Bullying is a worldwide problem that occurs around us everyday and everywhere. People experience some sort of bullying at some point in their lives, whether they are the victim or the bully. In this essay, I will focus on the causes and effects of bullying in the school environment.
But what exactly is bullying? There are multiple ways to define bullying. It can be described as repeated negative events, which occur over time; directed at a special individual and carried out by one or several people. Bullying is an act of aggression causing embarrassment, pain, or discomfort to another person. Its an abuse of power that can either be planned or unintentional. In bullying, theres a clear imbalance of power. Bullying is basically anything that makes a person feel hurt, whether it is physical or psychological. No matter if it is physical or psychological, bullying is wrong. There are two types of bullying. The first type is indirect bullying, which includes intentionally rejecting or freezing someone out of a group. The second type is direct bullying. There are three categories of direct bullying--physical bullying, verbal bullying, and bullying yourself. Physical bullying includes pushing, shoving, hitting, kicking, stealing, etc. Verbal bullying includes mockery, taunting, name-calling, verbal threats of violence, and so on. When you bully yourself, it usually includes emotional abuse. Telling yourself that youre fat or ugly is an example of bullying yourself. These types of bullying occur everywhere, but the most common place where bullying occurs is at school. Why is the school environment so vulnerable to bullying? I will discuss where and why it occurs in the school environment, as well as the effects it has and how society can prevent bullying. Also, I will describe the common characteristics of bullies and victims.
Bullies are people who need to hurt, threaten, frighten, or control other people. They are often angry, upset, jealous, aggressive, mean, insensitive, and cruel. They usually lack self-confidence and gain confidence and feel powerful by controlling others. Bullies think that being hurtful, aggressive, and frightening is okay. Bullies are often thought of as stupid, although, they are very clever. They have little empathy for their victims and derive satisfaction from inflicting injury and suffering on others. They defend their actions by saying that their victim provoked them in some way. Other characteristics of a bully include being defiant or oppositional towards adults, with a tendency to break school rules. Theyre antisocial and have little anxiety. Having a positive attitude about violence and being steered by impulses are some other traits often found in a bully. Although bullies seems to have very high self-esteem, under their aggressive surface they are actually insecure and have very low self-esteem. Children arent necessarily always the bullies. Also, men and women, of all ages, can both be bullies.
Bullies often dont know any good ways of dealing with their problems and/or their parents fight instead of discussing their problems. They often come from homes where physical punishment is used or the parents have taught their children to strike back physically as a way to handle problems. Usually parental involvement and warmth are frequently lacking.
Victims can also be anybody, male or female, and can be of any age. But how do victims get picked? They could be anyone whos either just in the wrong place at the wrong time or anyone whos regarded as a loser. In general, there are two types of victims: passive victims and resistant victims. In passive victims, there is an acute sense of personal threat, which in most cases is followed by a strong emotional reaction of anxiety, panic, anger, fear, and/or humiliation. Passive victims seek to get away, cry, hide, and perhaps become severely despondent. On the other hand, in resistant victims there will be a sense of threat, unease, and maybe fear. The bullying is seen in a different light. Its seen as a challenge to be met. Resistant victims may think of escaping, fighting back, acting nonchalantly, seeking help, or even distracting the bully. Although passive victims and resistant victims may react differently to bullying, they share the same qualities and characteristics.
