Samantha DeSantis

ERWC P3

Allison Frederick

Bullying

What is bullying? Can you think back to a time in your life when you have ever been bullied or

been a bully yourself? The reality is, you probably have whether you realized it at the time or not. There

are many types of bullying, but two main ones. The first would be the obvious and easily identifiable,

physical and verbal harassment. Fighting, threatening, teasing, and so on. The other is relational,

somewhat indirect bullying, such as spreading rumors about someone or purposely excluding someone

from a group to make them feel bad. An article entitled, Understanding Bullying, written by Tara L.

Kuther from Our Children, National PTA, in 2004 described bullying as, The physical or psychological

intimidation that occurs repeatedly and is intended to inflict injury or discomfort on the victim and creates

an ongoing pattern of harassment and abuse. No child or even any adults should have to go through a

situation in which they are bullied. Bullying is an issue that is many times overlooked and seen as

something that all children need to go through in order to learn how defend themselves. But bullying

should not be a normal part of life and it needs to be better addressed so that we can solve this issue and

prevent it from happening in the future. Schools, parents, and even peers all need to be involved in

recognizing and putting an end to bullying.

According to Pacers National Bullying Prevention Center, more than one out of every five

students reports being bullied, and that is just of those who are brave enough to do so. Often times,

students are scared to report instances of bullying due to the fear of being judged or getting in trouble for

being involved in the situation. Due to the knowledge that so many individuals lack of knowing how to

end bullying, it is an ongoing issue in our community. But where does bullying begin? Why does one
feel the need to hurt others, either physically or mentally in order to feel better about themselves? There

isnt one specific cause of bullying. A bullys reason for bullying can vary greatly between each

situation, is usually very complex, and can include a number of factors. Many times, it is not anything

that the victim did, but it is how the child was raised and what is going on at home. A bully could be

looking for attention that they are lacking from their family. If a child doesnt receive the proper care and

attention that they need from their parents, they may not even realize that they begin to bully another

when they tease someone in order to get that attention. A bully could also be lashing out because they do

not know how to deal with their emotions in a healthy way if they werent taught, or they could be

mimicking behaviors of family members at home. Once again the source of the bullying comes from a

lack of or an issue with the childs home life. In this case, if there is an abusive parent, either physically

or verbally, the child may grow up thinking that this type of behavior is acceptable and normal. In some

cases, a bully themselves may be being bullied, and because of this, they now bullying others as well.

These are only a few of the many possible reasons that one begins to bully.

A victim of a bully can be anyone. Victims are often thought of as weaker or smaller than a

bully, and while this is true in many cases, there are many factors that play into this situation. A victim is

often bullied by someone bigger and stronger, or they could be older or more popular. How a victim

handles a bully determines what type of victim they are, passive or reactive. A passive victim is the

stereotypical victim that most people will automatically think of when they hear about bullying. They are

usually small, quiet, timid, and wont likely stand up for themselves. The reason that bullies tend to target

this type of victim is because they know that the victim isnt going to fight back or get them in trouble.

They will continue to bully because the passive victim wont do anything about it and therefore the bully

feels powerful. The other type of victim is less common but still exists, and is a reactive victim. When

bullied, a reactive victim will fight back in an attempt to defend themselves. Tara L. Kuther states in,

Understanding Bullying, The reactive victim provokes attacks by being aggressive, disruptive,
argumentative, and agonizing towards bullies and other children, and retaliates when he or she is bullied.

Sometimes reactive victims turn into bullies themselves because they begin to do the same to the person

bullying them or even to other people. These situations are difficult because it is hard to identify who the

bully is due to the victim's response.

Bullying needs to be put to an end. Neither a bully or a victim benefits from a bullying situation.

Victims suffer psychological and sometimes physical scars that last a lifetime, and bullies go on through

life not knowing how to cope with their emotions and will continue bullying others even through

adulthood. In order to achieve this goal, bullying needs to be much better addressed within schools. The

unfortunate truth is that we cant fix all of the messed up home lives that many children have, and there's

no easy solution to the issue of bad parenting, but we can change what happens in schools, and hopefully

this can be enough to prevent future bullying. What we need in our schools is a better program to come

and talk to the children on a yearly basis, that gives them the right tools and resources to prevent bullying

year-round. This program needs to truly addresses and explain the matter, rather than a little assembly

that says, Dont bully because its bad. Children dont understand why something is bad until they see

the consequences. We need to show children all of the harmful and dangerous effects of bullying, and

then what they can do if they see or know about someone being bullied. This program also needs to

address what a child can do if they feel like they are a bully and they dont know how to stop or where to

direct their frustration instead. Perhaps schools need more counselors, and at the beginning of each

semester, every child will be required to talk to a counselor at least one, so they can get to know them and

feel comfortable talking to adults about any bullying situations they may encounter throughout the year.

The main idea here is to get children and adults more comfortable with the addressment of the issue, so it

can be more easily identified, put to a stop, and prevented in the future.

Works Cited:
Kuther, Tara L. Understanding Bullying. Our Children, National PTA, 2004.

Aspa. "How to Talk About Bullying." StopBullying.gov. Department of Health and Human Services, 29

Feb. 2012. Web. 24 May 2017.

https://www.stopbullying.gov/prevention/talking-about-it/index.html

"Bullying Statistics." Bullying Statistics - National Bullying Prevention Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May

2017.

http://www.pacer.org/bullying/resources/stats.asp

"What Are the Causes of Bullying." NoBullying - Bullying & CyberBullying Resources. N.p., 18 Apr.

2017. Web. 24 May 2017.

https://nobullying.com/what-are-the-causes-of-bullying/

Beane, Allan L. "The Nature of Bullying." Jossey-Bass Education. N.p., 29 Jan. 2010. Web. 24 May

2017.

http://josseybasseducation.com/teaching-learning/the-nature-of-bullying/