Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones but
Words Can Also Hurt Me
✉ Bullying Defined:
✏ "Bullying is a form of aggressive behavior in which someone intentionally and repeatedly causes
another person injury or discomfort" (American Psychological Association, 2022).
✉ Child Defined:
✏ "A young human being below the age of puberty or below the legal age of majority (minor)" (Oxford
Languages, 2022).
✉ Adolescent Defined:
✏ "A young person who has begun puberty but has not yet become an adult. During adolescence, a
child experiences physical, hormonal, and developmental changes that mark the transition into
adulthood. Adolescence generally occurs between the ages of 10 and 19 years" (National Cancer
Institute, 2022).
✉ The Importance of Childhood:
✏ According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, the experiences a child
goes through early in life play's a crucial role in the development of the brain. Positive experiences
promotes positive development. Between birth and the age of 3, a child undergoes rapid brain
development resulting in the establishment of billions of neurons. A child's early years also act
as a foundation for adulthood (NCDHHS, n.d.).
✉ The Importance of Adolescence:
✏ According to the World Health Organization, adolescence is the phase between childhood and
adulthood. Adolescence is a unique stage, during this stage patterns of behavior are established such
as: diet, physical activity, substance use, and sexual activity (World Health Organization, 2022).
A Personal Anecdote
At first glance, it may seem that my life may be easy or there are no complications in my life. However, as the saying goes, looks are deceiving, or in this case it would be what is initially perceived. My life is far from easy, in fact it seems the setting on my life is always placed on difficult. What was unfortunate is that it's been that way for me since I was little. I am a nice person, its how I am, even when people may be rude to me; but just because I am nice, it doesn't mean that others are going to return this gesture. Ever since I was little, I've always had cases where I was being bullied, whether it was to my face or behind my back. Being bullied in person is different, I always found it was easier to deal with bullying when I knew where the bullying is coming from. However, when I was being bullied behind my back, this hurt the most. I just remember the times I would go to school thinking everything was okay and for some reason everyone stopped talking to me. I didn't know why, even when I would ask what was wrong or if I did something wrong, I didn't get an answer. This would last for weeks maybe months and during this period I spent my time alone. I always found myself hiding somewhere. Hurt and crying. I didn't know what I did wrong; I did nothing wrong. Even so, someone was spreading rumors about me and they would tell everyone, I would get framed for doing nothing wrong. Yet, in regards to bullies, you don't necessarily have to do anything wrong to catch their attention. The effects of bullying definitely changed me and it was worse since it took place during my child and adolescent years. I became closed off, I was less trusting of people, I became depressed and so on. My health deteriorated drastically. I was never the same, even till this day. I keep to myself for a lot of reasons. I am quiet for a lot of reasons as well. The bullying was also physical as well. It feels as though my life was moved off its tracks and being an adult now is different, its not smooth sailing and because of this I have to work harder to complete a task without letting these side effects get in the way. If there is a setting higher than difficult, it seems this is where I am.
Venturing Into The Unknown: Gathering Testimonials
Synopsis:
After reviewing the evidence gathered, 3 out 4 stated that bullying affects them. However, the fourth didn't state yes or no, they stated not really. Not really, is close to uncertainty, but I didn't want the interview to become overwhelming or if I was forcing an answer, which is not the case. I asked the respondents to answer the questions as truthfully as possible and these were the results. However, before they answered whether or not they are affected by bullying I had explained the many ways an individual can get bullied which included indirect and direct contacts or methods of bullying.
✉ Interview Questions:
✏ What is bullying?
✏ Have you ever been bullied before?
✏ Can you detect bullying?
✏ Do you feel safe in reporting a bully? For yourself or another?
✏ Have you ever bullied anyone?
✏ How does the term "bully" or "bullying" make you feel?
✏ How to end bullying. How would you end bullying?
✏ Have you ever come across someone being bullied and did you do something about it?
✏ Does bullying affect you? Are you affected by bullying? Indirectly and/or directly?
✏ Task: Draw the term "bully." When you think of the term "bully" or "bullying" what comes to
mind?
✉ Testimonial 1: Jacob S. Garcia
✉ Testimonial 2: Jiselle B. Garcia
✉ Testimonial 3: Isaac Gomez
✉ Testimonial 4: Jesus A. Gomez
✉ Group Photo (Interviewees):
Left to Right: Jiselle B. Garcia (9), Jacob S. Garcia (12), Jesus A. Gomez (11), and Isaac Gomez (10).
November 02, 2022
✉ Indirectly Defined:
✏ "In a way that is not directly caused by something; incidentally" (Oxford Languages, 2022).
✏ "Without having had direct experience; at second hand" (Oxford Languages, 2022).
✉ Directly Defined:
✏ "Without changing direction or stopping" (Oxford Languages, 2022).
✏ "With nothing or no one in between" (Oxford Languages, 2022).
✉ Questionnaire Explained:
✏ Bullying is a sensitive topic, people who may know of someone that is getting bullied or they're
getting bullied themselves don't open up or admit that the bullying is occurring for a variety of
reasons and one of them is fear of retaliation. I asked these questions and I asked them in many
forms so that the interviewees had a better understanding of bullying and if they don't have any
knowledge on the topic bullying then this exercise would bring awareness to the topic. Bullying can
happen directly (face-to-face, etc...) and bullying can happen indirectly (rumors, jokes, etc...).
✉ Statistics:
✏ "A higher percentage of male than of female students report being physically bullied (6% vs. 4%)"
(National Center for Educational Statistics, 2019).
✏ " A higher percentage of female than of male students reported being the subjects of rumors (18% vs.
9%)" (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2019).
✏ "One out of every five (20.2%) students report being bullied" (National Center for Educational
Statistics, 2019).
(Pacer, 2020)
✉ The Effects of Bullying:
✏ Low Self-Esteem
✏ Depression
✏ Anxiety
✏ Sadness and Loneliness
✏ Changes in sleeping and eating patterns
✏ Health Impairments
✏ Academic Impairments
✏ Self-Harm
✏ Somatic Symptoms
✏ Etc...
(Stopbullying.gov, 2021) & (Rivara. F. & Le Menestrel. S., 2016)
Why Is This Important?
The effects of bullying during an individual's child and adolescent years are much more severe than one might perceive. Its not a tease and it wasn't just a shove, this is called bullying. The effects of bullying have the potential of carrying on into an individuals adult years. Bringing awareness and identifying bullying can spare someones life from the trauma and effects that coincide with bullying. Understanding the effects of bullying can help society understand why some individuals are closed off, why they are quiet, why they are seen alone, and so forth; understanding the effects of bullying prevents society from misunderstanding and judging someone who has been bullied and misinterpreting their quietness for being conceited. Raising awareness on this matter will help prevent and hopefully end bullying.
References
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