Kathlene Ha

Research

Bullying has been an ongoing issue for several years. Bullying is a form of aggressive behavior in which an individual would harass and repeatedly cause harm or discomfort to another. Usually these victims would be inferior to the bullies. Bullies usually make fun of a person's appearance, social status, race/religion, or sexual identity. The victim typically has trouble defending themselves against the bullies, which would only grant the bully permission to continue their act. Furthermore, bullying can come in a variety of different forms. However, they all come to the same conclusion, which is to have control over another individual and cause them harm. Bullying has been a problematic concern for many young teens, as it can affect both mental and physical health. Although, there has been many attempts to control and subside the act of bullying, the issue still persist. Moreover, bullying can lead many victims to depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and self-harm. There has also been evidence of bullying to cause reduced academic performance. According to DoSomething.org, "Approximately 160,000 teens skip school every day because of bullying." Their self-interest and motivation to go to school may be diminished as they have to undergo the same unfair treatment on a daily basis. According to Becton Loveless, "64% of students who are bullied do not report it." The victims rarely seek help from others as they are afraid of being threatened even more by the aggressor.

Types of Bullying

There are three types of bullying:

• Verbal bullying is saying or writing mean things. Verbal bullying includes:
• Teasing
• Name-calling
• Inappropriate sexual comments
• Taunting
• Threatening to cause harm
• Social bullying, sometimes referred to as relational bullying, involves hurting someone’s reputation or relationships. Social bullying includes:
• Leaving someone out on purpose
• Telling other children not to be friends with someone
• Spreading rumors about someone
• Embarrassing someone in public
• Physical bullying involves hurting a person’s body or possessions. Physical bullying includes:
• Hitting/kicking/pinching
• Spitting
• Tripping/pushing
• Taking or breaking someone’s things
• Making mean or rude hand gestures
(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services).



Personal
When I was in elementary school, I was never really aware with term bullying and I didn't understand what was considered bullying. I thought kids at school were just being mean and teasing each other. This project has made me reflect on my childhood and it made me realize that there was definitely bullying going on. It wasn't until this project till I realized that I was actually a victim of bullying. In elementary school, I had a group of girlfriends and there was this one specific girl that was super cruel to numerous of people. She was in the verbal and social bullying category. She would do things like spread rumors, call people names, leave people out on purpose, embarrass people, etc. I would feel bad about myself because of her and I feel like I couldn't be myself when I was younger. Sometimes I didn't even want to be at school. Even though she did many hurtful things to me and other people, I was still friends with her because I didn't understand what bullying was as a kid. After elementary school, I moved and she would still bully me. This girl would text me harsh things and she even left me a hateful voicemail. I knew that this was not okay, so I informed my sister and she blocked the girl's number. I believe my elementary school had a bullying issue. There were numerous of times where I would witness bullying almost daily, but nothing was ever done. This topic is important to me because bullying is a serious issue that could affect someone deeply and it still exists till this day. No one deserves to be bullied and it needs to come to light. We need to raise awareness and educate students about this topic.

Interviews




"In my opinion, I believe that bullying is apart of human nature. Bullying is a worldwide problem and I am totally supporting any anti-bullying movement. Of course, bullying will never stop; however, we can always limit the number of victims through these anti-bullying methods. I was bullied in my elementary years. During the time I was bullied, I was undergoing massive amounts of anxiety and fear. Thankfully, the feelings eventually passed and I thought about it as a learning point. People will pick on you for anything, however, what I would take away from that experience is to never let somebody degrade you. All in all, I don’t feel that bullying has changed me for the worse, better yet I believed it changed me for the better" (Derek Ngo).





"I feel that bullying happens everywhere and people don’t even know it. You can say something about someone and it can hurt them deeply. I never been bullied nor have I witnessed bullying, but I’ve heard stories from other people about their experiences. It’s really big deal because people go through depression because people don’t know how to treat others. Just because you don’t fit in or because of jealousy even, people take it out on others and it affects them very deeply" (Anthony Nguyen).


References
Bullying Epidemic: Facts, Statistics and Prevention,
www.educationcorner.com/bullying-facts-statistics-and-prevention.html.
“What Is Bullying.” StopBullying.gov, www.stopbullying.gov/what-is-bullying/index.html.
“11 Facts About Bullying.” DoSomething.org, www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-bullying.