BULLYING
A bully is a person who is habitually cruel or overbearing, especially to smaller or weaker people, according to Merriam-Webster. The example of a bully has since evolved from the 1950’s Walt Disney version of the big, tall fat kid who goes around terrorizing the other ten year olds. The new aged bully no longer steals your lunch money, pushes you around and calls you names, now it’s far more psychological than it appears. But what are the affects that a bully has on the person that they harass and push around. The story we always hear is the bully will eventually get what’s coming to them and the defenseless kid rides happily off into the sunset. Is that true and is that what ...view middle of the document...
The first warning sign is an increased sense of passivity or withdrawal so if your child becomes very submissive and not often defending themselves even against the lightest of jokes this could be something to watch. Not wanting to go to school is another sign that your child is being bullied. School isn’t exactly at the top of most children’s priority list but when they make a relentless effort to make up any excuse not to go to school that is something to give attention. Frequent crying and unexplained marks or bruises. Especially with little kids they are quick to tell stories of how they scratched their knee or got a cut from rolling around in the pile of wood chips, so if there are marks on their body that they do not care to tell you about then there is a good chance they are victims of bullying. Lastly, a drop in grades and change in a child’s speech are warning signs that they are being bullied. If they are being bullied their mind may not be focused on school or their schoolwork and more focused on the bully and the change in speech like saying things negatively about themselves or others. All these are signs for a parent or friend to pay attention to and the slightest helping hand to a victim of bullying can go much further than you think.
Since the Columbine High School Massacre in Columbine, Colorado schools have taken a no tolerance approach with bullying in schools. It has proven that it was the right approach for schools to take because between the school years of 2006 and 2007 an estimated 100,000 students kindergarten through the twelfth grade have admitted to bringing a gun to school. Dr. Mark Dombeck has studied the long term affects of bullying to the victims and says that the short term affects of being the victim of a bully are anger, depression, increased incidents of illnesses, anxious to avoid social situations for fear of bullies, drop in grades and an increase in likeliness to commit suicide or to have suicidal thoughts. Moreover, 20% of the people who attempted suicide testified that they were often victims of bullying growing up. In the long term, Dr. Dombeck has said that it’s proven that long term bullying leads to a reduction in occupational opportunities, lingering feels of anger and a desire for revenge, a constant struggle to trust people, fear of new social situations and new people, overly sensitive and often see themselves as easy to victimize, deep self esteem problems and an increase in the frequency in which they are bullied.
Columbine High School was shook forever by the massacre that took place on April 20th, 1999 when students Erik Harris and Dylan Klebold walked into their school and opened fire on their whole student body and school’s faculty. It was the largest school massacre in American history and rightfully so the most publicized school killing. After the dust had settled and both Erik Harris and Dylan Klebold were both dead, after committing suicide, people wanted answers and they wanted to...
