Causes of Bullying and Itd Impact on Adolescents Essay Example

school every day due to the fear of bullying actions on them. Over seventeen percent of students in America have been bullied twice or thrice in a semester with one in every four teachers seeing no evil in the cation with intervention occurring only 4 percent of the time bullying occurs. By the time they reach fourteen years of age, only 40 percent of girls and 30 percent of boys will have talked about bullying to their peers.

Over 67 percent of students believe that the response to bullying in schools is very poor, with most of them believing that adults are rather responsive with their help ineffective as well as infrequent. This is as much as a substantial percentage of students report the actions of bullying in their schools. This may apparently because of the fact that as boys age and grow, the sympathy felt when they are victims of bullying actions is set to decrease substantially. As much as physical abuse declines as they grow up, it remains constant across all grades in school.

In essence, bullying is defined as any unwarranted, aggressive, and unwanted behavior that occurs especially among school going children, which involves either a real or a perceived imbalance of power. Essentially, bullying behavior is often repeated and has the potential to be repeated over time for many times. Bullying includes things such as spreading rumors, issuing threats, verbal or physical attacks, as well as the intentional exclusion of an individual from a group.

Bullying is essentially a distinctive pattern of deliberate humiliation and is a durable behavioral trait since in most instances bullies get what they seek to get. Nevertheless, bullies are

not born, but they are made as a result of various circumstances in their lifetimes. The making of a bull may occur early in life, especially when the child is not handled properly and left to acquire aggressive behavior. Bullies only exist where there are victims. It is important to note that bullies do not just pick a victim at random. Instead, the chosen exhibit assertiveness and have fear even before they have encountered a bully. People dislike bullies and the victims- although the former is disliked more than the latter. Grown up bullies are the sources of mischief in places of work and other adult social settings.

Causes of Bullying

Lines (7) acknowledges that the making of a bully is a complex affair, but this section seeks to explore some of the major factors that cause bullying and make it rampant as well as common. The first motivation and cause of bullying is the feeling of powerlessness on the personal lives of the victims. Bullies claim some kind of power in their lives through seeking the individuals that may seem vulnerable to attack and those with personality aspects that make them stand out as potential victims.

The person/ potential victim may be too short, have old shoes, possess feminine traits (as in boys) or be too dumb: the reason really does not matter but the bullies are keen to exploit a trait that makes the victim inferior compared to them. In some instances the powerless feeling may emanate from problems the victim may be experiencing at home especially for kids. This may be such as constant fights between parents and when a close family member suffers from

conditions such as drug abuse. In the case of adults, the problem may emanate from marriage issues like disloyalty and others that make them exaggerate their authority to the extent of bullying others (Lines, 111).

The second cause of bullying is when someone else is bullying the bully. In most instances, bullying will beget bullying. A kid may feel bullied by an older sibling or by parents while older people may get bullied by bosses and superiors at work. Bullying from these people that have assumed authority usually makes the victims opt to claim some degree of authority themselves by bullying others instead of seeking assistance or dealing with their problem in a productive manner.

In fact, children that bully their peers through cyberbullying have the history of being bullied offline by other people in their lives. They opt to use the internet as a mechanism to reinvent themselves and create an individual with more power and intimidation. They join open chats and other forums to do this. In other instances, cyberbullying is an extension of bullying in the real world such as hacking other people’s social media accounts to spread rumors about these individuals for payback (Bullying in a Cyber World, 60).

Another cause of bullying is when the bully has frustrated and jealous feelings towards the victim such as those that get better grades in class or the first to raise their hands to answer questions. The bully may pick a victim because the victim possesses traits that the bully does not have and wishes they had. Therefore, by undermining the skills and the added advantages of their victims, the bullies hope to create a neutral

and leveled playing ground (Goldman, 58).

Other causes of bullying are such as the lack of empathy and understanding as seen in instances where bullying actions are founded on prejudice based on certain traits possessed by an individual. In other cases, bullies see their actions, not as bullying, but as mere teasing or trying to befriend the victims or even attempts to communicate. In such cases, bullies are lonely persons with fewer friends and their actions are founded upon the need to seek attention.

Also, a large number of bullies in schools come from dysfunctional families. Bullies also target their victims as they seek to be in control such as in peer groups and among age mates at school; hence, they become impulsive and like it when the victims cower. In other instances, bullying is rewarding and this motivates the bully- such as when the victim gives up something to the bully. Bullies also do not care about the feelings of their victims and may like seeing when others are in pain. The feelings of their victims give them feelings of accomplishment and encourage as well as motivate the continuity of their behaviors for days to come. Lastly, bullies are unable to regulate their emotions such as anger and therefore end up hurting others around them. Minor annoyances provoke them to act impulsively quickly, especially when they lose their temper (Lines, 34).

Effects of Bullying

Notably, this paper affirms that bullying affects everyone: the victims, the witnesses, and the perpetrators in different yet substantial ways. As mentioned, the major effects of bullying are felt on the victims and include depression, poor grades in school, and a lowered self-esteem in

many of them. When kids and teenagers are bullied, they are most likely going to experience school, physical and mental health issue. In essence, they get depressed and have anxiety as well as increased feelings of sadness and loneliness. This leads to changes in behaviors such as eating patterns and loss of interest in certain activities that they previously liked and engaged in. These effects may continue till adulthood and persist for long periods.

The behaviors may lead to health changes such as obesity when depressed people take up unhealthy eating habits as a way to respond and cope with the stressing bullying they are victims of. In school, students tend to begin performing poorly in school and their test results begin to decline (Sanders, et al, 104). This is highly attributed to negative and risky behaviors that they develop as a result of being bullied such as voiding school. School participation decreases with skipping school, becoming a norm and some may drop out of school in extreme situations. The victims retaliate in very few instances.

Those that bully others at a young age in school end up picking up violent behaviors through adulthood. The perpetrators are more likely to abuse drugs such as alcohol and others through adolescence and to adulthood; pick up fights, drop out of school, and vandalize property; engage in early sexual; be abusive in romantic relationships, children, spouses, and other adults; and get criminal convictions as adults (DeLara, 96).

Those that experience firsthand the actions of bullying are more likely to have increased health issues such as anxiety and depression; increased abuse of drugs such as tobacco among others; and miss or skip

school at the fear of being involved indirectly or being prone to be a victim of such actions. In extreme instances, it is important to note that suicide and homicide have been attributed to bullying, when victims cannot take it anymore and as retaliation efforts respectively.

Conclusion

It is important for parents and educators to identify bullying earlier and address the issue appropriately to avoid development and progression into extents that will cause adverse problems to the victims and other affected persons. Schools are where young children spend most of their time: schools should therefore address the issue and enact anti-bullying campaigns as well as encourage openness in addressing the issue by punishing negative behavior and rewarding good behavior.

Works Cited

1. Sanders, Cheryl E, and Gary D. Phye.Bullying: Implications for the Classroom. Amsterdam etc.: Elsevier, 2007. Print.
2. Mishna, Faye. Bullying: A Guide to Research, Intervention, and Prevention. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. Print.
3. Lines, Dennis. The Bullies: Understanding Bullies and Bullying. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2008. Print.
4. Goldman, Carrie. Bullied: What Every Parent, Teacher, and Kid Needs to Know About Ending the Cycle of Fear. New York: HarperOne, 2012. Internet resource.
5. DeLara, Ellen. Bullying Scars: The Impact on Adult Life and Relationships. , 2016. Print.
6. Macfarlane, Aidan, and Ann McPherson.Bullying: The Truth. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Print.
7. Bullying in a Cyber World: Ages 9-11. Greenwood, W.A: R.I.C Publications, 2010. Print.