Bullying is a growing epidemic in the United States. Schools across the country have problems with bullying on a daily basis. Unfortunately, some teenagers fall victim to bullying and its long lasting effects on health.
Bullying is something that has become very serious
Its been overlooked, however, during the past few years in America. On a daily basis, you see stories of teens taking their lives because off bullying and you see schools in the spotlight for not doing anything about students bullying other students. In 2016, more than one out of every five students reported being harassed or bullied by other students.
The worst part of it, though, is that sixty-four percent of children and teens getting bullied never report it. That leads to suicide, acts of violence, and sometimes tragic endings to families and to other students' lives.
Bullying continues to impact students everyday with how they learn, get educated, and live. It can also impact a child's well-being in school and with education. Bullying is one of the number one causes for students to skip school on a daily basis. Teens start to fear embarrassment and harassment so they decide it would be best to stay home to avoid the bullying and abuse from other classmates. Bullying needs to be dealt with more in schools across the country. Many schools and teachers ignore bullying and tell kids to just "ignore it." In reality, a teen can't just ignore it and it leads to a bigger problem for the bullied teen.
Not only are they getting bullied, but now no one will stand up for them either. It's as simple as, if you see something, say something. Bullying is not necessary and it by no means should be allowed anywhere on school property or online.
Another large problem is social media. Many teenagers bully others through apps and through social media.
This makes the bully happier because they don't have any confrontation so the bully can do whatever he or she wants without any punishment. Based on studies, over fourteen percent of students in the study admitted to cyber-bullying another student. Most of the bullies admitted to spreading rumors online and harassing other students via text and social media.
This makes it even harder for schools to stop bullying because most teachers and staff don't know what happens online. One study actually found that over eighty-seven percent of teens witnessed cyber-bullying and most admitted to doing nothing to stop or prevent it.
We as a society need to help prevent bullying
Teenagers need to learn to step up against bullying. They do not need to get involved, but simply need to tell a teacher or the school principal. The bystander effect is commonly used in bullying situations. Everyone witnessing bullying just assumes that someone else will say something about it. Do not wait for someone else to step in. You get help and stop the bullying that you witness.
Become an anti-bullying activist to help prevent bullying across America. Bullying does lead to more serious things such as suicide and murder. Suicide currently is the third leading cause of death among teenagers. It takes over 4,400 lives per year according to the CDC. Victims of bullying are two to nine times more likely to attempt suicide and are four times more likely to succeed at suicide.
Many students who have hurt other classmates, such as in school shootings, also admit to getting bullied when they were younger. Bullying victims feel that there is no help out there and that it's better to end the pain now. Bullying does kill. As a country, we need to come together to help prevent bullying and to help those who fall victim to it.
