Coleman 1

Christie Coleman Mrs. Verdun English IV- 5B 25 March 2014 Final Draft

Coleman 2 The common image of a bully that comes to most peoples mind is usually a jock picking on a weaker victim. However, that is not always the case. Bullies come in many shapes and sizes. While bullying is generally thought of as being physical, it is often more than that. There are four forms of bullying including verbal, physical, cyber, and covert. Bullying is becoming an increasingly important problem in todays society affecting the physical and mental wellbeing of teens. Bulling is caused by people wanting to be in control and belittle others also by low self esteem (Why Do People Bully?, 2013). Bringing awareness to the situation and finding other ways to display selfboldness can prevent these actions. Verbal bullying is the act of using words to hurt another person. People use verbal bullying by gossiping, socially excluding victims, and verbally harassing them. For example, gossiping occurs in the movie Mean Girls (Waters and Fey, 2004). There was a group of popular girls who created a burn book in which they wrote gossip about everyone in their school. Accidentally the information in the book was shared and stirred up an abundance of ruckus. This chaos damaged students friendships and distracted from academic performance. This is a perfect example of how gossiping could negatively affect a school environment. Physical violence is a common form of bullying. It involves aggression towards someones body and is intended to hurt them or cause them pain. Bullies often inflict physical violence on victims to gain an ego boost and create a social image of themselves as tough, mean, careless, and intimidating. Some cases of physical bullying are obvious such as fighting, punching someone, or ganging up on a person. Physical bullying can also be subtle; bullies might intentionally bump into a victim, knock their books out of

Coleman 3 their hands, trip them, or other take actions that can be seen as accidental by adults. Athletes are often victims of bullying, which is called hazing because it is understood as toughening them up. Some adults see bullying as a rite of passage, but the consequences can be severe (School Violence, 2010). Cyber bullying is the act of using the internet as the means to intimidate other people. Cyber bullies often feel anonymous behind the screen of a computer, which encourages them to say things they would not normally say face-to-face. Social media websites are the top choice for cyber bullies because they make it easy to publically humiliate a person. For example, Twitter gives users the opportunity to post comments for everyone to see. I once saw one of my followers tweet, Keisha I thought you were my friend, but youre clearly a nobody. Everyone hates you! The post was intended to hurt Keishas feelings. And whoever wrote it knew everyone would be able to access it. The New York Times covered a tragic incident of a twelve-year-old girl by the name of Rebecca Ann Sedwick who was a suspected victim of cyber bullying by two girls in the same age bracket. She was said to have jumped off of a silo at an abandoned cement factory in Florida. The bullies were found and accused of using Facebook to torment the teen. They were previously friends and when things fell apart the internet made it easier for the other girls to bully her mentally (Alvarez, 2013: 1). This example shows the extreme effects of cyber bulling, in this case death. Whereas cyber bullying is meant to be public (Cyberbullying, 2011), covert bullying is done sneakily and is harder to identify. It can occur when a person mimics or makes facial gestures behind another persons back. For example, there is a girl in my extracurricular club who randomly falls asleep. While she sleeps, my peers make fun of

Coleman 4 her by making jokes and saying she has narcolepsy. This is an example of covert bullying because she is aware of their actions sometimes, but pretends to stay asleep to ignore it. Bullies often engage in covert bullying as a way of making a joke or to get a quick laugh, without necessarily intending to harm that person. However, it is often not kept a secret and escalates. Being in the minority is usually a factor for being bullied because it is easier to pick on a person who is different. People who are minorities in terms of their sexual orientation, race, religion, appearance, and social status may experience bullying because of this. Because the majority of the population is heterosexual, homosexuals are the minority and in some cases discriminated against because of their openness about sexual preference. According to the gay bullying statistics from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, about one fourth of all students from elementary age through high school are the victims of bullying and harassment while on school property because of their race, ethnicity, gender, disability, religion or sexual orientation (Gay Bullying Statistics). Most individuals would rather hide their sexuality early on to avoid bullying. However, as they get older they become comfortable with themselves and begin to display their preferences. Race comes into play when a person is the outcast of a large group of people, especially when they are all of another race. For instance, a white person attending a predominantly black school would be in the minority, and possibly receive unfair judgment. Data from the US Justice and Education departments suggest that Asian American teenagers are the most frequent targets of bullying. Their research found that fifty-four percent of Asian Americans surveyed were bullied in their classrooms. This is

Coleman 5 significantly higher than their Caucasian, African American, or Hispanic counterparts who reported bullying rates of thirty-one, thirty-eight, and thirty-four percent respectively (Izadi, 2011). Some believe that racial bullying is limited to one ethnicity, but statistics beg to differ. An example of bullying based on religion could be if a traditionally dressed Jewish person was beaten up in the hallway because of what he stands for. Dr. Riggio is an expert in social psychology. In his article about religious bullying in schools, he said his friend was concerned because her son was one of the few non-Christian students in his class who did not attend the local church. By attending a different church, the nonChristian students were singled out and subjected to bullying by the other students. One (student) told (one of the non-Christian students), youre going to hell if you dont believe in Jesus (Riggio, 2012). Even though we do not serve the same God we all believe in someone that holds significance in our hearts. It is important to respect everyones beliefs even if we do not concur with them. In terms of appearance, an obese person may be bullied for their weight because society makes everyone believe they should be a certain size. Weight and appearance are especially important to teenagers, and even though some embrace different shapes (for example, the artist Beyonce wrote a song called Pretty Hurts encouraging acceptance of different body sizes) weight is often the focus of bullying because of societal stigma about obesity. In addition, there was a teen by the name of Nadia Ilse who experience being bullied based upon her facial features. Classmates taunted her by calling her cruel, disturbing names in reference to her ears in which they liked to call Dumbo because of large size. She hated to attend school because she could no longer tolerate being

Coleman 6 tormented, so she decided to receive plastic surgery called otoplasty (a surgical procedure to pin back flappy ears) (Zhao, 2012). Plastic surgery is not usually accepted for teenagers as they are not fully developed and are trying to reconstruct something that made them unique. I do not condone receiving plastic surgery at all, especially if you are under age. You are not fully developed yet and you are trying to reconstruct something that made you unique. Social status and its affect on bullying and popularity, on the other hand, was displayed in the movie Love Dont Cost a Thing. In the movie, the main character was a nerd and had few friends until he paid a popular girl to be his girlfriend for a certain period of time. Because of the status he gained, the other kids began to treat him with respect, which he deserved from the beginning (Beyer, 2003). The mental effects of bullying on teenagers can be traumatizing. It can cause low self-esteem. Bullying victims have low self-esteem because they are accustomed to being put down. When people tell them negative comments they begin to believe them. No matter how big or small a bullys actions are they grate on a persons tolerance. Depression is a frequent effect of bullying. Depression is a mental illness a person experiences that is more complicated than just being sad. It can cause a person to feel lonely. People who have depression often lose interest in activities they used to enjoy: sports, spending time with friends, and even family bonding time. A person with depression may also experience a change in sleeping and eating patterns (Teenage Bullying, 2013). When bullying victims have been pushed to their highest peak, some make the decision to kill themselves (Teen Suicide, 2012). Suicide can be prevented if certain

Coleman 7 signals are recognized by peers, teachers, or parents. A few signals include lower academic performance and participation including reduced attendance; another effect to look for is a lack of interest in communicating with others (Bullying at School, 2011). It is important for students who witness these signals to notify someone who is more knowledgeable or in a position to give the person guidance. Schools can help by reaching out when they notice warning signs or risk factors shown by a victim of bullying. Even though many teenage bullying victims may not want an adult to get involved, it is imperative for students to notify an adult because the severity of the situation may not be apparent. There are many ways schools and students can act to diffuse bullying. For example, at my school we have bullying seminars to gain awareness, discuss and address the presence of bullying. Students can help by using the three ds of bystander intervention: distraction, delegation, and direct intervention. A bystander can distract by approaching the bully and victim and changing the subject; for example by asking for a ride or spilling a drink on the bully. Delegating the situation by notifying a security guard is a safe way to intervene in physical bullying. An example of direct intervention would be approaching the bully and letting them know that their actions are being noticed and can cause consequences (The 3Ds). While bullying takes many forms, such as verbal, physical, cyber, and covert, it all has the same effects. Bullying can cause mental illnesses, lack of self-confidence, and lead to suicide. While the scope of bullying is broad, there is much that can be done to prevent these actions from reoccurring, becoming consistent, or increasing. Some examples include raising awareness through schools, encouraging students to pay

Coleman 8 attention to possible signs of bullying, and report those signs to adults (Antibullying Strategies, 2011).

Coleman 9 Works Cited Alvarez, Lizette. "Charges Dropped in Cyberbullying Death, but Sheriff Isnt Backing Down." The New York Times. The New York Times, 21 Nov. 2013. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. "Antibullying Strategies." Gale Student Resources in Context. Detroit: Gale,

2011.Student Resources in Context. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. Beyer, Troy. Love Dont Cost a Thing. 10 Dec. 2003. "Bullying at School." Gale Student Resources in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2011. Student Resources in Context. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. "Cyberbullying." Gale Student Resources in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2011. Student Resources in Context. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. "Gay Bullying Statistics." - Bullying Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. Izadi, Elahe. "Bullying By Race: Which Teens Get Picked On Most." DCentric RSS. N.p., 7 Nov. 2011. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. Riggio, Ronald E. Religious Bullying in Schools: Bullying in the Name of God . Cutting-Edge Leadership. N.p., 28 Aug. 2012. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. "School Violence." Gale Student Resources in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Student Resources in Context. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. "Teen Suicide." Gale Student Resources in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Student Resources in Context. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. "Teenage Bullying." - Bullying Statistics. N.p., 2013. Web. 10 Feb. 2014. "The 3 D's." EWU. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. Waters, Mark, and Fey, Tina. Mean Girls. 30 Apr. 2004.

Coleman 10 "Why Do People Bully?" - Bullying Statistics. N.p., 2013. Web. 09 Feb. 2014. Zhao, Emmeline. "Nadia Ilse, Bullied Georgia Teen, Receives Free Plastic Surgery From Little Baby Face Foundation." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 28 July 2012. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.