Bullying
Bullying is something everyone has witnessed. The formal definition of bullying as defined by the U.S. Dept. of Human and Social Services is, “unwanted aggressive behavior among people that involves a perceived power imbalance.” Bullying is intentional, hurtful, threatening, and usually persistent. According to dosomething.org, over 3.2 million students are victims of bullying each year, and 1 in 4 teachers see nothing wrong with bullying and will only intervene 4% of the time. The effects of bullying can be far more intense than the bully ever imagined.
Bullying has long term emotional affects. Bullying can cause the fear of leaving your house (“Facts About Bullying”). Bullying can cause feelings of fear, anxiety, depression, and stress. In some cases, these emotions can last for a very long time, and can grow worse with age. Bullying can cause low self-esteem which can lead to anorexia and bulimia. According to dosomething.org, approximately 160,000 students skip school each day because of the fear of being bullied.
When taken to extremes, bullying can have harmful physical effects. “The March 3rd death of Bailey O’Neill, a 12-year old boy in Darby Township, PA., was widely attributed to bullying, based on allegations that a classmate hit the boy in the face in January. He suffered a concussion, his family said, and eventually seizures” (Bazelon). Bullying affects not only the bullied, but their families as well. “Joel hanged himself from a shower curtain rod in his home on Tuesday night. He left no suicide note, but members of his family knew he killed himself because he had been repeatedly bullied” (Wilson). Bullying can emotionally exhaust a person. When a person feels emotionally exhausted, they might be driven to do terrible things, like harming