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Stacy Fuentes

ENC1101/ Professor Massey


December 9, 2015
Bullying Argumentative Essay
Bullying is a serious issue that is happening everywhere such as in schools,
workplaces, and over the internet. The impact of bullying on most children lead to many
other serious issues, which is why we should spreading awareness is much needed. Bullying
refers to repeated aggressive acts against someone who cannot easily defend themselves.
There are four main types of bullying; physical, social, verbal, and of course cyber bullying.
In physical bullying, the main weapon being used is the body. Social bullying is hurting
others reputation or relationships. Verbal bullying includes name calling, teasing,
intimidation or racist remarks. Lastly, cyber bullying is bullying that happens over the
internet.
According to the Center for Disease control, bullying continues to occur at all levels
within the educational environment. Those who have grown up to have been bullied at a
young age have lower self-esteem than those not involved in bullying experiences (Adams,
6). Nearly a third of all students aged 12 18 have been reported to be bullied at school in
2007 (bullyingstatistics.org). In schools, there are two types of bullying: pack and individual
bullying. Pack bullying is a group of people doing the crime together, hurting one individual.
This is usually when social bullying occurs. On the other hand, individual bullying, typically
occurs in elementary, is one person doing the harm to others. In The 2009 Wesley Report on

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bullying prepared by an Australia-based group, found that pack bullying was more prominent
in high schools and characteristically lasted longer than bullying undertaken by individuals
(bullyingstatistics.org).
While social media keeps becoming a substantial part of our everyday life, cyber
bullying keeps increasing. With Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other social media it is
said that the instant messaging is used most frequently for cyber bullying. It is also said that
cyber bullying victims have a greater risk of becoming bullies themselves (Davison, 598). In
one study of cyber-bullied minor students, the victims were three times more likely to
undertake future binge drinking, two times more likely to use marijuana and two times more
likely to attempt suicide (Davison, 600). Monitoring the childs internet use can be a way to
help stop cyber bullying as well as looking for signs in the child such as anxiety, moodiness,
trouble sleeping, and suicidal ideation.
Another setting of bullying that many of us dont think much of is at work. A study
suggests that 2 and 30% of the working population has experienced bullying at work. As in
school bullying, workplace bullying may also be person- related and take form of gossiping,
verbal hostility, persistent criticism, or social exclusion. Work being in our daily lives, it
provides meaning, income, and social relationships as well as stress. In studies shown in
Verkuils article, there is a connection between workplace bullying and mental health.
Similar to the other types of bullying the relation between workplace bullying and mental
health fall into three main categories: symptoms of depression, symptoms of anxiety, and
stress related psychological complaints (Verkuil, 1).

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As bullying continues to
grow, so is awareness on the
issue. One very popular project
making a difference is called
the It Gets Better project.
Dan Savage and his partner,
created a YouTube video
inspiring young teens facing
harassment. The website,

Figure 1

itgetsbetter.org is where this project is; its a place where people can share their stories, take
the It Gets Better Project pledge and watch videos of love and support. As shown in Figure 1,
the top quote is something people would usually say and the bottom quote is for those who
are using this website. It wants to remind teenagers in the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender) community that they are not alone and it WILL get better (Savage, 1). Not
only is this project making a difference, but so is the White House. The White house hosted
its first ever conference on bullying prevention in 2011, raising awareness about the topic by
addressing in- school approaches, community- based strategies, and the effects of bullying on
achievement (Ansary, 31).
Also, all 50 states have anti- bullying laws and many schools have anti- bullying
programs. Many that have effective bullying programs include having long term
commitment, clear and consistent strategies, and central values and philosophy. Having all
staff on board with preventing harassment is part of central values and philosophy. According

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to Ansarys article, having a positive school climate has lowered aggression, violence and
reduction in bullying. Having a positive school climate includes having an emphasis on the
childs social, emotional, and character development. Long term commitment in schools is
also vast. Teachers need to be dedicated, and have different strategies for children in different
grade levels.
Although this issue is being targeted well by schools, everybody should be involved
in making the world a safer place for everyone because if we dont take this matter into our
hands then it can definitely happen to you or to someone you know and with it, it can have
some long term effects. Researchers found those bullied in childhood had lower levels of
education, greater physical and cognitive health problems, and poor social functioning
throughout their lives (Bowerman, 1). With some of these long term effects, it brings
everyone down. Being bullied as a kid can lead to depression and anxiety in adulthood. On
the contrary, there should be more discipline in regard to the bully. Going back to how
teachers should be dedicated, and have different strategies for different grade levels; many
teachers and parents use the timeout discipline, which is fine for the first few times but
after the 50th time of using this discipline is not going to useful anymore. Putting a child in
timeout is effective when doing it right. Most teachers/ parents fail to talk to the child about
what they did wrong on and how to correct it.
Bullying, being a very serious issue right now, goes hand and hand with suicide and
depression. Suicide being the third leading cause of death in the USA, it does much harm in
the victims family and friends (Shireen, 206). Many people wont take this issue seriously
until something terrifying happens to one of their loved ones. Which is why everyone should

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care; many parents dont know their child is being the victim of a bully nor do they know
that their child is the one doing the harm. Something such as committing suicide can happen
drastically. Approximately one in six high school students have considered suicide and one in
12 has attempted it (Shireen, 206). Another reason why we should all care is because those
who are being bullied or who have been a victim fail to meet academic achievements.
As described, bullying can lead to numerous amount of problems growing up as well
as in the future such as isolation, low self-esteem, aggression, difficulty in trusting others,
difficulty controlling anger and the urge to commit suicide. Bullying is happening
everywhere around us, including the internet, workplace and in all educational levels in
schools. Although this issue isnt going to change in a matter of minutes or days, one person
can make a difference. Putting an end to bullying will help children and parents feel safer
wherever they go or wherever they may take their child; school, work, mall, etc.

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Citations
Adams, Frank, Lawrence, Gloria. Bullying Victims: The Effects Last Into College. American
Secondary Education 40.1 (2011): Pg. 4-13. EBSCO. 17 Nov. 2015.
Ansary, Nadia, Elias, Maurice, Greene, Michael, etal. Best Practices to Address Bullying In
Schools. Phi Delta Kappan Oct. 2015: 30-35. Print.
Bowerman, Mary. Childhood Bullying Can Linger A Lifetime. USA Today 18 April 2014: 07a.
Print.
Bullying Statistics. 2015. Web. 8 Dec. 2015.
Davison, Christopher, Stein, Carl. The Dangers of Cyberbullying. North American Journal of
Phycology 16.3 (2014): 595- 604. Print.
Savage, Dan. It Gets Better. It Gets Better Project, 2010-2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.
Shireen, Farhat, Janapan, Himani, Rehmatullah, Sanila, etal. Trauma Experience of Youngsters and
Teens: A Key Issue in Suicidal Behavior among Victims of Bullying? Pak J Med Sci 30.1
(2014): Pg. 206-210. EBSCO. 29 Nov. 2015
Verkuil, Bart, Atasayi, Serpil, etal. Workplace Bullying and Mental Health: A Meta-Analysis on
Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Data. PLoS ONE 10.8 (2015): 1-16. Print.

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