Bullying is the imbalance of power, where one has more of an advantage to tormenting a person than the other. Bullying is aggressive behavior one has towards another person intentionally and it can result in physical or emotional harm to another person. Bullying goes way back to the 1800’s but it was seen as innocent play. It was noticed as a serious issue in the 1900’s to 20th century when kids started to harm themselves or become depressed and insecure. One case that shined some light to the topic of bullying is the kings boarding school case, “This type of bullying was clearly observed at King’s Boarding School in the U.K when a twelve-year old boy was killed from bullying behaviors by his older classmates’’(Koo pg.110). It is told that the boys who were responsible for the kids death got no charges against them since bullying was seen as innocent and typical (Koo pg.110).
Bullying later kept developing and became more harmful to students in k-12 schools. The most common age group for bullying is during their years in elementary up until high school. When bullying occurs there is always a perpetrator, victim, and bystanders. The perpetrator is known as the bully, he or she implements fear and harms the victim emotionally or physically. The victim is the person getting bullied, they get harmed or made fun of. The bystander is the person who watches the bullying take place and do not get involved.
Bullying between kids is more common in K-12 schools,”More than 1 out of 5 students report being bullied” (‘Bullying statistics- National Bullying Prevention Center’) Bullying tends to begin with one kid who has more of an advantage such as strength or popularity who sees a weaker link and chooses to pick on them. The bullying the oppressed receive is not ‘simple teasing’, simple teasing would involve people the same height, strength, etc (‘What is bullying’). In the united states 8 to 80 percent of k-12 students depending on how they define bullying self report on a survey that they have been involved in bullying at their school either as a perpetrator, victim, or bystander. Bullying involves some type of harm to another student, for example statistics say, “Of those students who reported being bullied, 13% were made fun of, called names, or insulted; 12% were the subject of rumors; 5% were pushed, shoved, tripped, or spit on; and 5% were excluded from activities on purpose” (‘Bullying statistics- National Bullying Prevention Center’).
The statistics are not counting the ones who choose to not say anything about being bullied. The ones who are bullied have fear implemented in them from the bully. The people who are at risk of being bullied the tend to be the ones who are seen as weak, over/under weight, looking different, less popular, and or seen as annoying. Statistics show that 39 percent are bullied for body size or looks, while 33 percent are bullied for being perceived as or being gay, lesbian, and bisexual. “Bullied students reported that bullying occurred in the following places: the hallway or stairwell at school (42%), inside the classroom (34%), in the cafeteria (22%), outside on school grounds (19%), on the school bus (10%), and in the bathroom or locker room (9%)” (‘Bullying statistics- National Bullying Prevention Center’), Bullying happens and takes place a lot in k-12 schools between students.
Bullying can cause long term mental health effects on k-12 students. Bullying can lead to depression and anxiety. Some may even be lead to suicide. Bullying can affect someone by making them scared to go to school. Bullying may also lead to many victims feeling insecure and unsure of themselves. According to ‘StopBullying.gov’, Kids who are bullied can develop depression and different sleeping habits. Kids who are bullied tend to feel lonely, and lose interest in hobbies. Some can even let it affect the grades they have in school, their grades tend to drop. “Bullied students indicate that bullying has a negative effect on how they feel about themselves (19%), their relationships with friends and family and on their school work (14%), and physical health (9%)”(‘Bullying statistics- National Bullying Prevention Center’).
These effects from bullying may even seep into their adulthood. Suicide is the heartwrenching topic especially when it comes to kids committing suicide. Suicide can happen because of bullying, the victim could no longer handle how they felt and can not continue to receive the torment they get, “A meta-analysis found that students facing peer victimization are 2.2 times more likely to have suicide ideation and 2.6 times more likely to attempt suicide than students not facing victimization’’(‘Bullying statistics- National Bullying Prevention Center’). Parents usually find out that their child was bullied after the kid committed suicide. As for the bullies, they too are affected by their actions. ‘StopBullying.gov’ states that their effects may lead into adulthood too. Their effects are drug and alcohol abuse, getting into fights, or dropping out of school. As for adulthood they can have criminal convictions, or become abusive to their partner or kids in their family. As for the bystanders, the can get into tobacco, drugs, and alcohol. They too develop mental health issues such as anxiety or depression. The bystanders tend to skip school because of what they see going on. In the end bullying can affect everyone involved in some way.
Bullying is also a very common controversial topic which contains rules and laws against the actions involved. One common law against bullying is known as seth’s law. This law was put into place because a thirteen year old boy committed suicide for being bullied for liking other boys. The law itself helps other small anti bullying policies in school become more updated and enforced for the safety of all kids in school, “ ‘Seth’s Law’ is a new law that strengthens existing state anti-bullying laws to help protect all California public school students.”(‘AB 9: SETH’S LAW’). There’s many laws that help protect students from bullying, but this law started because a student who was bullied went through the process of bullying and its effects. As stated before bullying is a controversial topic, a popular debate that citizens seem to like to argue about is “should bullying be illegal?”.
Some say yes absolutely and some say no it should not be illegal. Many say yes because they are attacking and harassing another student. Some also say bullying should be illegal because the bullies are the reason for someone’s death. On the other hand people argue no that bullying should not be illegal. They say no because some argue that it is in human nature to act that way with other students in trying to be at the top and better than everyone else. Some argue that if you make it illegal more kids will want to do it even more, like a reverse psychology tactic. Others argue that students would be getting criminal charges for minor things. For example, if someone makes one small mean comment for the first time ever, the other student may tell on them and they might get some serious charges against them for a minor comment(‘Should bullying be illegal’). The debate is being spoken about across the world on whether or not bullying should be considered illegal.
In conclusion, as of right now bullying in k-12 schools is prohibited, there are school policies in every school district to try and stop bullying. There are laws that help promote anti bullying on campuses, and schools also may give a harsh punishment to those who bully. Nowadays people are just trying to figure out and settle whether or not if bullying should be illegal. Bullying is found very common with young kids in k-12 schools, Bullying is when one inflicts harm on another student intentionally, which can affect both the bully and the bullied in the long run with the toll bullying takes on everyone involved.
Works Cited
- ‘Bullying Statistics’. Pacer.Org, 2018, https://www.pacer.org/bullying/resources/stats.asp. Accessed 5 Oct 2018.
- ”Dealing With Bullying’. Kidshealth.Org, 2018, https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/bullies.html. Accessed 5 Oct 2018.
- Donegan, Richard. ‘Bullying And Cyberbullying: History, Statistics, Law, Prevention And Analysis’. Elon.Edu, 2012,pdf. https://www.elon.edu/docs/e-web/academics/communications/research/vol3no1/04DoneganEJSpring12.pdf. Accessed 5 Oct 2018.
- ‘Bullying Statistics’. Pacer.Org, 2018, https://www.pacer.org/bullying/resources/stats.asp. Accessed 5 Oct 2018.
- ‘Should Bullying Be Illegal?’. Debate.Org, 2018, https://www.debate.org/opinions/should-bullying-be-illegal. Accessed 5 Oct 2018.
- ‘Stopbullying.Gov’. Stopbullying.Gov, 2018, https://www.stopbullying.gov/. Accessed 5 Oct 2018.
- Tamietti, Robin. ‘Bullying’. Bullying190.Blogspot.Com, 2018, http://bullying190.blogspot.com. Accessed 5 Oct 2018.
