Bullying Essay

Cathey Shinkan        

Eng.111

Waskin

March 28, 2015

Bullying

     Bullying is a major problem all around the world. We are losing many of our teens because they feel that the only way to escape from their bullies is by taking their own lives. We as a nation have to stand up and fight for our young. There are many difficult and emotional problems to bullying including suicide, depression and drug and alcohol abuse.

     Bullying has become an epidemic in our school system. There are many kids reporting bullying incidents in schools on a regular basis, still more teens who are too afraid to report it because they believe it will only make the problem worse for them. They live every day of their lives in fear, constantly wondering if the bully is going to appear behind the locker door they have just closed, if their next trip to the bathroom is going to involve some unwanted company, or if the next cafeteria trip is going to leave them wearing lunch instead of eating it. The abuse does not end when they leave the school building, it actually continues long after school lets out.

        Everyone seems to emphasize so much on teens being bullied in school. They do not seem to realize that much of the bullying happens when the children get home from school.  With so many different online social web sites, Cyber-bullying is another type of bullying these teens are facing, for example; Facebook, Facebook messenger and/or Twitter, it is getting easier for people to get to these kids. One would think that these teens would be safe once they are home, but the abuse continues through these various social media sites. We have to realize that, sure, there are many teens who deal with the weight of everything fairly well, on the other hand, there are many teens who do not have the coping skills and support that other teens might have. Some of these bullied teens may be facing problems at home, such as sexual or emotional abuse. The situations they are facing at school could just be their breaking point.

     Bullying may not cause a teen to commit suicide right away. It may start with a teen experimenting with drugs and alcohol. The use of drugs and alcohol is a way for them to relieve the pain they feel. They soon discover that this is only helping temporarily, so either they will do more and more to achieve a feeling of numbness, or they may look for another way to numb the pain. Once they realize that the drugs and alcohol are not working they may start causing some small injuries to themselves, such as cutting their arms. This is a way for them to channel the pain to their bodies, rather than feeling the pain in their hearts. Although this too is only temporary. By this point, the teen has become very distant from everyone important in his or her lives.

     Realizing that nothing is working, and feeling like there is no one out there who cares, they start having suicidal thoughts. This is when it is crucial for them to have someone, anyone to talk to. They are feeling now that they have tried absolutely everything they can think of to end their suffering and nothing has worked. They are now planning a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Many people do not seem to understand the emotional trauma these teens are suffering. We all have hard times and we tend to get through them without a hitch. However, we have to remember that we are dealing with kids here. They do not have the ability to just shrug things off like adults do. They are very fragile and are easily broken. The only way they know to stop the pain for good, is to end their own lives.

     There are also people in our world that believe that there are legitimate reasons for the bully and that bullies should be excused for their actions because they are facing some kind of emotional or physical abuse in the home. There are a variety of reasons for people to bully including social issues, family issues and institutional issues. “If the institution at which the bullying takes place - whether the home, the school, or the workplace - does not have high standards for the way people treat each other, then bullying may be more likely and/or prevalent and have an influence on why people bully.” (“Why Do People Bully?”)  However, the bully should not be condoned for his actions, and must learn that two wrongs do not make a right.