Verbal Bullying Among Children and The Psychological Effects

Abstract
This paper is based on verbal bullying among young children and adolescence during school. It focuses on what bullying consists of, the profile of the average bully and victim, and the long-term negative effects bullying has on these individuals. This topic was chosen from chapter 8 in the textbook.

Verbal Bullying Among Children and The Psychological Effects Bullying is a widespread health concern internationally and continues to grow. It has even led to deaths of innocent people. Bullying is defined commonly as a certain form of aggression, which is intentional, repeated, and involves an inequality of power. It is known as different patterns of behavior, such as physical and verbal, with the intent to hurt another individual. It is found among many children, and within every school. School bullying is defined as a problematic behavior among young children and adolescents, affecting school achievement, prosocial skills, and psychological well-being (Wang, Iannotti, & Nansel, 2010). Some define bullying as a perceived imbalance of power between the bully and the victim (Sesar, Barisic, Pandza, & Dodaj, 2012). In sum, it is a repeated aggression in which one intends to harm or disturb another physically, verbally, or psychologically. Bullying is directed towards people who cannot defend themselves effectively. Many perceive bullying as physical but verbal bullying has just as many effects on children into later years of life. Verbal bullying consists of name calling, threatening, humiliating, or teasing. Verbal bullying has been reported to be the most common form of abuse in schools, but it is not always taken seriously.
In schools, boys often tease girls. A personal experience of mine is when I was in fifth grade and was repeatedly teased by a number of boy classmates, and it was to the point that I would go home sick and did not return to that school the following year. It was traumatic for me and I still recall this experience with anxiety. I never understood why I was being picked on so much. Academic achievement is valued during childhood (Berger, 2014, p. ). Therefore, being a victim of bullying can have dramatic effects on one’s school performance. Name-calling and social exclusion are both forms of bullying for boys and girls. Boys are not the only guilty ones when it comes to bullying. Boys are threatening, and girls are more gossipy. Berger (2014) indicated that boys use physical aggression on those boys who are weaker. On the other hand, girls prefer verbal aggression, and will spread rumors about quieter girls.
The typical profile of a bully includes antisocial personality, aggression, poorer psychosocial functioning, hostile, impulsive, disobedient towards teachers, uncooperative towards peers, and insecure. It is apparent that bullies feel such a sense of low self-esteem that they will do everything in their power to make others feel the same. As a result they will feel better about themselves. Bullies typically choose victims who may already be rejected by classmates. They believe they will achieve success through their aggression, and feel they are unaffected by inflicting pain and suffering. Such individuals exhibit poorer school adjustment both in terms of achievement and well-being. They may come from homes where their parents prefer physical discipline. It is surprising that bullies are so popular, are not socially isolated, and have more friends than maybe their victims do (Veenstra, Lindenberg, Oldehinkel, De Winter, Verhulst, & Ormel, 2005). “Although some bullies have low self-esteem, others are proud; they bully because they are pleased with themselves and they find bullying cool,” (Berger, 2014, p. 307). Surprisingly, bullies possess a lot of the same traits as their victims, and suffer similar long-term effects.