WE SAY STOP BULLYING

We believe bullying has become a big problem in our society. People do not take this issue seriously because they do not think bullying is a problem. Bullying to us is a problem and something that needs to be stopped. Bullying is a problem that many children experience outside of their home, especially at school. Bullying not only affects children, it also affects adults. The current rules and punishments for bullying in schools are not enough and not enforced. Therefore, it needs to be changed.

Bullying is defined in many ways by several disciplines. It is commonly agreed that bullying is deliberately aggressive or hurtful behavior toward another person that is repeated over time. The common forms of bullying include verbal such as teasing, spreading rumors, or name-calling; physical such as hitting, kicking, or vandalism of someone else’s property, and non-verbal or non-physical bullying such as threats and excluding someone from a group. Out of these forms of bullying, verbal abuse appears to be the most common. About 30 percent of teens in the United States were involved in bullying in some form or fashion. Approximately 25% of elementary and high school students and 40% of middle school students report being bullied at least once per week. My three reasons why bullying is bad is because it could bring the child’s self-esteem down, the child who is being bullied has too much pressure on themselves, and it could lead the child to commit suicide.

Our first reason is a child who is regularly bullied can eventually develop low self-esteem. Self-esteem is usually defined as an individual’s perception of themselves. It can also be measured by how much the child appreciates and loves him/her self. A person’s childhood years are very important because it is a time that can affect the formation of his/her self-esteem. If the child is constantly being bullied at school whether it is physically or verbally, then he/she will start to lose confidence in him/her self and might even begin to dislike him/herself for their so called “weaknesses” or “flaws”.

Our second reason is the child who is being bullied has too much pressure on themselves. Times like this could be very difficult for children in middle and high school. Many of these children are looking for acceptance and esteem from their peers. Sometimes, when they perceive a lack of acceptance, they isolate themselves, withdraw from school functions, and may exhibit signs of general or specific anxiety. Since bullying can cause stress and depression, the child might cope with these negative emotions by regularly consuming food as a comfort measure and will become less socially active. For fear or being bullied, the child might choose to stay away from any social gatherings. He/she might prefer to stay at home instead and may begin to dislike going to school.

Our third and final reason is bullying could lead the child to commit suicide. Bullying is associated with increases in suicide risk in young people who are victims of bullying. As well as increases in depression and other problems associated with suicide, depression is a major factor for suicide. Bullying has long term effects on suicide risk and mental health that can persist into adulthood. This can also cause or contribute to “comparatively low levels of psychological well-being and social adjustment and to high levels of psychological distress and adverse physical health symptoms”.

The general consensus is that bullying is not a problem. Everyday people in the United States are bullied, regardless of their age or background, and that because this happens, people are still able to get on with their lives. If someone is able to go on after being bullied, then each person needs to learn to adjust after this happens. I feel bullying is a problem that doesn’t need to be adjusted to, it needs to erased. People shouldn’t go through life being the subject of bullying,

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