Escobar 1 Lorena Escobar Professor H English 114 November 5, 2013 Word Count: 965 Bullying This article begins

with saying that bullying has brought upon a huge wake up call. Investigators realized that many students that are being convicted of murder, are being convicted, because they killed their bully. Three out of ten students attending school are either the

perpetrator, victim or bystander and an estimated 160,000 students skip school because they fear of being harassed (Greenya para 1). Students that are being bullied are more likely to commit suicide, fall into depression, and have bad grades. Many states have passed laws about bullying, but there are schools that are not acting fast leading kids to commit suicide and murder. There is one kid named Barry Loukaitis that shot two kids that were bullying him. He was convicted for murder as an adult. He said he killed them because they always kept calling him a faggot. There was another kid that tried his best to hide what was really happening to him. His parents finally realized that he was being bullied after seeing the rope marks around their sons neck. Bullying has become the main problem in schools. Bullying begins in elementary schools and seem to increase greatly in middle school. A young girl, in her first year of middle school, had her backpack taken away from her from older kids. They began to kick her backpack around. As soon as she tried to take it back a boy decided to pull her hair and took a big chunk of her hair off. When kids go on to high school it becomes something even more

Escobar 2 dangerous. Kids are being harassed because of their sexual orientation. One third of gay kids are being harassed because of their sexual preference. Greenya says that some experts say that American in some way support abusiveness. Television shows like Scrubs, House, and ER, for instance, feature successful albeit arrogant and rude doctors frequently verbally humiliating and abusing underlings (Greenya para 17). He also says that teen shows also have to do with bullying. These show have cheerleaders and athletes who rule the school. In these shows they are most likely seen as bullies. Studies even show that the popular kids are the bullies and that some teachers favor them rather than discipline them. Bullying has become an eye opener for the whole nation. People have finally realized that the kids actually committing murder were the ones being bullied. Being bullied is not just an unpleasant rite of passage through childhood, says Duane Alexander (Greenya para 36). Instead of people thinking that its just a phase to help kids toughen up, they should take action, because its leading to many deaths. Bullying prevention is crime prevention, says Backstrom. (Greenya para 37). Backstrom wants kids to be a part of this solution. He wants kids to be a hero and go tell an adult about whats happening instead of just laughing. He also say that Nasel and her colleagues found that bullying can affect both the bully and the bullied (Greenya para 44). These kids that are being bullied have a harder time trying to make friends. Bullied kids also have a higher chance to commit suicide. Bullies are more likely to grow habits in smoking, drinking, and have poor grades. The ones that were once bullied and became bullies are the ones that have a harder time making friends. They also begin to drink and smoke. These negatives effect can last a lifetime.

Escobar 3 Schools are finally beginning to see the seriousness that bullying can lead to. More than 16 states have passed laws about informing kids about the negative effects of bullying. There are many schools that have tried their best to implement this anti-bullying program. This will only work efficiently depending on how hard an administrator tries to enforce it. Less than one in four schools actually had an anti-bullying program. Some schools instead of implementing this program the right way they go about it a different way. They blame the victims and question them that why dont the stand up for themselves? Also Instead of taking matters more seriously when it comes to bullying they just take the easy way out and just suspend the bully. Many school are not making the effort to make a difference. Over the past years bullying has increased greatly. Technology has given bullies a new weapon. A girl named Hallie fox went to school one day and realized that all her close friends suddenly began giving her the silent treatment. She began to get upset because she had no idea what was going on. When she went home she decided to go online and chat with some friends. They confronted her and told her why she was picking fight over email. She later found out that it was one of her former friends that hacked into her email. Technology has given bullies a big advantage. The people that are being bullied are now being followed home. Whether its getting mean or embarrassing messages via email or through text messages. If kids are going to have the power of the technology, they have to have the judgment to go with it, Aftab says. They must learn how to use the filter between their ears to think before they click (Greenya para 167). Teachers or parents are now able to find out exactly where all these emails and text messages are coming from, making it easier to help them catch the bully. Bullying overall is a big fight that has to be fought. Kids are never going to get tired of seeing kids suffer. Rather than feeling sorry they just find pleasure in hurting others. Schools

Escobar 4 have to make stronger efforts to implement these anti-bullying programs. They have to make the effort to take charge and make a change.

Escobar 5 Work Cited Greenya, John. Bullying. CQ Researcher. February 4, 2005. Web. November 4, 2013.