Katherine Flinn

Dr. Astra Burrows

Period 3

Bullying is a Problem that Everyone Should Care About.
We have all seen the osters in the hallway. We have heard the
le!tures over the inter!om "that is# be$ore they mysteriously stoed%. We
have done the a!tivities in our so!ial studies# then our a!ademy !lasses. But#
honestly# we all laugh at these lame attemts to ma&e the s!hool loo& li&e
the good guy. Even ' laugh# and ' do not (nd it $unny. A$ter all# when
everyone else is ma&ing $un o$ the s!hool)s anti*bullying rogram# you do not
want to be the loser who doesn)t.
Sometimes# ' wonder i$ the s!hool only does these anti*bullying
a!tivities and whatnot so they !annot be blamed i$ something unthin&able
haens. +o s!hool wants to be blamed $or the sui!ide o$ a bullied student.
But i$ they retend not to loo& the other way# or loo& right at it and do
nothing# no one !an really say they did not try. ,ther times# ')m sure this is
the !ase. Although these so*!alled -bully!ides. get a lot o$ !overage in the
media# the edu!ational system re$uses to !hange $or anything. /any eole
see bullying as a normal# even ne!essary# art o$ growing u. 0hey tell you
to ignore it# retend you do not !are# bottle your $eelings u# sit down# stay
silent# and a!t li&e everything)s (ne. 0hat is# when eole even a!&nowledge
that someone is getting bullied.
Students are e1e!ted to reort bullying themselves. 0his# however is
hard. '$ a se!i(! student is bullied by one student in !lass# a grou o$
students# or even the !lass as a whole# other students would &now i$ the
bullied student told the tea!her. Students $ear that this would ma&e things
worse. ,$ten# it does. Kids who are bullied are o$ten bullied be!ause they are
shy# too shy to tell the tea!her. Bullying ma&es it even harder to (nd the
!on(den!e to wor& through their shyness. Students who manage to sea&
out are $a!ed with tea!hers who dis!redit them simly be!ause they "the
tea!hers% -did not noti!e anything. haening. ,$ten# $a!ulty members do
not listen. 'n $a!t# many# i$ not most# edu!ators !ould not re!ogni2e bullying
i$ it bit them in the $a!e.
Bullying !an lead to death. 'n 3456# Steven Woodhall hanged himsel$
be!ause o$ bullying. 'n Aril# 3447# Brian Fran&lin died while trying to es!ae
bullies. 0welve*year*old Debbie Shaw was !hallenged by a grou o$ girls to
stand u $or hersel$ by (ghting. She died. "Field# 3%. 0hirteen*year*old 8oger
9illiard was $ound dead in his home a$ter a li$etime o$ bullying. Sisters
Samantha and /i!helle :eomans died o$ starvation a$ter being tormented
about their weight. 0he list goes on and on. /ost deaths are sui!ides in
!ases o$ bullies gone too $ar.
A!!ording to the Center $or Disease Control# sui!ide is third leading
!ause o$ death $or young eole# resulting in ;#;<< deaths er year.
"Statisti!s# 3%.For every one o$ those ;#;<< who &ill themselves# annually# at
least seven*hundred more teens will attemt to do so. Fourteen er!ent o$
high s!hool students have !onsidered sui!ide while seven er!ent have
attemted it at least on!e. Bullied teens are anywhere $rom two to nine
times as li&ely to !onsider sui!ide than teens who aren)t bullied# a!!ording to
a study by :ale =niversity. "Statisti!s# 3%
A British study reorts that at least hal$ o$ sui!ides among young
eole are related to bullying with ten to $ourteen*year*old girls being at
ese!ially high ris&. 0hirty er!ent o$ students are either bullied or bully
others or both# a!!ording to statisti!s reorted by ABC. ,ne*hundred si1ty
thousand &ids stay home $rom s!hool ea!h day be!ause they are a$raid o$ the
bullying they $a!e there. "Statisti!s# 3%.
:et little is done to sto bullies. /ost edu!ators either $ail to noti!e or
simly do not !are about the bullying in their own !lassrooms. Perhas it is a
bit o$ both.
/any tea!hers will even deny that a student is a target i$ someone
tries to bring the roblem to their attention. 0his !ould be!ause they !annot
identi$y it# do not want to admit that it)s haening in their !lass# or do not
see it as a roblem. Perhas they e1e!t all bullying to be as noti!eable as
the !lassi! layground savage. 9owever# other than the !lassi! hysi!al
bullying# there is verbal bullying# name*!alling# insults# and >o&ing about a
erson)s religion# gender# se1uality# ethni!ity# weight# and more. 0here)s also
indire!t bullying# su!h as sreading rumors and so!ial alienation# whi!h
in!ludes e1!luding someone $rom being in a grou# dis!ussion# or other
a!tivity or ma&ing $un o$ them i$ they attemt to arti!iate in !lass
dis!ussions. 0his leads to horribly low sel$*!on(den!e and ma&es the vi!tim
inse!ure about so!ial situations. 'n e1treme !ases# it !an lead to roblems
su!h as deression# ,CD# generali2ed or so!ial an1iety# avoidant behavior# or
less o$ten# deendent ersonality disorder# borderline# eating disorders# and
more. "Portner# ;7%. =n$ortunately# the e?e!ts o$ bullying in the vi!tims are
noti!ed by bullies# who bully them more $or showing these traits.
0here have been several s!hool shootings in re!ent years# related to
bullying. /ost re!ently# a student named 0.@. Aane allegedly wal&ed into an
,hio s!hool and shot several students in the !a$eteria. 8eorts des!ribed
Aane as a bullied out!ast. "Cloud# ;3%. Although a lot o$ attention goes
towards s!hool shootings# whi!h ma&es it seems li&e vi!tims are li&ely to
be!ome homi!idal mania!s# "that really isn)t the !ase% there are $ar more
deaths by sui!ides related to bullying than there are s!hool shootings#
thousands more. "Portner# B%. 0hese sui!ides are ever*in!reasing# and a
large art o$ the reason is due to the !hanging environment in s!hools. '
re!ently interviewed my grandmother about s!hool in the 34C<)s# and she
stated that she was unaware o$ bullying as a teen. She didn)t thin& there was
any then. ,$ !ourse# this is not true. 0here has always been bullying. But#
a!!ording to @essi!a Portner# author o$ ,ne in 0hirteenD 0he Silent Eidemi! o$
0een Sui!ide# -meanness has be!ome more sohisti!ated in re!ent years..
"Portner# 33%.
'$ something is a normal art o$ growing u# why does it &ill so many
thousands o$ &ids ea!h yearE '$ someone !ould ma&e it not bother them
anymore or ma&e it sto on their own# do not you thin& they)d do that instead
o$ dyingE Peole !ommit sui!ide# in general# be!ause they do not see a way
out o$ the roblem. 0hey do not &now what they !an do# and they do not see
an end to it. Bullying ma&es eole hate themselves# hurt themselves# and
even &ill themselves. 's that an a!!etable# inevitable art o$ being a teenE
's that a way $or anyone to liveE '$ a student is dead# he !annot get good
grades# and his SA0 s!ores will not be very good. Addressing bullying is
de(nitely worth the time and e?ort. A$ter all# no one should have $un at the
!ost o$ someone else)s li$e. We have always been told that these are the best
years o$ our lives.


What Can Be DoneE
'n order to sto bullying in s!hools# there are many use$ul methods
whi!h tea!hers# rin!ials# and other s!hool emloyees !an# and should# ta&e.
S!hools (rst have to re!ogni2e all tyes o$ bullying. Ferbal# hysi!al# so!ial
alienation# !yber# and indire!t bullying need to be addressed by s!hools and
tea!hers.
0here are many roosed solutions to the roblem o$ bullying in
s!hools. Some even thin& that searate s!hools are a good idea $or targeted
grous. "Webley# ;3%. An e1amle o$ this is Allian!e S!hool in /ilwau&ee#
whi!h is a s!hool that was $ounded se!i(!ally to be gay*$riendly. 9owever#
not all o$ the students are gay. While about hal$ are# almost every one o$ the
studentsGout o$ the whoing 35C enrolled thereGare somehow di?erent.
While students that are -goth#. -un&#. overweight# mas!uline or e?eminate#
abnormally small# et!. "Webley# ;;% 9owever# not everyone)s a $an. For
e1amle# religious grous "o$ !ourse% and "less e1e!tedly% a large ortion o$
the AHB0I !ommunity# who says that sel$*segregation isn)t the answer. 0heir
argument is a good one# that searate s!hools send a message that it)s o&ay
to be intolerant in other s!hools. "Webley# ;5%
A$ter the sui!ide o$ student Kenneth Weishuhn# a reviously oular#
outgoing student who had been tormented a$ter !oming out a in the wee&s
re!eding his death# his s!hool ublished an arti!le in their lo!al newsaer
as a wa&e*u !all $or other s!hools. 't tells o$ what !an be done to revent
other !ases li&e Kenneth)sGwho)s death is another e1amle o$ hatred !an &ill.
9omohobia# li&e too many other $orms o$ hatred# ta&es so many lives# and
bullying is >ust one way it does so. +o matter what you thin& about a grou o$
eole# no one deserves to $eel that bad that they want to die.
'n the boo&# Bullying Prevention $or S!hoolsD a ste*by*ste guide# a
!omlete aroa!h is outlined. 't gives instru!tions on how to !reate and
imlement an anti*bullying oli!y. While many are already in la!e# some
aren)t ushed or !arried out roerly# while a lot o$ them aren)t used at all.
E1amles in!lude# rewarding anti*bullying behaviour "Beane# 3C7%#
ma&ing sure that tea!hers understand what bullying is "Beane# 33<%#
addressing roblems with imlementing anti*bullying rograms with tea!hers
"Beane# 3B3%. 0hey also re!ommended having bullies sea& to the s!hool
sy!hologist "Beane# 3<C%. 0his last really sho!&ed me be!ause# in my
e1erien!e# it is the vi!tim who has to send hours with the !ounsellor a$ter
reorting a bullying in!ident. 0he boo& !ontains wor&sheets whi!h tell
tea!hers what to loo& $or and lists o$ rules su!h as -0a&e the shortest route to
your destination#. or -&ee seats oen $or others. Don)t save seats $or
anyone#. whi!h !an hel to revent bullying and so!ial ostra!ism. "Beane#
65*66%.
A!!ording to Stuart 0remlow# a $ormer Baylor College o$ /edi!ine
ro$essor# one o$ the most e?e!tive ways o$ stoing bullying is by engaging
bystanders# the eole who see bullying but do nothing. 0remlow $ound that
s!hools whi!h $o!us on either unishing the bullies or !ounselling the vi!tims
reort more violent behaviour than s!hools that tell bystanders and arents
that reorting what you see isn)t tattling. "Cloud# ;3%.
9owever# someone who)s bullied should be instru!ted on how to deal
with it# &eeing in mind that ignoring it almost never wor&s. :et# ignoring it
is what is usually suggested. "Beane# 6C%.
'n the end# bullying is not >ust the vi!tim)s roblem# nor the bully)s.
Bullying is something that needs to be addressed by everyone# ese!ially the
s!hools. 't is the resonsibility o$ so!iety as a whole to &now what bullying is
and what tyes there are. Bullying should never be !onsidered normal# nor
the $ault o$ the vi!tim. 0here is no good reason $or anyone to be made to $eel
ashamed o$ who they are# as $ar as their se1uality# gender# ra!e# ersonality#
interests# or anything else# and no one should $eel that death is the only way
that they !an es!ae their tormentors. Bullying !an# and needs to be#
!ontrolled# be!ause everyone has the right to live.
Wor&s Cited
Field# 0im. -Child Bullying# S!hool Bullying# Bully!ide.. Bullyonline. n.. 0he
0ime Field Foundation. Web. Aril BB# B<3B.
JhttDKKwww.bullyonline.orgKs!hoolbullyK!ases.htmL
-Bullying Statisti!sD 0een Fiolen!e# Bullying# Anger 0reatment ,tions..
Bullying Statisti!s B<<4. n.. Web. Aril B3# B<3B.
JhttDKKbullyingstatisti!s.orgL
Cloud# @ohn. -0he /yths o$ Bullying.. 0ime /aga2ine 3B /ar!h# B<3BD ;<*;3.
Print.
Portner# @essi!a. ,ne in 0hirteenD 0he Silent Eidemi! o$ 0een Sui!ide.
/arylandD 8obins Aane Press# B<<3. Print.
Webley# Kayla. -A Searate Pea!e.. 0ime /aga2ine B; ,!tober# B<33D ;B*
;5. Print.
@ournal Editorial Board. -,ur ,inionD We /ust Sto Bullying. 't Starts 9ere.
And 't Starts +ow.. Siou1 City @ournal BB Aril# B<3BD A3. Print.
Beane# Allan. Bullying Prevention $or S!hoolsD A Ste*by*Ste Huide to
'mlementing a Su!!ess$ul Anti*Bullying Program# +ew @ersey. @ossey*Bass#
B<<4. Print.