The Psychology behind Bullying in Adolescents

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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. When someone first thinks of bullying, their perception of the bully may be someone who chooses to be mean or cruel to another due to their own low self-esteem. This concept however is one that may not be true at all. In fact, according to Jaana Juvonen, a professor of developmental psychology at UCLA, who has published multiple books and articles on this subject, a bully usually has a very high self-esteem and is usually from the group that one would consider being the “popular crowd”. [Lin] Elizondo Page 4 Coming up with a clear reason why a person would choose to bully another individual can come from trying to establish what the bully gains through this action. A person feels powerfu... ... middle of paper ... ...also remember to teach our children how important kindness and compassion is. Bullying is such an unecessary evil and its up to parents, teachers and adults to protect our children from this abuse. Elizondo Page 9 Works Cited Babbel, S.. N.p.. Web. 2 Apr 2014. . Lin, J. n. page. Robertson, Ian H.. "Why do decent people bully?." The Winner Effect. Psychology Today, 06 Jul 2012. Web. 9 Apr 2014. . Webster, R.. N.p.. Web. 6 Apr 2014. . Why, Web. 2 Apr 2014. .

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