolyards to tormenting over the Internet. The same groups are still affected namely adolescents. Statistically about 30 percent of all teenagers in the United States are bullied in one-way or another (“Teenage Bullying”).

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Bullying In Schools

    1201 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bullying is something that is not something new and is actually something that society continues to face. Over the years, bullying has been looked at as being so ordinary in schools that it is continuously overlooked as an emanate threat to students and has been lowered to a belief that bullying is a part of the developmental stage that most young children will experience then overcome (Allebeck, 2005, p. 129). Not everyone gets over the extreme hurt that can come as an effect from bullying, for both the bully and the victim. Because of this, we now see bullying affecting places such as the workplace, social events and even the home. The issue of bullying is not only experienced in schools, but the school environment is one of the best places

    Read More

  • The Perils of Bullying

    2482 Words  | 5 Pages

    “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.

    Read More

  • Informative Speech: A Persuasive Speech For Bullying

    1040 Words  | 3 Pages

    Too many adults seem to think that bullying is just part of being a kid, but it isn’t, and it has a negative and sometimes long lasting effect on others. Bullying Statistics show that “Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people, resulting in about 4,400 deaths per year, according to the CDC. For every suicide among young people, there are at least 100 suicide attempts. Over 14 percent of high school students have considered suicide, and almost 7 percent have attempted it.” What some people do not realize is that there are many different types of bullying that include physical bullying, emotional bullying, sexting, and cyberbullying. There are many warning signs of suicide. Depression, interest in death or dying, engaging in harmful activities (e.g. substance abuse, reckless behavior, and self-injury), giving away personal possessions, saying goodbye to people, and making comments about how life would be better off without them. If you are hearing or seeing any of these warning signs, take action! According to Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection about Bullying, there can also be negative mental health issues, anxiety and

    Read More

More about Teen Bullying Must Be Stopped

Open Document