(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. ...
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...lives in a tragic way. If our society does not want people to end up like Rehtaeh, Rebecca, or Amanda then they need to become more aware of the horrible result bullying can have on a person. No one should have to face bullying alone.) Extended
Works Cited
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"Bullying and Suicide." - Bullying Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
Gillis, Wendy. “We Should Be Ashamed”. “Toronto Star: A.1. Apr. 13 2013. SIRS Issue Researcher. Web. 3. Nov. 2013.
Martens, Steven. "Welcome!" The Quad-City Times. N.p., 20 Dec. 2011. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
Pearce, Matt. “Officials Cite Cyberbullying in Girl’s Death.” Los Angeles Times: A.10. Sep 13 2013. SIRS Issue Researcher. Web. 3. Nov. 2013.
... people hear of a child committing suicide because of bullying, they think of how devastating it must’ve been for him/her, but it never seems to cross our minds that bullies need to have a voice too so their side of the story can be heard. It’s hard to believe, but many bullies have been victims themselves or have had to deal with personal issues which makes them feel the need to use this defense mechanism that thrusts the knife farther and deeper than what was coming at them. No matter the reason, they all deserve to be forgiven, accepted by society, and treated more fairly by standards that we don’t understand. Therefore we have to give everyone flexibility in their choices. Let them experience bullying, let them decide on their own what is right and what is wrong, and let them choose on their own terms of what they’ve learned whether change is even a good thing.
Cyberbullying primarily affects young teenagers as they are the main users of social media, thus exposing them to the issue regularly. Providing that teenagers are stakeholders, it can additionally be recognized that parents of said teenagers are affected by cyberbullying also. This is because, having their child experiencing such trauma can be a distressing and overwhelming experience. On the twelfth of January 2018, a cyberbullying case in Warwick, Queensland, demonstrated the brutality of this issue; fourteen year old Dolly Everett, unfortunately took her own life after being harassed online. Queensland’s criminal code act 1995, provides legislation in support of this case. A series of online harassment by an individual offers a maximum penalty of three years imprisonment or a fine of more than thirty thousand dollars (Australian legal information institute , 2018 ). This legislation thereby supports stakeholders involved in cyberbullying; depending on how extreme the case is. On the nineteenth of February 2018, Queensland formed a cyberbullying task force in response to Dolly’s cruel death (King, 2018 ). However, Dolly has not been the only victim of cyberbullying, yet Queensland only developed said task force this year. Thus, Queensland attempts to provide for stakeholders in cyberbullying, but have only recently began to take further
On October 10, 2012, a teenage girl's body, Amanda Todd, was found at her home in British Columbia. The cause of Amanda's death was suicide. It all started when she was in the 7th grade, Amanda was on an online chat room, where she met a man who harassed her into flashing him her breasts. A year later, that same man contacted her on Facebook asking her to 'put on a show' for him, when Amanda did not comply the man who she had met online had found out her personal information and released the picture of her breasts to everyone she knew, and that photo went viral. Amanda's classmates saw the pictures and they began to harass and bully her in school to the point that she became depressed, and began to abuse drugs and alcohol. Amanda began cutting herself to relieve the pain she felt. Amanda changed schools, as a result, girls from her other school came to her new school and beat her up, while people from the new school filmed it and posted it on social media. She had multiple suicide attempts, first lying in a ditch on the side of the road, then drinking a bottle of bleach with no success, Finally managed to kill herself on October 10th 2012, ending her life. (Puresight,2012)
My friend, Kevin, was just two short months away from graduating high school, but he never got to see that day because of bullies. No one had a clue; he had a remarkable family and a great group of friends. He did everything he could to leave a smile on everyone’s face, and he earned the nickname, “Cheeks,” because of his huge, friendly smile. No one understood why such a cheerful person would want to take his own life, but it was because bullies harassed him for months, and no one knew. According to the Center for Disease Control, “Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people, resulting in about 4,400 deaths per year” (Bullying and Suicide). Bullying is an ongoing issue that seems to evolve rapidly, and the world of
Murphy, Wendy J. "Federal Law Requires Schools to Protect Children from Cyberbullying." Cyberbullying. Ed. Louise I. Gerdes. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. At Issue. Rpt. from "Suing School Would Shine Light on 'Suicide by Bullying,'." Patriot Ledger 13 Feb. 2010. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
Cyberbullying cannot remain denied as an issue in schools, at home, and in neighborhood communities because research displays increase in suicide and incident rates are caused by bullying. 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 and over 14 percent of high school students have considered suicide, with almost 7 percent already attempting it. (Bullying and Suicide, 1) According to Bullying Statistics, over half of adolescents and teens have been bullied online, and about the same number have engaged in cyberbullying.
Banks, Sandy. "Internet Intensifies Bullying." Los Angeles Times. 22 Oct. 2013: A.2. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.
Chibbaro, Lou, Jr. "Spotlight on Bullying after Rash of Teen Suicides." Washington Blade. WashingtonBlade.com, 8 Oct. 2010. Web. 04 Dec. 2013.
Effects of cyberbullying cannot be underestimated. Long-term effects showed that those who are bullied also became bullies in the future. Similar to bullying in person, immediate effects of cyberbullying are that the youths who are subjected to cyberbullying tend to separate themselves from the society and live alone. They develop inferiority and doubt on their skills and abilities. Having the high possibility to be depressed, the worst solution is to cut their own lives for they can see that it is the only way to answer their problem. Megan Meier, a 13-year old girl committed suicide after she got bullied. Former friend’s mother and an 18-year old accomplice pretend to be Josh. Josh was the identity sending messages to Megan and had a fake
Bullying.. it has been around for who knows how long and it is becoming a big problem in the past couple of years. Professor Louise Arseneault, senior author, also from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's adds: "We need to move away from any perception that bullying is just an inevitable part of growing-up. Teachers, parents and policy-makers should be aware that what happens in the school playground can have long-term repercussions for children. Programmes to stop bullying are extremely important, but we also need to focus our efforts on early intervention to prevent potential problems persisting into adolescence and adulthood." I agree with this this statement 100% we need to stop looking at how this is all can be a learning process and they have to get through this. Bullying is becoming a world problem and needs to be put to a stop.
How can society possibly put an end to bullying, there can be as many sit downs with the children of today’s generation, but it is nearly impossible to put an end to this ongoing epidemic among the children of today. Many students are victims of bullying and not even half of the victims file reports against their attacker. Do Something, a Nationwide anti bullying organization said that “Over 3.2 million students are victims of bullying each year”. What can possibly be done to reduce and or possibly get rid of this number of students that are being bullied? The United States of America is currently fighting a war with bullying, and so far are losing. Although the number of state and federal laws against bullying have been increased, it seems that there have been more incidents that have not been heard about until it is far too late for something to be done.
Holladay, J. (2011). Cyberbullying. Education Digest, 76, 4-9. Retrieved April 15, 2014, from the MasterFILE Premier database.
Holladay, Jennifer. A. Increased Access to Electronic Media Fosters Cyberbullying. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Greenhaven, a.k.a. The Greenhaven, 2012.
“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 does not have a standard definition. Bullying can be anything from calling someone else names, beating them up just for the fun of it, to texting or messaging them on the internet or any mobile device. Any person can be the victim of bullying, not just children. Bullying causes many issues, physically, emotionally, and mentally, not only for the victim, but for their entire families as well. Bullies have many different reasons as to why they start bullying someone else. The actions done to the victim leaves them with only a few options on how to stop being bullied. How they handle it is always different.