The Victims Of Bullying

Most people know how difficult it is to grow up and maintain positive social relationships throughout the adolescent years. It’s even harder when a young boy or girl is the victim of bullying. Turn on the news or look through a newspaper and more often than not you will hear about a young child who is the victim of bullying. In today’s society, bullying takes on various forms and is an emerging problem that many children face daily at school; away from their parents protection. The methods of bullying vary depending on who is doing the bullying and the reason as to why the bully is acting out. Methods of bullying also tend to look dramatically different between genders. (Covington, 2015) Bullying can take on many different forms;

(Horner, 2015) Victims of bullying often have mental health issues such as depression, anger, low self-esteem and sometimes suicide attempts or suicide completions. When children experience bullying, they sometimes become emotionally withdrawn. On occasion, some children are already shy, quiet and self-contained. Being bullied can cause a child to become even more isolated which can cause them to have trouble interacting with their peers. Regular exposure to hurt, humiliation, and social isolation may cause them to sink deeper into a world filled with anxiety, depression, sadness and loneliness. Some children have trouble sleeping, eating, and become unable to enjoy the activities they once did. (Holt, 2013) As adults, many victims of bullying experience chronic depression and anxiety as part of an emotional repercussion. These emotional issues make eating, sleeping, working, exercising and engaging in hobbies more difficult to live a full and balanced life. Some victims also have a difficult time starting, maintaining and keeping friendships and romantic relationships. This reality often stems from not being able to trust themselves victims of bullying feel so hopeless, depressed and isolated that they don’t see how they will ever be able to live a healthy and happy life. Suicide seems like the only solution to escape their pain. Sadly, according to an article in the class reader called, “Sticks and stones Hurt” by Carinic, three cases of suicide was the end result for three young victims. “The first victim was a young girl named Megan Meier, age 13; who killed herself after being cyberbullied. Another girl named Phoebe Prince was only 15 years old when she committed suicide due to months of being taunted and bullied at school. The third case involves a 12 year boy who killed himself after a whole year of being called gay and was