On the Issue of Bullying

Studies have shown that 31% of children living in the United Kingdom experienced bullying by their peers during childhood. A further 7% were discriminated against and 14% were made to feel different or “like an outsider” while 43% experienced at least one of these things during childhood. 25% of children bullied by their peers reported that they suffered long term harmful effects lasting into adulthood. As can be seen, bullying is a serious issue, both in terms of its widespread nature and its ability to impact young lives in shocking ways. Actions have to be taken in order to prevent bullying and reduce its harmful effects.

There are many causes of bullying. One of the main causes is low self-esteem. When a person thinks lowly of himself, he feels a constant need to prove that he is better than others. The most common result of this need is bullying. In bullying someone weaker than himself, the person feels superior. He has the power to control and dominate another person. He develops contempt for the weak, viewing them as prey, and is assured that he himself is not at the bottom of the “food chain”. However, he soon begins feeling lousy when he realises that he has no real friends and bullies some more, leading to a vicious cycle of bullying. Another cause of bullying would be poor familial upbringing. When parents exhibit hostile or aggressive behaviour at home, their children, being the fast learners they are, automatically behave similarly in school. These misled children soon discover others who appear weak or cowering and are disturbed by how it reminds them of their own vulnerability at home. Hence, they start bullying. These reasons, and many others, explain why bullying is so rampant among young people.

Of course, widespread bullying leads to widespread consequences. At the individual level, victims of bullying suffer from both short-term and long-term effects. In the short term, they might experience negative emotions such as anger, depression, anxiety and helplessness. In extreme cases, they might even start having suicidal thoughts and feelings. In the long term, victims have lingering feelings of bitterness, giving them a desire for revenge. They might find it difficult to trust other people and stay away from social activities, and have an increased tendency to be a loner. However, the most frightening part is not what they feel, but what they become. Victims of bullying are very likely to become bullies themselves. This is due to victims developing low self-esteem after continuous bullying. A prime example of this would be the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. The two culprits, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, were unpopular and frequent targets of bullying in school. The two then turned around and engaged in the deadliest form of bullying, killing 13 people and injuring 24 others. At the social level, bullying leads to high crime rates. This is due to victims of bullying becoming potential criminals at a young age. These negative effects tell us one thing: bullying is no laughing matter.