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overcoming peer pressure
Challenges associated with peer pressure
bullying effects on adolescent development
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Would it be a strange thing to say that bullying made me the confident person I am today? I was an Indian girl who was tall, skinny and had glasses, braces, and acne. I still am. Bullying was a daily thing whether it was about my race and getting teased for being a “cow worshipper” because of my Hindu culture. Or about my body type and how I was a "stick". In elementary and middle school It seemed that my priorities were about shaping a perfect persona that took me away from being the “curry smelling Indian girl”. Telling people I was mixed or creating new names for my parents was the normal. I didn't realize that I was more than the stereotypes of my race. I was so consumed by what others thought about my religion than who I actually was.
“Children who engage in bullying from a young age may be involved in what is known as precursory bullying. Precursory bullying has implications for future bullying, and is understood as ultimately destructive and damaging” (Levine and Tamburrino, 2014). There is no doubt about this, we’ve all heard about adults that have been bullied as children and do not come out successful members of society. Clearly, this is a lifelong
The definition of bullying is the use superior strength or influence to intimidate (someone), typically to force him or her to do what one wants. Usually the bully will use that method or they are just saying or doing inappropriate things just to be simply cruel. Bullies could physically and emotionally hurt you. Sometimes they are taking their own personal problems out on an innocent victim. It could be as little as having a bad day to other major problems. People also tend to fall into peer abuse, which basically means that if someone is in a group of bullies, they’ll tend to fall in line and go along with the harassment. Especially if that means that you will look “cool” or fit into the group more. Obviously, this is in the wrong by far. My opinion on this is that if you are with a group of individuals that make others feel down about their selves just for laughs, then you most likely should get new peers to associate with.
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.
Growing up as a victim to bullying for something you have no control over can deteriorate
with what it means to be labeled as different and what it means to associate with someone who is different. Bullying in my own experience was always based in variance from the accepted norms in the groups around me. Rather than having difference celebrated it is grounds for social victimization. This is why for a good part of my adolescence, “fitting in” was something that I either did because I had to, or I would be constantly searching for the comfort of a social group. I realize that I am, and have been, in a position of privilege to be less likely labeled as socially deviant, because of my race, appearance, economic status, and other identifiers being generally average for the schools I attended as a kid. Additionally, staying quiet in class was a way to avoid any grounds for bullying, as long as you are not too quiet and get bullied for
Bullying is a major social problem experienced in many countries around the world. Bullying is intentionally causing harm to an individual, using an association that is based on power imbalance (Juvonen and Sandra 159). Bullying is usually repetitive and persistent. However, in some unique case, a single act of bullying can have continued or permanent effect on a victim. Studies show that every two children between the age of 8 and 16 are being bullied in schools (StopBullying, 2013). A school is a place where all the kids learn how to behave, respect one another and also a place where they should feel safe. Unfortunately, we have a problem in our school of bullying that needs to be acknowledged. There is a high prevalence rate, and yet in some countries, the rates are higher (Juvonen and Sandra 159). Bullying has various detrimental psychological impacts. Apart from immediate health effects, bullying also leads to cases of depressions, lowered self-esteem and anxiety, even after the victim grows up. Some scholars have linked bullying to truancy, suicidal thoughts as well as eating disorders (Juvonen and Sandra 161). This paper discusses a solution of bullying and proposes various techniques of addressing the problem.
My life growing up consisted in living in a very privileged neighborhood located in a Birmingham, Alabama suburb called Mountain Brook. We were known as the rich kids with the nice cars and the kid’s whose parents were either doctors or lawyers. I am not saying this is not true, but this is not all that we were. We were proud of our family heritage and the area of town we grew up in. Most of the families living in Mountain Brook had families that have been in Birmingham or Alabama for a more than two generations, like mine. My dad’s family has been in Birmingham since 1908. Since we are so proud of our families and we went to one of the top schools in Alabama. We did not find the need to bully others in order to put
I chose to find strength in my bullied experiences. As I began to look at my situation differently and I became grateful for all that seemed to be going well for me in life. I had a lot to be thankful for, I wish I realized that sooner. I was healthy and had a roof over my head, I had two loving parents who cared for me, and a strong friend support system. I was privileged and God blessed me with a wonderful life.
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.
The psychoanalytic perspective (Erikson’s psychosocial stages), Sigmund Freud Ego or psychological defense mechanism, and behaviorism and social learning theory, are important to understanding adolescent bullying. In the psychoanalytic approach, development is discontinuous and as such occurs in stages where “people move through a series of stages in which they confront conflicts between biological drives and social expectations, and how these conflicts are resolved depends on the person’s ability to learn, to cope with others and cope with stress” (Berk 2010, p.15). According to Sigmund Freud from this theory, individuals use a mechanism called psychological defense mechanisms which when they feel an overpowering anxiety, the ego employs to protect themselves against unwanted, scary feelings or weaknesses within their psyche or consciousness. The use of these defense mechanisms can be useful sometimes and also hurtful at other times to us and others, which emanates as aggressive behavior e.g. bullying [2]. Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development are important for understanding bully behavior. According to Erikson, a “basic psychological conflict which is resolved along a scale from positive to negative determines a healthy or maladaptive outcomes of each stage” [Berk 2010, p.16], in other words as the child grows and goes through each of the psychosocial stages, he or she negotiates new cognitive and emotional experiences which enables him or her to pass through the stage with either a positive or negative outcome. The effects and results of a negative outcome from the stages can be used to describe aggressive behavior such as bullying [Berk 2010, p.16]. According to the behaviorism and learning theory, they believed that b...
Everyone has been bullied or encountered someone being bullied at some point of their life. Whether it would be physically or verbally both can be exceedingly traumatizing and can have a long-term psychological influence on children’s development. Majority people may define bullying in a more physical term; nevertheless that’s not always the case. The act of bullying can occur in several ways and in reality affect the individual in the same way. Bullying is generally defined as repeated, negative, and harmful actions focused at target throughout a course of time, exhibiting a sense of power difference between the bully and the victim (Olweus, 1993; Limber & Mihalic, 1999 as cited from Douglas J. Boyle, 2005). A survey was conducted in the United States estimating that over six million children, about 30% in grade six through ten have experienced frequent bullying in a school environment (Nansel, 2001 as cited from Douglas J. Boyle, 2005). Many people might debate that bullying is something that every child goes through and is simply a part of growing up, although there are several damaging consequences that happens to the child’s brain. Bullying causes the child to feel upset, isolated, frightened, anxious, and depressed. They feel like they reason they are being picked on is because there is something wrong with them and may even lose their confidence feel unsafe going to school (Frenette, 2013 as cited from Douglas J. Boyle, 2005) Anthropologically, sociologically, or psychologically, bullying can be analyzed through different perspectives and several questions can be asked based on the topic:
There are many strong arguments that support this and one of them is the life story of Herschel Walker. In his early child hood he was constantly alienated and bullied by others, however, he once stated in an interview that he decided “Herschel wasn’t going to get beat up anymore”. He started to toughen himself up mentally, emotionally, and physically until the point where he completely disassociated himself from his surroundings and focused on improving himself as a human being (Time Well Spent With Herschel Walker). His situation and the many others alike should stand as an ample example that not all bullying should necessarily be considered to be bad; however, regardless of the outcome people seem to ignore the fact that had he not been pushed he may not have developed into the Herschel Walker we all know and love. In situations such as Herschel Walker’s bull...
Remaining a constant victim to bullying for 11 years significantly affected how I viewed myself and others around me. To most I wasn’t worth giving more than a single glance. I had a gap between my two front teeth, which was a primary target of ridicule. My clothes were “nice”, but they weren’t by the designer label everyone else was wearing. Not only did I dress and look ugly, I was also a black girl- a lighter skinned
A major effect of bullying is the way it can change the victim 's personality. It may cause someone who is regularly self-sufficient and full of joy to become anxious, and hesitant. Consequently, victims may even become depressed or suicidal. Their self-sufficientness could possibly flee, keeping them from experiencing
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.