Social Justice Issue

Bullying continues to be an issue everybody seems to faze in grade school.

Those who are or were bullied at one point may suffer from low self-esteem, doubt to possibly commit suicide only for the issue to develop into a social justice topic in need to be addressed.

Due to recent headlines, social media outbursts and news coverage regarding the life-threatening cases of bullying prove this issue has worsened as young individuals like Alyssa Morgan, 12, from Pleasant Hill, Iowa, who hung herself after not being accepted by her school for coming out as bisexual, do not feel safe in attempting to reclaim his or her way back into society.

According to a poll published in the New England Journal of Medicine, gay children (or those who are perceived

as gay) are 91 percent more likely to be bullied than straight children.
My years as a victim of bullying began at a young age where my mind trained itself to accept the ridicule placed on me by others, such as being put in an uncomfortable position in front of my own peers as one particular individual wrote derogatory words on my P.E.

uniform as a way to make me believe having Hispanic gay relatives was objectionable.

Everyday led to an even more intimidating obstacle, which proved telling my parents about my own particular situation seem harder than it looked.

Social workers celebrate diversity and are taught to advocate for ostracized and harassed groups. In more ways than one, they tackle in supporting the unvoiced by working toward change and improving any situation indicating a movement to reduce bias seeing as the individual who is bullied may believe nobody wants to listen.

One thing is for certain, the term ‘bully’ and ‘victim’ has become a label placed upon any individual, therefore, the job for a school social worker is to help decline the use of labels by detailing the behavior as an alternative for the individual to be heard.

As bullying underlines prejudices by remaining a racial, ethical and socially profiled topic, social workers engage with individuals and families to solve problems with the purpose to using specific language to find an end to schoolyard connotations linked to racism, homophobia and gender stereotyping to name a

few.
For the most part, bullying tends to erase all social structures individuals using terms like ‘bullying,’ ‘hate speech’ and ‘harassment,’ social workers take action in changing the depiction of these so-called subtexts when bullying victims should not wait until it gets better after having his or her forgiven characteristics exploited in and out of school premises.
The effects of bullying makes sure the lives of those tormented become withdrawn physically, mentally along with their emotional well-being.
Through most of my years of bullying, I perceived and presented myself as someone not worthy as my own teachers pretended not to see what was going on.
According to the NASP Resources Facts Sheets, 25 percent of teachers see nothing wrong with bullying or putdowns and consequently intervene in only 4 percent of bullying incidents.
For the most part, teachers are the first to observe any change in his or her students, such as acts of bullying and are believed to have the authority to make a difference and potentially help save a life.
School social workers have the skills to provide resources for teachers to help students who showcase particular warning signs of weakness by providing training to prevent bullying from happening in and out of the classroom with each individual as a way to offering their support.
Over the last few years, I began to circle myself with individuals who make a difference in society, some being social workers, who believe in valuing and restoring power in the individual, in order, to become able to work toward improving his or her situation in an environment free from discrimination and prejudice.
Where they may teach bullying can be eliminated from all sorts of discriminatory issues by communicating acceptance in society.
Young individuals should be taught and allowed to be a part of society without the fear of his or her surroundings as social workers tackle the issue by not allowing it to worsen over time.