The Growing Problem of Bullying

A common question asked by people every day is, are parents and schools doing enough to prevent bullying in the United States. So, are they? Many facts and statistics prove that the answer to this question is no. Bullying is an everyday occurrence in society. How could anyone be doing enough if it is still constantly happening? It is nearly impossible to end all bullying because not all situations and people, especially children, are able to be controlled. However, there is much more that can be done about it than there is. It is ubiquitously known throughout America that bullying is a significant problem that continues to get worse every year. Children that have been bullied are often traumatized or “act out” in a variety of ways, the worst of which is by ending their life and committing suicide. Bullying affects children, with long term and short term damage. There have been many reported incidents of bullying occurring and also many more that were covered up by some schools and parents just to avoid the negative publicity and drama known bullying can cause. These incidents can cause severe damage to children and their feelings which are what should be considered first. The effects of bullying on children, some of whom reach out for help in different ways and some of whom are too scared to reach out for help, should be a priority for parents and school administers. Given the continued reports of bullying and its negative effects on children, it has become sadly obvious that parents and schools are not doing enough to prevent bullying.

What is bullying? Can it be defined? Bullying has various definitions, concepts, tactics, etc. One definition is as follows: “Bullying can be comprised of direct behaviors of those such as teasing,...

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...all. It is difficult to control all children, and even adults, but even just decreasing bullying could make a significant difference in society because there is much more that can be done about it than there already is. The expansion of bullying needs to stop. Children do not deserve to be left with the visible and invisible scars that bullying leaves behind, or the severe consequence of suicide or suicidal thoughts. It has been proven that there are ways to decrease bullying; it just takes more than one person to do so. People, mostly children, are bullied and picked on for the smallest things in our society. Instead of trying to stop it; we focus more on simply asking the victim if they are okay and punishing the bully. But we have learned that it is not enough. Instead of just asking the victim if they are okay and receiving a “yes” from them due to their fear or