Life Advice On The Line

Bullying

Bullying

• bully - To laugh, ridicule, and insult another for their skin color, background, personality, or other reasons

Bullying is anything from verbal, physical, emotional, cyberbullying, and much more. Here I lay out what each mean:

• verbal bullying - throwing insulting words at another; name-calling

example: fatso, stupid, freak, ugly, etc.

• physical bullying - any physical touch or contact on another

example: punching, kicking, hitting, spitting , etc.

• emotional (aka indirect) bullying - spreading rumors and gossiping lies behind someone's back

example: "That girl had sex with the football captain."

When really this wasn't true. The person who spread this lie just wanted to ruin that other person's image or break them down inside.

• cyberbulling - any rude or cruel remarks said through the phone, typed through texting, instant messaging, e-mailing, etc.

example: texting on phone:

That girl is so fat, she can't even walk straight.

These are the main types of bullying, but there could be more and are not just limited to these four types.

Have you ever been bullied? Well, I have, and it's not a pretty picture. I was bullied because of my skin color. For who I was. I remembered as a little kid I never understood why. I mean, I knew it was because of my skin color, but I was never mean or intend bother them. I was just myself.

One main goal bullies aim for is to break the bully victims down. To make them cry.

If you happen to be a victim of bullying, do not keep it to yourself. Even if the bully blackmails you, you need to call for help. Tell your friends, family, teacher, or anyone. Don't think you're alone. This is the hardest part because most bully victims get bullied and are scared to tell anyone because they think they can handle it themselves or they will get more bullied if they speak a word. It's easier said than done. Speak up! You're not alone!

If you happen to see bully victims get bullied, don't just stand there! Do something. Stick up for that person. Don't give up fighting. Help that person out. You seeing and doing nothing is just the same as that bully bullying that person. So, speak up and help stick up for others! You'll feel great knowing you saved someone.

One thing I hate is when students and teachers walk by and pretend that nothing ever happened. When clearly they see that same person get bullied everyday. It's so sad when the school does nothing to help raise awareness of bullying. When parents report to the school principal that their child is getting bullied, they say that they can't do anything because the bullying didn't involve "hitting" and that it's the rules. Hitting or not, it's still hurtful.

Parents need to also pay attention to their children. When they see their children not wanting to go to school or are feeling depressed, they need to speak up and talk to the school.

At times, teachers and parents can be the bullies too, not just students. I heard stories where teachers join in with the bullies and laugh with them when the bullies bully the victim. Parents of the bully join and laugh with their bully child when the victim is being teased.

People think bullying is just child's play and that it doesn't matter. It's nothing. That the bully victims will get over it. That's not always true. For some, it scars them for life. You never know because maybe they hide it. It really matters that people speak up about this issue. It is true that even if the bullying issue gets raised awareness, bullying can still happen. It will never stop the bullies from bullying, but at least it opens people's eyes that bullying is a serious issue, not something to laugh about.

Bullying can happen from all ages. From kindergarten - adulthood. Yes, you might be surprised that I said adulthood. It's true. All ages. You might hear that bullying comes more from teenagers, but it can also happen to anyone of any age. Bullying doesn't only happen on school ground. It can be anywhere. You never know.

Bully + Suicide = Bullycide

• bullycide - when one gets teased so much that they take their own life to end the pain

You heard so many stories of people getting bullied, but what about bullycide? When they kill themselves because of the bullies that never stopped bullying and people not speaking up to help save them. This is really heartbreaking when you hear another teen on the news suicide because they were bullied non-stop when no one came to step on to change it. Everyone was just too ignorant to care for others. Just because it wasn't happening to them, they think it's not their problem. Look around yourself and see what's really happening. Do something. Don't wait until someone's life is taken away to realize you need to be aware and take action. Bullying can be stopped starting with you. What is your choice?

To looks for signs of suicide, click the next topic chapter, Suicide, if you would like to know more.

Statistics/True Facts:

- Bullying affects people both physically and emotionally

- About 160,000 children miss school everyday because they fear getting attacked by bullies

- 282,000 students are physically attacked in secondary schools each month

- 56% of students have personally witnessed some type of bullying at school

- Boys are more likely to bully others more than girls do

- 1 out of 10 students drops out of school because of bullying

- 58% of kids have not told their parents about cyberbulling

- 71% of students report the incident of bullying as a problem at their school

- For students who reported the incident of bullying, nearly one-third (31.1%) said the school staff did nothing in response

There is not an estimated/determined statistic of bullycides because there are too many bullycides that it's countless. I tried looking it up but couldn't find it. Sorry, if I do happen to search and find it, I'll post it up. Thank you all for reading.