Bullying

Bullying is defined as the deliberate use of damaging words or actions repeatedly against an individual or a group with the intention to cause physical, social, and/or psychological harm. This behavior is often habitual. Bullying can happen at various places including school, work, home, or even online (which is termed cyberbullying). Bullying is not only physical but takes various forms such as verbal abuse, sabotaging a victim’s work relationship, or misuse of authority.

One out of every five (20.2%) students worldwide reports being bullied as per the National Center for Educational Statistics, 2019. Among such students bullied at school, most were in the age group 12–18, and 15% of these were victims of cyberbullying. Bullying occurs in workplaces as well. More than 40% of workers in the US experience bullying, and both males and females are victims of it. However, most bullies are males and tend to bully both genders equally. Bullying is deleterious as it causes great distress to the victim.

The primary motive behind bullying is a bully’s need to control their victim. In addition, there are certain factors that make a victim more prone to bullying:

• Low understanding of social/emotional interactions 

• Tendency to feel upset quickly

• Anxiety

• Depression 

• Being underweight or obese

• Having a sexual orientation other than heterosexual (gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender)

• Disabilities

These characteristics of victims are not the only reasons for getting bullied. Bullies themselves struggle with stress, trauma, and low self-esteem, as well as with difficulties at home and in relationships. Often, bullies themselves have been subjected to bullying, and the feelings of anger and insecurity provoke them to target others. They perceive their target as a threat and want to be superior to the target. This leads to bullying.

Browse the essays below to know more about bullying. 

Bullying Essay Examples

► The Facts About Bullying

Bullying Facts about bullying show that 10 to 15 percent of students are being bullied regularly in school. The student that becomes a bully feels that they need to bully because of the power and control they get off of the victim.

► Characteristics Of Bullying

Bullying is a form of aggressive behavior designed to hurt others. Bullying involves a real or perceived power. Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose.

► Bullying In Obese Children

Bullying has become an epidemic that is life-threatening, destabilizing the peace and harmony that is well-known in our world. What is hurting most is the fact that young children are the victims of this heinous act just because they are obese.

► The Victims Of Bullying

Most people know how difficult it is to grow up and maintain positive social relationships throughout the adolescent years. It’s even harder when a young boy or girl is the victim of bullying. Turn on the news or look through a newspaper and more often than not you will hear about a young child who is the victim of bullying.

► The Psychology behind Bullying in Adolescents

Bullying by definition is a form of aggressive behavior in which someone intentionally and repeatedly causes another person injury or discomfort. Bullying can take the form of physical contact, words or more subtle actions.  [Why]  Bullying has grown new outlets over the last decade.

Types of Bullying

Bullying can involve verbal and physical attacks as well as other forms of intimidation. Studies indicate that bullying peaks around early teens (11–13 years of age) and decreases as children grow older. Most bullying occurs in and around school and on the playground. Bullying can be classified into four distinct categories:

1. Cyberbullying: Cyberbullying refers to bullying using technology. Cyberbullies threaten their victims through hurtful emails, blog entries, chat room messages, or comments from anonymous accounts. Teenagers are often guilty of creating fake accounts online, but when an adult is involved, this type of bullying results in cyber-harassment or cyberstalking. Cyberbullying is a crime and has legal consequences such as jail time. It is also more common in schools, especially in secondary schools.

2. Physical bullying: Physical bullying involves harming a victim’s body. Most forms of bullying eventually lead to physical violence. Physical bullying includes stealing, hitting, kicking, spitting, tripping, breaking victims’ things, and even making rude gestures toward them.

3. Social bullying: Social bullying is the second most common form of bullying. It involves damaging the victim’s reputation socially. This is achieved by spreading rumors, playing horrible jokes, and making the victim feel left out and embarrassed in public. Social bullying can also involve other types of bullying. 

4. Verbal bullying: Verbal bullying is the most common type of bullying. It involves verbal abuse such as name-calling, teasing, putting someone down, and threatening. It is more common in schools and among both genders. The abuse can be related to various traits of a victim such as appearance, race, body weight, and sexuality.

► Physical, Emotional and Social Bullying

When you think of bullying, what do you think of? A lot of people think of a kid thrown against a locker, or people like me think of a girl told she wasn’t as strong or pretty as someone else. This is a subject we hear about a lot but it is extremely important and needs to be stopped.

► Racial Bullying

The word bullying is heard almost everywhere, but what does the word really mean? The definition of bullying according to Dan Olweus, the creator of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, is aggressive behavior that involves unwanted negative actions, involves a pattern of behavior repeated over time, and involves an imbalance of power or strength (Olweus).

► Different types of Bullying

More than 160,000 students miss school every day, due to fear of attack or intimidation by other students, in other words getting bullied. Many of these students prefer to not say a thing. Ever wondered what it feels like?

Effects of Bullying

Bullying has several physical and mental effects on victims, irrespective of gender or age. Bullies themselves also suffer from mental health issues. Teens who bully are at a greater risk of turning into vandals and having academic problems. They are also emotionally stressed, which, in turn, increases anxiety and can lead to depression. As a result, young adults often turn toward drug usage and violence. This increases their risk of developing sleep disorders and even behavioral problems such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). 

Young bullies and their victims both face social isolation. They may lack a supportive social network during adulthood, develop poor physical and financial health, and make poor choices later in life. Not only teens but even victims of workplace bullying undergo mental trauma, resulting in reduced job performance, more absences, and less work satisfaction. This further makes them anxious, depressed, lonely, and unhappy. It also affects their self-esteem and social relationships, both inside and outside of the workplace.

Bullying and suicide are closely linked. Teens who are bullied in high school seek suicide as a solution. They are often victims of social bullying and suffer from mental health issues. Most students are depressed when they are bullied for their physical features. Due to the social stigma associated with mental health, they do not seek help, and this eventually worsens their mental health. Certain groups of people seem to incur a higher risk for suicide; these include Native Americans, Asian Americans, Alaskan Natives, and members of the LGBTQ community. 

► The Negative Aspects Of Cyber Bullying In The 21st Century

The 21st century lives in a much different society than centuries before. The biggest difference that has taken place in the last twenty or so years is the rapid use of electronic technology. Technology is a wonderful resource for people, but like anything, it has it’s negative attributes.

► Long Term Effects Of Bullying

Bullying can cause long term and short term problems we need to know the signs of someone being bullying and someone who is bullying others to stop people from having long term and short term problems. Long Term and Short problems of bully can affect someone’s health and cause many problems throughout their live.

► Social Effects Of School Bullying

Bullying is an issue in our society today that is sometimes unaddressed. Bullying is not limited to only physical aggression, but verbal as well. It is a malicious act and action needs to be taken against it.  School bullying is a common issue that can range from elementary schools to high schools.

► How Does Bullying Affect Teenagers?

Bullying includes actions that can be physical, mental, or emotional and result in one person having power over another (Jenson, Jeffery M.,et al).There is also Cyber bullying which is using technology to degrade and belittle the victim (“Teenager Bullying”).

Prevention of Bullying

There are many factors that may increase or decrease the risk of perpetrating or experiencing bullying, but it can still be stopped once identified. Children are more at risk of being bullied. If prevented early, it can help in safeguarding their mental health. There are three steps to stop bullying: 

• Preventing bullying 

• Identifying bully victims

• Response to bullying

Preventing Bullying

The following pointers can help a guardian prevent their child from getting bullied, at school or in other places.

Educating the child about bullying: Often, forms of bullying other than physical are hard to notice. Therefore, teaching a child about bullying will help them identify all forms more easily, whether it is happening to them or someone else. 

Talking openly to children: Children are often afraid of their parents and hesitate to confide in them about anything, including if they are being bullied. Ensuring an open line of communication with children helps in building trust. A general inquiry about the child’s day at school and their feelings is a good way to start.

Helping children to be positive role models: Children can stick up for bullying victims by supporting them or questioning bullying behaviors by others. If children are kind and respectful toward each other in schools, there might be fewer episodes of bullying.

Making children self-confident: Enrolling children in classes and activities that will provide them with a support system in case of a bullying episode can go a long way in increasing their confidence.

Supervising a child’s online activities: Cyberbullying is very detrimental to a child’s mental health. A parent can prevent cyberbullying by keeping a check on their child’s internet surfing. They can also talk and educate the child about the risks involved in building online connections. 

Identifying Bully Victims

Children show various symptoms if they are bullied. It can be physical marks (unexplained bruises, broken bones, and healing wounds), fear of going to school, anxiety, having fewer friends, poor academic performance, absenteeism, improper sleep, headaches, distress, secretive and aggressive behavior, and so on. Child development professionals suggest that if parents think their child is being bullied, they should take it seriously.

Response to Bullying

After identifying bullying, it can be responded to in several ways: 

• Reassuring the child by being calm and supportive

• Talking to the school authorities about the incident

• Addressing the bully directly

• Expanding the victim’s social circle by making them a part of activities, thus building a strong support system

• Ensuring constant assistance from a student or teacher in school to reduce the chances of being bullied again

• Building the child’s self-confidence and developing positive body language

• Getting the child professional help in the form of psychotherapy (cognitive behavioral therapy [CBT]) and/or treatment with psychiatric medication

In schools, bullying can be prevented by incorporating bullying prevention and anti-bullying programs and yearly surveys of children to check any incidents of bullying. At workplaces, coworkers and supervisors are encouraged to address each other with respect and avoid gossiping about one another. Also, reporting to the appropriate higher authorities and developing work policies that address bullying are some responses to bullying. It is absolutely necessary, whether at school or at the workplace, to create a safe environment for people by reducing bullying through identification, prevention, and response.  

► Persuasive Essay: The Six Simple Solutions To Bullying

What is bullying? When someone says or does something unintentionally hurtful and they do it once, that’s rude. When someone says or does something intentionally hurtful and they do it once, that’s mean. 

► Preventing Bullying in School

“Researchers have conducted that at least 25% of all children will be affected by bullying at some point during their school years, and many of these children miss significant numbers of school days each year owing to fear of being bullied” (Bray, M., Kehle, T., Sassu, K. (2003).

► Are Schools Doing Enough To Prevent Bullying?

The topic of bullies is one that has concerned parents and schools for almost as long as schools have been around, but the real question is who should dispense with this serious dilemma of our children getting harassed the school or the parents?

► How To Stop Bullying Essay

It is important that bullying is identified and stopped. It is important that teachers, administration and parents are aware of bullying and appropriate ways to stop bullying. I strongly believe that students should feel comfortable at school socially, emotionally and academically.

► Early Prevention is Key in Reducing Bullying at an Earlier Age

Starting at very young ages there are bullies.  They develop early and often never grow out of that stage, but rather it just increases with time and age so the crimes become more serious.  This is why it is necessary to target children with their unkind or violent tendencies before it gets out of control.

Frequently Asked Questions