Bullying

Jose Ruvalcaba
Period 2
2-23-12
AP Lang.
Mrs. Hampton
Bullying
Little Billy Smith is a 6th grader, he is smarter than most of his class mates and he does very well in school. A bully picks on him everyday just because Billy is smart. The bully calls Billy a nerd, geek, teacher’s pet, etc. Now does this sound familiar to anyone? It should we all grew up around this type of school bullying, some of us even might have experienced the bullying firsthand. That’s why a lot of people think this is normal, that it’s a part of growing up. Well it’s not, an estimated 35% of students ages 12-18 reported having been bullied at school (1). 75% of all young people report having been bullied at some point in their lives, whether it was at school or through cyber bullying (2). Schools and the government need to work together to develop methods and rules to prevent bullying, they also need to increase the awareness of the issue.
Bullying has an effect on both the bully and the victim. Victims of bullying suffer from low self-esteem, suffer from anxiety, develop depression, and some commit suicide (3). When victims suffer from these things it means that bullying is part of growing up. Bullying is increasing causing students to do the unthinkable like suicide. Bullies tend to pick on the weakest or students who are a little bit different. The bullies may also pick on people because they themselves may have a problem bothering them and the take it out on the poor victims who happen to go to school with the bullies. But bullies also suffer from the effects of bullying, some come from dysfunctional, bullies can become anti-social, they can start smoking and drinking, they can drop out of high school, and eventually they can get caught breaking the law (2)(3).
When students get bullied at school most of the time they don’t mention anything the authority people at schools and they don’t report the bullying. When students do report the bullying going on, the adults don’t believe them or they just ignore them and continue with their lives. Not knowing that their son or daughter could be going through (2). Without the support of an adult the victims can start to feel a sense of uneasiness and may even have suicidal thoughts because they just can’t take the bullying anymore.
The government and the schools need to work hand in hand to make rules that will prevent bullying from happening. First of all they need to make a lot of adults aware of the issue so that more people can be on alert for bullies. They need to be able to let bullies now that there will be stricter punishment against bullying and they need to encourage victims to speak up and report the abuse that is going on. Schools need to train their teachers how detect when bullying is happening and prevent it (2). Also they need to put more supervision in areas where there is not enough of adult supervision. Schools need to make it safe for student to go and talk about what they are going through. For example I believe that a very effective way to deal with bullying and help the victims and the bullies is to offer them counseling. Victims would be able to talk to someone about what they are going through and bullies could be asked why do they bully and if they cooperate maybe they can be rehabilitated.
Therefore the government and schools need to work together to make the rules that are going to prevent bullying. Not a lot of people seem to be interested in bullying and its seriousness. There needs to be more awareness about the topic to mobilize people and get them aware of what is occurring. Showing the government and the schools the effects of bullying should be enough cause to start an awareness group in the community and in turn draw more people to the issue. Bullying is a dangerous act of violence, verbal, and mental attacks of one person to another and bullies pick on these random kids for the smallest reason like how smart they are or where they are from. The effects of bullying are too big to be left untouched something needs to done about it.
Works Cited
1. "Percentage of students age 12-18 who reported being bullied at school, 1999 and 2001." The American Family: Reflecting a Changing Nation. Ed. Cynthia S. Becker. 2005 ed. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Information Plus Reference Series. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context.
2. "Antibullying Strategies." Gale Student Resources in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2011. Gale Student Resources In Context.
3. "Bullying at School." Gale Student Resources in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2011. Gale Student Resources In Context.

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