By Celeste Schutte
Instructor Danny Wyatt
Leeward Community College-Wai’anae
[Note from the instructor: The assignment was for students to write a research paper using their three previous essays as a basis. The topic is “Bullying,” and it started with a video on bullying I showed to the class. They then wrote a cause/effect essay concentrating on the effects of bullying. The second essay was to examine why people (kids) bully one another — looking at the process that kids go through when they become bullies. The final paper was a persuasive essay on what should be done to address this issue: put all three together, cite them, develop the cited idea, and “voila” they have a research paper (more or less). -Danny Wyatt]
In the United States, bullying has become a main issue and as time goes on it seems as if there is nothing that can done to prevent it from happening. Bullying occurs everywhere. It is happening in our schools, malls, playgrounds, and in our workplaces. Whether the bully hassles that person or they see it happening to someone else down the road, it is something everyone encounters every day no matter where they go. It is common to hear about bullying in the schoolyard with children acting their age and picking on other children, but it happens outside of the schoolyards and in the work force. To understand the actions of bullying, people first need to understand what a bully is. According to bullying statistics, a bully is a person who uses superior strength or power to either harm a person or intimidate a person, who is weaker than they are over a period of time.
There is no specific type of a bully or their victim; they come in all shapes and sizes. Some bully because they have a hard life at home, others may bully because they simply find joy in making others feel smaller than they do personally. It is easy to identify why people are victims of bullying, but pinpointing why people become the bully is one question that is not simple to answer.
A child who bullies others may typically be one who has a difficult home life. There are many reasons for a child to have an extremely hard life at home. Adoption is very hard for a child; being in someone’s house with new surroundings the child will typically stand out and the children in the neighborhood may pick on them. Typically, a foster child is looked at as different because of the simple fact that the people he calls mother of father aren’t his real parents. Being the “other” child, they will normally get away with the more mischievous acts that a foster child would not be able to get away with. Similar to this, is being the youngest child of the family. Older siblings will normally target the younger brother or sister because they are seen as superior. They’re able to treat their younger siblings any way they want simply because they are older. In both cases, the victimized child is looked at as vulnerable and may also play that part. Being in situation such as this, a bullied child may want a sense of dominance. This is where being in a school plays a big role in bullying. Children of all shapes and sizes roam the school yard where there is no one to watch over them. With the school being open and vast, students are able to pick whomever they want to target as vulnerable.
Being the one that is looked at as different or an outsider isn’t a feeling that a child. It gives them the feeling of hopelessness, and despair when it comes to making new friends. In many cases, bullies are created simply because of how they grew up. Being a geek isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It becomes a reason for being bullied when they slowly become overconfident of their knowledge. Geeks excel in certain areas that other students are not gifted with; this causes others to migrate to them because of their intelligence. Giving anyone this type of attention, especially a person who has been looked at as a geek, develops a sense of arrogance and they tend to think that they are better than others. This leads to the geek talking down to other students and making them feel, as they aren’t intelligent.
Similar to this aspect is a person recognized as an overachiever; all a parent wants for their child is to be the best in everything they do. Some children and born athletes when it comes down to playing sports, but for other kids it may take time and hard practice for them to compare well with others. When others notice that they are not as talented, they feel intimidated. Without the overachiever knowing, he has already been labeled as a “bully”. For example, soccer season has just begun and it is time to decide whom the coaches want on their varsity soccer team and ultimately a person to become team captain. The coaches choose all the seniors and juniors that came to try outs, but they suddenly change gears and choose a young freshman girl, Estine, and the head coach, Bonny, says that she will be the new varsity captain. Estine threatens all the other girls because as a freshman, she has been chosen as the captain and not them. Noticing that the coaches favor her, she is a threat because of her accomplishments in soccer. In these situations, the people who are labeled as “bullies” don’t necessarily notice how their simple actions and accomplishments play a role in their attitudes.
According to Gay bullying statistics, one fourth of students from elementary age to their teenagers are victimized of bulling and are harassed because of their sexual preference and religion. In most cases it is not only the children that bully them, but those in authority do too. Everyone is entitled to having their own opinion when it comes to their outlook of those who present themselves as being homosexual, lesbian, and gay. When teachers treat students differently because they prefer the same sex it is also considered bullying. In the documentary, “Bully”, Kelby was picked on and made fun of because she had took interest in the same sex. Her teachers do not speak to her as if she is there, and they do not give her the same attention that they give to the other students who are in her class, ignoring her because she is not how all of the other students are. In the same aspect, people bully those who are not of the same race. These people have been labeled because the color of their skin is different, the way they talk is different, and the way they look is different. This type of bullying has been occurring for centuries.
Suicide is the third leading cause if death among young people, according to the CDC, 4,400 young people committed suicide (“Gay Bullying…”), so for every successful suicide, there had been about 100 attempts by young people. Bullying and suicide have a very close connection, whether they are being bullied through cyberspace or physically. If nothing is done now on bullying, imagine the rise of suicide rates in possible years. Although the bully is physically trying to bully one certain person, they are hurting many other people in the process. Such as their family, friends, community members, and many other people who come in contact with that person. While the bully is hurting that one kid, it may change his behavior and his attitude.
The effects bullying have on individuals is traumatic causing it to be the number one reason why bullying has to come to an end. When flipping through the daily newspaper or going through the different news stations, there is constant news of shootings, homicides, and suicides that take place because a bullying incident. In 2007, a mass shooting occurred at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Seung-Hui Cho, a senior English major who was mocked for the strange way that he talked and for his shyness, killed 32 people in a mass shooting, which is known to be the worst mass shooting at a school in the United States history (Johnson). Seung-Hui Cho then killed himself. This is a clear sign of the seriousness of effects that bullying has on an individual. Bullying can take people to a place of darkness that gives them feelings of anger and death.
Bulling is seen everywhere, people normally think of bullying in playgrounds or in school campuses, but that is not the only place it happens. Take for example, Jonathan Martin, a 24-year-old Miami Dolphins lineman. Standing at 6 feet 5 inches and 312lbs. (Dahl) it is surprising when a person such as him is bullied. According to Fox Sports, Martin has been threatened and bullied because of his race. Through text messages and voicemails, Martin’s been suspected to be harassed by Richie Incongnito. Playing only two years with the Miami Dolphins, he not only stepped away from his team, he stepped away from his dream job. Prevention needs to ne taken so that bullying such as this can be stopped; it is not only children that are doing this type of act, it is also adults.
One out of every four kids is bullied (“Gay Bullying…”). It is a devastating number of children out there that are constantly living every day being bullied. There are people who constantly hurt themselves, physically, mentally, and emotionally. There are kids out there that slice their wrist constantly, children are being teased for being “different”, and there are children who are pushed to the point to there they believe that ending their life is the best thing they could do. This is why bullying should be halted. By having people stand up for bullied victims, it gives those who are emotionally weakened someone to talk to and turn to when they need support for when there is a person attacking them.
For all those struggling with depression due to bullying, there is an effect on their family, friends, and acquaintances. An example that has been brought up with the news is the shooting that occurred at Columbine high school, the deadliest school shooting that occurred in the United States. Not understanding the real reason of why the shooting took place. There are only conclusions that can be drawn. The only detail known is that the two gunmen were after a feeling of destroying other people’s lives, murdering twelve students, one teacher, and injuring over twenty-one others. Gunmen Harris and Klebold had planned a yearlong plot to kill as many as five hundred people. Coming from this is an organization; Rachael’s challenge was started. She was a young 17-year-old girl, Rachael Scott, the first victim of the massacre. Her death led the Scott family inspired by her father and stepmom to establish this organization to create a safer learning environment. The impact that Rachael’s Challenge has had is immense; over 19 million people worldwide have been touched by the message of Rachael. All in all, everyone knows how it feels to be bullied, even the one who bully. It doesn’t take a person who is highly educated to stop bullying; everyone can contribute to put a stop to bullying.
Millions of people are victims of bully every year; many of those individuals have hurt themselves, committed suicide, while some have performed a murderous act. Bullying is not an easy topic to bring up, but it is a big issue that can destroy a person’s life. By coming together as one community, bullying will be fought not only by one person, but also by everyone. By the community coming together, a safer place can be created for others to come to. Instilling anti-bullying events in school and communities and by having anti-bullying groups that victimized people can go to when they need some one to talk too. These cautionary steps that can be placed in communities are ways to fix bullying that has already started. If the bullies aren’t created in the communities, where are they created? They are created in their homes. The only way to actually prevent bullying is by taking care of the household, which is where the child learns first. A child is not born evil, angry, a bully. It is created and instilled within people overtime. The only way to fully prevent bullying from occurring is by taking it of the household.
With the power that a bully possesses when picking on others who are weaker than they are, by dominating those who are vulnerable, they are gaining an sense of joy within them. Feeling as if they are of superior power. The motion of bullying needs to come to a halt because if it doesn’t it will only escalate to a much higher and disastrous issue. Discovering ways to stop bullying is not simple, but it is not impossible. A movement needs to take place to stop bullying; everyone can take part to enforce no bullying.
“About Rachel’s Challenge.” Rachelschallenge.org. Rachel’s Challenge. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
Bully. PG13 Version. Dir. Lee Hirsch. The Weinstein Company, 2011. DVD.
Cullen, Dave. “At Last We Know Why the Columbine Killers Did It.” Slate Magazine.The Slate Group, 20 Apr. 2004. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
Dahl, Melissa. “Big Man Bullied: Jonathan Martin Reminds Us That Victims Aren’t Always the Little Guys.” Nbcnews.com. NBC News, 5 Nov. 2013. Web. 21 Nov. 2013
“Gay Bullying Statistics.” Bullying Statistics. Bullying Statistics, 2009. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.
Johnson, Alex. “High School Classmates Say Gunman Was Bullied.” Msnbc.com. MSNBC, 19 Apr. 2007. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
Lamb, Gina. “Columbine High School.” The New York Times. Nytimes.com, 17 Apr. 2008. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
Marvez, Alex. “Source: Teammates Bullied Martin.” FOX Sports. FOX Sports, Web. 04 Nov. 2013.
“The Numbers Continue to Rise Every Month…” Bully Facts & Statistics. Make Beats Not Beat Downs, Web. 06 Nov. 2013.