Middle school seemed to be the epitome of difficult times when I was growing up. It was a harsh time for me, and it felt like entering a gruesome battle every time I had to go to school. Without being too specific on details, because even too this day I am still a little embarrassed, I was essentially that kid that was different from everyone else. An introverted and quiet kid in a very extroverted environment. Needless to say, I was the victim of constant bullying by the kids that did not mind reminding me that they were the alpha of the class. I was too embarrassed to admit to anyone of my victimization, because it was around that time teachers are always boasting about how we should act more mature, more adult. We need to be more like adults because high school is around the corner, and we are not children anymore. I felt very alone at that point, and this is how everyone feelings when they are the victim to being bullied. It took a very long time for that feeling to go away and in some ways; those feelings are still etched in the back of my mind. For some, those memories and emotions are just as potent and real as the day they occurred.Bullying can be a traumatizing experience for some students. According to the stopbullying.gov website, bullying is any aggressive behavior against another that is repeated in numerous occasions. There are different types of bullying such as verbal, physical, and social. Taunting, shoving, or spreading harmful rumors is any type of unwanted behavior and would be considered bullying. Bullying is often an on-going and repeated action against another person. It can often result in a person feeling depressed, anxiety, or hostility. In fact, all of these types of examples would be considered forms of harassment. Harassment is also offensive in nature that is unwanted. These unwanted actions occur commonly in an adult setting among the workplace between employees.
Laws are put in place to punish harassment, despite the many overlaps of similarities it has with bullying. According to the Grab a Bully by the Horns website, an anonymous admin writes that bullying and harassment have different motivations behind their acts. Bullying can be subtle while harassment is much more identifiable and therefore, more noticeable and dealt with accordingly. In my opinion, bullying seems to be on par or even worse than harassment. Commonly found in a workplace environment, laws protect them from being subject to harassment. Unfortunately, bullying is not officially punishable by law, and the victims are commonly children. Children who are most likely not as well adjusted as the average adult. I want to argue that bullying should be punishable by law. While not as extreme as serving jail time, a law should be put in place to protect children at school as it does for adults in the work place.
The reasons why bullying should be punishable by law is due to its similarities of nature with harassment. The two seem deeply rooted with each other and it is not a far stretch to say that harassers can commit acts of bullying. People who fall subject to harassment can usually walk away from the incident without any type of emotional scarring. This cannot be said the same with victims of bullying. According to the Bullying Statistics website, the consideration of suicide is higher within bully victims. Suicide that is motivated by being a victim of bullying is termed bullycide. Just as there are actions made to prevent suicide; there are actions to prevent bullying. While there are laws put in place to prevent bullying, these laws do not necessarily punish the bully or bullies. Offenders of harassment are commonly placed into a type of probationary period and to attend an awareness seminar on their offense. This would be the type of punishment that not only should be for the bully, but for the parents of the bully offender as well. In