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Bullying and the Victims

Yvette Cantu
COM/150
June 22, 2012
Jessica Simmons












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Bullying affects most of the children at least once in the lifetime. Bullying can make a
childs or teenagers life a very bad experience. Bullying can lead to depression, drug use,
suicide and even peer pressure. According to Bully Facts & Statistics (2009), "1 in 7 Students in
Grades K-12 is either a bully or a victim of bullying. (The numbers continue to rise every
month). This is a very large amount of victims that are being bullied in school every day.
Bullying can also traumatize and hurt a child or teenager all throughout all their life. Bullying
can never be forgotten by victim because it is a horrible experience to go thru.
Bullying can lead the victim to depression. Without a support from someone that can help
them, the victim will be alone and feel afraid of speaking out. The major support for victims of
bullying can be parents, teachers, friends, and older siblings. Most of the times the adults help
more than other children that see the victims are being bullied. A parent, teacher or school
administrator can find out why the victim is being bullied and who is the victim being bullied by.
If a parent finds out their child or teen is being a victim of bullying, a parent must speak out and
try to find out what is going on in the school. There are several steps a parent of a bullying
victim can take to help their child or teen. According to "National Bullying Prevention
Center" (2012) (Three Steps to Take If Your Child is Being Targeted by Bullying at School);
there are three steps a parent can take to help their child or teen. The first step would be to speak
to the child or teen that is the victim of bullying. A parent should ask the victim questions. Some
of the questions a parent should ask the victims are: Who is bullying them? What types of
bullying is being done? Some of the types of bullying would be verbal bullying, physical
bullying, and even cyberbullying. A parent should also ask when and where they are bullied. A
parent should pay very close attention and write down all the information given from the victim.
The other two steps a parent can take to help their child or teen is first speak to the teachers and
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principals. A parent can have a conference with them and explain what is going on. The last step
would be speaking to the district administrators and try to stop the bulling. A parent or a child
should never stay quiet. A victim of bullying should always speak up.
Bullying can also lead to drug use. A victim of bullying can look for an escape if no
support is found. A victim of bullying can feel alone and with no escape on what they are going
thru. Some statistics in several researches show both bullies and victims use more drugs than
people who are not bullies or have never been bullies. According to a study done by Nauert
(2012), it states that about 13.3 percent of high school students not involved in bullying were
marijuana users compared to 31.7 percent of bullies, 29.2 percent of bully victims, and 16.6
percent of victims. Similar results were found for alcohol and cigarette use. This shows more
substance use is being abused by the bullies and bully victims. There can be many bad effects
because of drug use. Some signs bullying often experience are Reluctance to go to school and
truancy, Headaches and stomach pains, reduced appetite, Shame, anxiety, irritability, Aggression
and depression. The effects of bullying often continue many years into adulthood. In the most
extreme cases, targets have taken out their anger and despair through school shootings or by
committing suicide. Students who habitually bully miss the opportunity to learn an alternative to
aggression According to Bully Facts & Statistics (2009).a child or teen can also start lacking in
school. When a child or teen starts using drugs, they can start lacking in school and in their social
life. Teens or children that are victims of bullying often want to be alone, in their rooms or in an
isolated place. That can also be a sign that something is going on their lives.
Bullying can also cause more harm like making a child or teen want to commit suicide.
Committing or trying to commit suicide can harm not just the bully victim but all their family. A
family loss can be very tragic and cause pain to the victims parents. Bully victims are between 2
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to 9 times more likely to consider suicide than non-victims, according to studies by Yale
University. The same study shows that According to "Suicides Due To Bullying" (2011), Six
out of ten American teens witness bullying at least once a day and that a study in Britain found
that at least half of suicides among young people are related to bullying (para. Data on
Bullying). These statistics show that many victims of bullying look toward committing suicide
because they find no way out or no help. All the victims that do commit suicide are forgotten and
the bullies look for other victims. The people that really hurt though out their life is the family of
the victims. They will never forget that their child or teen committed suicide because they were a
victim of bullying. A bullying victim must seek for other alternatives other than suicide. Suicide
is a horrible step; it can tear up families apart. A bullying victim must seek for help instead of
suicide. A victim must know they are not alone and they can find help. If the victim is afraid of
saying they are bully victims, they can call the hotlines provided for bully victims. They should
never deal with it alone. Bullying can be a very bad experience especially if the victim is going
thru with it by themselves. Any problem can easily be solved with other people by the victims
fault.
Last but not least, peer pressure can be a reason child and teens bully other individuals.
Peer pressure can be a major influence on the bullies or victims of bullying. Other children can
be the cause of why children bully their victims. The bullies might bully because they want to fit
in with a group of people. Children or teens that see that bullies are bullying their victims should
speak out and tell an adult. Saying nothing will be the worst choice they can ever make. Bullying
can also interfere with the bullies, bullies victims, and the people that surround them. It can
interfere with their learning, social life, and even personal life. According to U.S. Department of
Education (1998), it states that grades, attendance, self-esteem, insecurness can be affected by
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the bullying (Who is hurt?). The same reference states that people and peers that are around the
bullying do not do nothing because their afraid to get in the middle of it. Peers and people that
surround the bullying also are afraid to report the bullying because they are afraid of being called
the snitch or tattler. The people and peers neither does like to get in the middle of the
bullying because they are afraid of getting bullied themselves. Some peers might be also be
bullying other people so they do not want to be discovered as well. The right thing to do is never
get involved in bullying but speaks up. The best way to get an unlimited resolution for the
bullying conflict will be speaking to an adult before there are drastic things happening to the
victims or bullies.
In conclusion, bullying can affect in many ways. It can affect bullies, victim of the
bullies, peers, and even family members. Bullying can make a childs or teenagers life a very
bad experience. Bullying can lead to depression, drug use, suicide and even peer pressure. There
are very serious consequences to bullying; some consequences can even cause lifes of innocent
people. Bullying victims life can be changed in an instance. A victim of bullying might look for
other escapes to not feel what they feel while they are being bullied. People who see that bulling
is being done toward other people or themselves should always speak up. A person should never
stay quiet when someone is being hurt.

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References


Bully Facts & Statistics. (2009).
Retrieved from http://www.makebeatsnotbeatdowns.org/facts_new.
American SPCC. (2012).
Retrieved from http://americanspcc.org/lp/bullying-01/
Schneider, S., O'Donnell, L., Stueve, A., & S. (2012).
Cyberbullying, School Bullying, and Psychological Distress: A Regional Census of High
School Students. American Journal Of Public Health, 102(1), 171-177.
doi:10.2105/AJPH.2011.300308
Cloud, J. (2012).
The Myths Of Bullying. Time, 179(10), 40-43
ALIKA, H. (2012).
BULLYING AS A CORRELATE OF DROPOUT FROM SCHOOL AMONG
ADOLESCENTS IN DELTA STATE: IMPLICATION FOR COUNSELLING. Education,
132(3), 523-531.
Stamoulis, K. (2010). Psychology Today.
Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-new-teen-age/201010/7-ways-
support-teen-bullying-victims
Mellor, A. (1997). Bullying at School.
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Retrieved from
http://jotamac.typepad.com/jotamacs_weblog/files/bullying_at_school.pdf.
Orenstein, B. W. (2012). Depression and Bullying.
Retrieved from http://www.everydayhealth.com/depression/caregiving/depression-and-
bullying-whats-the-link.aspx

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