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Andrew B.
Mrs. Zurkowski
Honors English 9- Yellows
3 October 2010
Bullying- Inside and Out
Every day, thousands of kids are bullied in schools and online around the United States and this constantly goes on daily. For example, a boy is beaten up at school and then when he thinks it cannot get worse, he is also cyberbullied later that night. Victims of bullying feel abused and left out so they have thoughts of running away or even suicide. Meanwhile, the bullies feel good about themselves for bullying and they want to do it again so more and more kids are bullied again. This is a continuous cycle that desperately needs to be stopped somehow but instead of getting better, it is getting worse. Bullying is a major problem in schools today because physical abuse affects numerous kids per year and since they are also being cyberbullied, solutions need to be made to control bullying and eventually stop it.
One form of bullying is direct bullying, which usually happens at school and affects millions of kids each year. "In 2007, nearly 1 out of 3 students in middle school and high school said they had been bullied at school during the school year." (Paulson 1) There are many ways to bully, which include punching, kicking, and other ways to bring pain to other students. Children will have a hard time learning if the learning environment is not safe due to bullying (Paulson 1). According to Fox, bullies prevail with their power over weaker people in school too much (1). The bullying numbers will continue to rise unless teachers can control and eventually stop it and students need to have respect for everyone in the school. Bullies also feel
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proud of what they do so bullying others builds their confidence and they also become more popular. According to Fox, girls become more popular as bullies than boys (1). It is hard for schools to stop bullying because it goes on all the time and it remains one of the worst problems schools have to deal with.
Indirect bullying such as cyberbullying usually occurs over the Internet and this has become a major problem over the last few years. Cyberbullying involves posting mean things about someone on social networking sites like Facebook and then the victim sees it and then says bad things about the other person. Many teens have been cyberbullied, and girls tend to be bullied more than boys (Lundsten 1). The two teens will eventually exchange enough mean things to each other that they will stop and they will feel abused. In some cases, the effects of cyberbullying are serious and sometimes life-taking. "In some cases, cyberbullying causes more extreme reactions- like running away or even suicide." (Lundsten 2) Many people think that cyberbullying is probably worse than direct bullying due to how serious it can be. Cyberbullying is worse than direct bullying because you cannot escape cyberbullying since it is all over the Internet (Lundsten 2). Cyberbullying is so common that anyone online could be a victim. According to Lundsten, everyone online is at risk of being cyberbullied since people can target any victim (3). Cyberbullying has been an ongoing issue in recent years and will get much worse since it cannot be stopped completely.
Bullying can be prevented in many ways with after school programs and schools must be able to control bullying. After school programs are very helpful because they can teach about bullying to certain students who are targeted the most so they can be prepared for it next time. They are also helpful because they keep bullies at school so they do not do any harm outside of
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school. Sometimes these programs cannot occur, especially in the last few years in schools that are located in bigger cities. Paulson states that programs to stop bullying have not happened because they have been affected by budget cuts (2). Bullying can also be stopped if teachers can handle it themselves and they can catch the bully instantly. According to Paulson, adults and teachers need to be trained in order to control and prevent bullying (1). Also, state legislature is considering laws to help control bullying in schools that really need them. "Suicides linked to bullying have drawn particular attention to the issue, and several states have considered or enacted anti-bullying laws." (Paulson 1) Schools need to be able to put anti- bullying plans into effect rather than teachers just talking about it all the time. According to Fox, preaching about stopping bullying will not work until the students can put it into action (1). If solutions can be made to at least control bullying a little bit, it will make a huge difference in the future and schools will be better off with themselves.
Many people could say that bullying could be a good thing. One reason they would say this is that a person who bullies can become stronger and can build their self- esteem. According to Fox, bullies become more popular when they bully and they are admired by other students for their strength, so their confidence goes up (1). This point of view is wrong because the bully will only be looked up to unless they get caught and when they do get caught, they will be in serious trouble. Lundsten states that if someone uses physical threats to someone to bully them that can be considered a crime so the police could actually come in to assess the situation (4). If a bully gets in serious trouble, they will not be admired anymore and they will become depressed and their confidence will be all gone.
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There is also another reason why people would think bullying can be a good thing. The reason is that bullying can show how poorly schools are handling the situation and show
that teachers need to handle it better in order to create a safe learning environment. Schools will not be able to stop bullying and it will only continue to get worse in the United States until everybody learns to respect each other (Fox 2). This reason is wrong because laws and regulations are beginning to be passed in each state about bullying and teachers are controlling bullying better than before. “School personnel, from principles to food preparers, need to be trained in how better to recognize and respond to troublesome behavior.” (Fox 1) Also, schools need a better way of reporting school bullies so they know who did the damage. As long as teachers can monitor hallways for bullying and know how to respond to it, bullying numbers should decrease in the near future.
There are two main types of bullying, which are direct bullying and indirect bullying. Direct bullying happens in schools and can have bad effects on victims, including depression and thoughts of suicide. Cyberbullying occurs over the Internet where cruel things are said about a specific person and everyone online could be cyberbullied at some time. There are many solutions that can be made to decrease bullying including after school programs and teachers need to be taught to control bullying when they see it. The first viewpoint is wrong because people will not look up to a bully who gets in trouble and the bully will not be popular since no one would want to hang out with him or her. The second objection is wrong because steps at this point are being made in the right direction including anti-bullying laws and teachers are starting to keep their eyes out for bullying. Bullying is still a major issue because it affects how kids learn in school but it will only get better from now on since initiatives are finally being made.
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Works Cited
Fox, James Alan. "The hard lesson about bullying; Schools alone can't stop it." Boston Herald 1 Sept. 2010: 021. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 4 Oct. 2010.
Lundsten, Apryl. "Attacked Online." Girls' Life (Vol. 17, No. 1). Aug/Sep 2010: 77. SIRS Researcher. Web. 04 Oct 2010.
Paulson, Amanda. "School Bullying Summit's Big Hope: An Anti-Bullying Tipping Point." Christian Science Monitor. 11 Aug 2010: n.p. SIRS Researcher. Web. 04 Oct 2010.
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