Bullying

Bullying

Bullying in our school system is an immense dilemma that teachers, parents, and children are confronted with on a daily basis. Bullying has been proven to lead to many social and psychological side effects and sometimes suicide. Instead of ignoring bullies; parents, students, and school faculty must become more educated about this growing issue and work together as a team to finally put an end to this injustice.

Students that are bullies have many common character traits that make them easily recognizable. Being able to recognize these traits is the first step of bully prevention. Bullies are usually male; however, the amount of female bullies is increasing at a rapid rate, bullies usually target people that are different from themselves and their goal is to make fun of these differences, and eventually get others to join in on taunting the victim. Bullies have great social skills, and they manipulate others easily. Bullies are usually very popular and resort to picking on other students, because they feel that they are gaining approval from their peers. By gaining peer approval, the bullying only gets worse. Numerous studies have proven that bullies obtain their drive from impulses; they have a need to dominate others without showing any compassion towards their victims (Aluede, Adeleke, Omoike, Afen-Akpaida 151-153). Bullies often pick on others because they are emotionally wounded themselves and they are seeking acceptance, popularity, and control among their peers (152). Bullies don’t realize that their actions are causing many long term psychological effects to their victims, or in some cases cause victims to take their lives into their own hands.

Being the victim of a bully can be extremely devastating and tremendously impacts a student’s behavior and education. Victims tend to become more withdrawn from class activities, their grades drop, and they avoid certain areas of their school, like the cafeteria or playgrounds, as these...