We all faced Bullying somehow in our life! Imagine that someone can decide to end their life just because of Bullying? It’s definitely one of the biggest problems we have in our society/ World. Bullying is the danger that is treating our children, youth, adults, and everyone.
What Is Bullying
Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school-aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated over time. Both kids who are bullied and who bully others may have serious, lasting problems.
To be considered bullying, the behavior must be aggressive and include:
An Imbalance of Power: Kids who bully use their power to control or harm others, such as physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity. Power imbalances can change over time and in different situations, even if they involve the same people. Repetition: Bullying behaviors happen more than once or have the potential to happen more than once.
Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose.
Types of Bullying
There are three types of bullying:
Verbal bullying is saying or writing mean things.
Verbal bullying includes:
- Teasing
- Name-calling, Inappropriate sexual comments
- Taunting
- Threatening to cause harm
Social bullying, sometimes referred to as relational bullying, involves hurting someone’s reputation or relationships.
Social bullying includes:
- Leaving someone out on purpose
- Telling other children not to be friends with someone
- Spreading rumors about someone
- Embarrassing someone in public
- Physical bullying involves hurting a person’s body or possessions.
Physical bullying includes:
- Hitting/kicking/pinching
- Spitting Tripping/pushing
- Taking or breaking someone’s things
- Making mean or rude hand gestures
Where and When Bullying Happens
Bullying can occur during or after school hours. While most reported bullying happens in the school building, a significant percentage also happens in places like on the playground or the bus. It can also happen travelling to or from school, in the youth’s neighborhood, or on the Internet.
No one deserves this. We all have great things that everyone should appreciate.
BULLYING
20% (1 out of every 5) middle and high school students report being bullied each year (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2019)
Youth who are bullied are at increased risk for depression, anxiety, sleep difficulties, lower academic achievement, and dropping out of school (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2019)
Almost all forms of bullying peak in middle school, specifically 6th-grade students reported the highest percentage of bullying (29%) (NCES, 2019)
Individuals who have experienced cyberbullying at some point in their lifetimes have more than doubled from 18% (in 2007) to 37% (in 2019) (Patchin & Hinduia, 2019)
Over 60% of students who experience cyberbullying reported that it immensely impacted their ability to learn and feel safe while at school (Hinduja, 2018)
59% of U.S. teens have been bullied or harassed online, and over 90% believe it’s a major problem for people their age (Pew Research Center, 2018)
MENTAL HEALTH
Experience of bullying and cyberbullying are also associated with the development of low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, family problems, academic difficulties, delinquency, school violence, and suicidal thoughts/attempts (Hinduja, 2018)
Approximately 1 in 5 children and youth in the US experience a serious mental health concern associated with trauma, social isolation, and bullying, yet only 20% of them receive the help they need (CDC, 2019)
Bullied youth have a significantly higher risk of developing suicidality (Limbana, Khan, & Eskander, 2020)
Do you think it’s about the parents?
Jeffery Taylor
Imagine child 7 years old died because of “talking”
While schools are meant to be safe learning spaces for students, it can be a different story for some children. Bullying has become an issue for many students, whether online or in a classroom setting. For some families, they said their children were “bullied to death,” with their sons and daughters dying by suicide.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that at least 3,600 children under 13 died by suicide in the last two decades.
According to experts, suicides are also regularly undercounted, especially among people of color. Jeffery Taylor’s family said on the night of Dec. 20, 2019; he grabbed a gun out of a Bible case. His mother found him dead with dried blood on his face the next morning. Lakeshia Chaney said her 7-year-old told her he was being bullied before he died. According to the autopsy, his death “appeared to be an accidental event,” according to the autopsy. She doesn’t believe that was the case.
A team of investigative journalists with 11Alive looked into suicide rates and found research from the Journal of the American Medical Association indicates young Black children are dying by suicide at rates two times higher than their white peers. Research also shows bullying and racism are tied to many of these suicides. However, this is a topic impacting children of all ages, races, and families.
The heartbreaking fact is that thousands more are missing from this list — and thousands more could be added in the years to come as youth suicides continue.
In Conclusion, if we don’t stop Bullying, our life is in danger. Our future is not completely clear, full of crimes. #stopbullying.
