Bullying and Its Effects - Essay Example

Bullying and Its Effects The world has progressed to an era of achievements but there are still certain issues which are very deep rooted in our society and persist despite of the advancements of the human race. Bullying is one such issue of concern that should be assessed and tackled as it tends to leave a strong impact on the victim of bullying. This not only affects the victim but also their families. I can strongly relate to this problem because my younger brother had to go through much physical as well as mental torture owing to the bullying that he faced in his school. Not only was he affected, our entire family unit was disturbed due to the strong mark that was left on him by the bullying activities. Bullying is an act which still persists in the educational institutions across the United States and this problem should be dealt with because of the negative effects associated with it. My brother was a very bright student in his class and he was an active participant in the activities of his class. He was slightly overweight as well as short which made him different from the other students in the class. He was a young child and his physical appearance did not make a difference to him and he concentrated greatly on his studies and thus he did extremely well in his academics. But things took a different turn when he came into the notice of a group of senior students who always looked for an opportunity to bully other students. It all started when we had to move to a different locality and thus we had to change my brother’s school van. The group of bullies travelled in the same van. Things were normal in the beginning but after a few days the bullies had found their new target who was my younger brother. The bullies gave my brother a very difficult time and by the time we found this out, my brother had already suffered a lot. Initially, they just called him with names and would pass derogatory remarks when they saw him. As they were all older than him, he was scared and did not retaliate. The verbal abuse was not limited to the van but they started doing the same during the school breaks. They would follow him around and pass comments on his physical appearance. Seeing that he could not answer back, they started annoying him even more. Following this, they would keep things on his seat so that he could not sit. They also snatched his lunch during the lunch break. One day, when my brother was angry and yelled back at them, the boys gathered and pushed him. This became a regular activity after this. They hit him with different things and they called him with different names. Despite of this torture that my brother was going through, he never informed us regarding these things. The issue came to our notice when things became really worse and my brother had suffered a lot of physical and mental stress. He avoided going to school and did not eat. He told my mother that he did not want to eat as he was fat. Apart from this, his grades also started declining. He stayed quiet and did not talk much. It was then that my parents took him to a doctor and he was diagnosed with anorexia at such an early age. As I was very close to him, I started discussing his issues and he finally told me about what he was going through. We approached the school authorities and kept the matter in front of them. They took a strong notice against the bullies. My brother had to go through a lot and it took him years to recover from the mental torture. He lost weight and he was not interested in studying anymore. Our entire family was greatly disturbed because of him. It was with great efforts and care that we were able to bring him back after a period of two years. His sufferings could have been prevented if he had informed us before or if the school authorities had kept a strong check on such activities. Bullying is a widespread problem in the educational institutions in the United States and it has been seen that out of every four students in the schools in the United States, one student is bullied regularly. Furthermore, thirty percent of the students in the schools in the country are a part of the bullying activities in the schools either as a bully or as a victim of the bullying. These statistics reveal the raised prevalence of bullying in the school systems of the United States. This matter needs great attention because of the strong negative effects on the victim due to bullying. These include low self-confidence as well as psychiatric issues like depression and anxiety. In extreme cases, the victims develop suicidal tendencies and many precious lives are lost. The most surprising aspect of this issue is that in eighty five percent of the cases of bullying, neither the teachers nor the school authorities become involved in its prevention (Bullying Statistics). The act of bullying needs to be thoroughly assessed and proper measures should be devised to prevent it from occurring in the school campuses. My brother was lucky as we found out about his victimization and took proper measures to help him. But other students like Bart Palosz who was a young student and was only fifteen years old found it easier to commit suicide rather than being disgraced and bullied at school every day. He was made fun of due to his physical appearance and finally after he could not face this bullying regularly, he shot himself and died (Vitagliano). Palosz’s example is not the only one and there are other students as well who committed suicide to overcome the issue of bullying. This includes Amanda Cummings who was also fifteen years old and killed herself by coming in front of a bus due to being bullied at school. Many young lives are lost due to bullying and a survey by the Yale University confirmed this by explaining that the victims of a bullying have a nine times greater probability of committing suicide than the other people. Strong measures are still awaited though awareness amongst the public is now being created regarding this issue. Celebrities like Lady Gaga have taken a stand and her foundation known as Born This Way works to prevent the acts of bullying (Kluger). School authorities should also become actively involved and parents should also take stricter measures to prevent their children from becoming a part of bullying activities. A study revealed that parental advice and counseling prevented students from turning into a bully or a victim or both (Wang et al 368). Bullying is an issue that persists in the institutions of the United States and affects the educational system of the country. It tends to leave an impact on the lives of many young children and also affects their families. My brother well victim to the acts of bullying and it provided me with a very close picture of the distress that is suffered by the victim of bullying. My brother faced great stress and it was with efforts that we were able to pull him back again. To prevent other young children from facing this issue, the government, the administrations of the schools as well as parents should intervene and create awareness so that the acts of bullying can be stopped. Works Cited Bullying Statistics. “School Bullying Statistics.” Bullying Statistics.org. 2009. Web. 13 Oct. 2013. Kluger, Bruce. “Column: Bullying in USA: Are we defenseless?” USA Today. 25 Jan. 2012. Web. 13 Oct. 2013. Vitagliano, Brian. “Friends: 15-year-old Connecticut boy who committed suicide was bullied.” CNN. 5 Sep. 2013. Web. 13 Oct. 2013. Wang, Jing, Ronald J. Iannotti, and Tonja R. Nansel. "School Bullying Among Adolescents in the United States: Physical, Verbal, Relational, and Cyber." The Journal of Adolescent Health : Official Publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine. 45.4 (2009): 368-75. Print. Read More