english final essay

Rough Draft

Bullying

Bullying is a phenomenon that occurs all over the world today. The chances of one’s child (or even the parent themselves) experiencing various forms of bullying are quite elevated nowadays. As such, wide-ranging data has been collected around the globe to ascertain its prevalence and how profoundly it can affect its victims. The most common forms of child bullying occur in school settings and through the internet (Mishna et al. 368). Hence, it is little surprise that educational institutions and the media often engage in talks regarding acts of bullying. In the contemporary society, various instances of bullying are usually reported with statistics backing such assertions. In the US, one out of every four learners reports experiencing acts of bullying during the school year. Sadly, more than 60% of children who face bullying fail to report it.

On a positive note, over half of bullying incidents cease when peers intervene on behalf of the children being bullied. Additionally, school-based bullying prevention strategies have been found to be effective in reducing bullying. Children who face bullying are at a heightened risk of poor school adjustment, depression, sleep difficulty, and anxiety. Additionally, such children are at an elevated risk of academic problems, substance use, as well as being violent later in life (Cornell et al. 138). Other negative impacts of bullying include mental health and behavior problems, and negative health impacts like stomachaches and headaches. Thus, the ensuing discussion seeks to comprehensively explicate the unsavory ramifications of technologies in communication and social networking, in particular, regarding issues in bullying.

Discussion

Bullying indubitably represents some of the most noteworthy challenges to the society today. In a few words, being on the receiving end of constant bullying is an experience that no one would ever wish to undergo. When the victim is younger, the impacts of such unsavory experiences can be exacerbated (Associated Staff para. 1). Sadly, this is what a worrying number of children and teens have to go through with increasing regularity today, and the role of communication and social media technologies in perpetuating such conducts continue to cause heightened exasperation. Some people may take flippantly issues in bullying having not experienced it in their lives. However, for those who have faced bullying, they have an enhanced comprehension of what it means to be bullied, and it is painful, both physically and psychologically, to say the least (Kaplan para. 3).

A repertoire of communication and social media technologies are readily available for use by children and teens, for instance, social media websites, cell phones, as well as online gaming today. As such, children and teens in the contemporary society appear to have an ever-surging number of outlets through which they can have interactions with one another (O'Keeffe, Schurgin, and Clarke-Pearson 803). Nevertheless, even though such technologies enhance social interaction, an ugly side of the phenomena continues to manifest in the form of cyber-bullying. On top of the verbal and physical bullying that tend to unfold in academic institutions, cyber-bullying, usually by the way of harassing text messages, as well as disparaging posts on Facebook or Twitter accounts of other children, continues to appear with increasing regularity (Kwan and Skoric 19). While these novel manifestations of bullying may not occur in person, there is no doubt as to their equally destructive emotional and psychological impacts.

Based on a growing number of studies, more than ninety percent of US teens go online daily. In essence, social media ranks among the most frequently employed kinds of websites by this particular demographic. While such connections have proven their benefits in more ways than one, for instance, their facilitation of growth and learning, communication and social media technologies are virtually a double-edged sword (O'Keeffe, Schurgin, and Clarke-Pearson 801). Apart from sending harassing texts and posting derogatory remarks, bullies can also make use of videos or pictures in making fun of their victims, employ social media for stalking purposes, as well as hack an account or make fraudulent posts as if another individual composed them.

A considerable proportion of social media bullying happens on Facebook (Kwan and Skoric 17). This is as a result of an array of factors including the platform’s extensive popularity, as well as its capability to share photos in addition to other media. Indeed, judging by particular reports, ninety percent of teen users of Facebook have affirmed their witnessing of bullying on the site. What is more, other studies have pointed that over fifty percent of teens on Facebook have grappled with issues of bullying (Kwan and Skoric 20). Of even greater shock is the fact that even individuals who ostensibly care about one’s children have the potential to cause them harm via Facebook. Other social media platforms that have been cited to facilitate bullying include Twitter, Ask.FM, and SnapChat. According to various assessments, Twitter is an indisputable hotbed of a plethora of bullying content, with as much as fifteen thousand bullying tweets disseminated on a daily basis. Further, Ask.FM has been blamed for severe issues among teens, which has resulted in bullying conduct that continues to prove challenging to stop. Indeed, the suicide of a young girl (fourteen-year-old) back in 2013 was connected to bullying behavior on ask.fm. Regarding SnapChat, the popular social media platform has had to fend off allegations of perpetuating bullying. SnapChat has also been implicated for its contribution to the suicide of a teenager who was on the receiving end of unremitting bullying.

Furthermore, the motivations for cyber-bullying tend to be diverse. Some of the causes of bullying take in the need to be noticed, the craving for authority over one’s peers, the existence of issues at the bully’s home, the perception of bullying as being cool and funny, aggressive personality, and jealousy (Associated Staff para. 2). Other causes may comprise revenge, the unavailability of adult supervision, and the compulsion to take one’s emotions on others. Although the causes of cyber-bullying seem to be diverse, the impacts of the trend represent a serious concern for the society.

The ramifications of cyber-bulling may not be pronounced compared to physical bullying, in particular, at the start. Nevertheless, if the bullying continues unchecked, the outcomes can be tragic. Teen suicide is among the most severe effects of cyber-bullying. The amplification of bullying on social media, as well as other online platforms and communication technologies, has resulted in a dramatic surge in teen suicide. This takes place since a great majority of teenagers lack the emotional capability to tackle serious bullying (“The Impact of Bullying” para. 4). Even though suicide undoubtedly ranks as the most severe impact of cyber-bullying, the unwanted implications do not end with it. Cyber-bulling has the potential to bring about self-esteem problems, self-harm, depression, as well as feelings of isolation that are bound to have a damaging impact on one’s academic performance, social skills, and an individual’s well-being in general (Cornell et al. 138). Other major long-term impacts of cyber-bullying may include alcohol and substance abuse, as well as psychological post-trauma disorders (Valdebenito, Ttofi, and Eisner 140).

The never-ending nature of cyber-bullying has proven to be a major impediment to the complete eradication of such behavior (“The Impact of Bullying” para. 2). In essence, it is a virtual impossibility for children and teenagers to escape such issues given the fact that more than ninety percent of teenagers in the US can easily access cell phones and other vital portable devices. This continuous connection to the globe via electronic media results in the creation of a platform that can be used for constant bullying (Bonanno and Hymel 689). Simply put, children and teenagers do not seem to have a place to which they can go in a bid to evade harassment.

However, despite the conspicuous challenges in tackling cyber-bulling, a range of measures has been proposed to aid children and teens under such circumstances. Bullying on various communication and social media platforms continue to grow, hence the need to come up with practical measures that can assist children and teens in going about such matters. One of the most helpful measures to adopt relates to having appropriate privacy settings, which bars random individuals from having an access to one’s profile (Perren et al. 283). However, one must have the understanding that a change in privacy settings does not guarantee the avoidance of bullying as numerous children and teens are often bullied by individuals they perceive as friends. On top of privacy settings, children and teens need to unfriend individuals posting derogatory remarks and harassing them, block individuals who unremittingly forward derogatory messages, report bullies to the relevant social media site, and notify adults of what is going on (Perren et al. 283). Other workable strategies that children and teens should adopt in this regard include refraining from acting in response to a bully’s messages and keeping records of the conduct for evidence if needed.

Worryingly, some quarters of the population does not hold the view that cyber-bullying has become pervasive in the nation. Such people are of the belief that the talk surrounding issues in cyber-bullying has been blown out of proportion, which consequentially makes the phenomenon to appear as if it is an epidemic. Based on such standpoints, conclusions have been reached that cyber-bullying is not on the rise as is always purported and that the impacts of the trend have equally been exaggerated. Despite such unfounded assertions, the gravity of cyber-bullying is a fact that is no longer in doubt given the rising grim statistics of the impacts and prevalence of the trend. Indeed, the augmentation of the efforts to curb cyber-bullying is a testament to the seriousness with which the issue is taken nationally. Thus, such insensitive statements should be swiftly discounted for failing to acknowledge an issue that is bound to affect many if not addressed effectively.

Cyber-bullying is certainly an increasingly novel expression of bullying today. Regardless of its unconventionality when compared to other traditional forms of bullying, it has the potential to cause the most severe consequences. Given the fact that children and teenagers find it challenging to steer clear of it, this can compound matters, with grim outcomes with lasting impacts a real possibility. Owing to this, it is of the essence that parents, educators, as well as other adults, seek workable measures of aiding children and teens as regards the most appropriate way of interacting in a friendly way. Of even greater significance, such measures should look to provide counsel on the most effective way of fighting bullies. With proper guidance, every form of cyber-bullying can be lessened and possibly even ended, hence affording children and teens a safer life.

Works Cited

“The Impact of Bullying”. Victoria State Government Education and Training. 28 November 2013: Web. 4 Nov. 2016.

Associated Staff. “Causes and Effects of Bullying”. Stellar Bully Project. 4 February 2011: Web. 4 Nov. 2016.

Bonanno, Rina A., and Shelley Hymel. "Cyberbullying and internalizing difficulties: Above and beyond the impact of traditional forms of bullying." Journal of youth and adolescence 42.5 (2013): 685-697.

Cornell, Dewey, et al. "Perceived prevalence of teasing and bullying predicts high school dropout rates." Journal of Educational Psychology 105.1 (2013): 138.

Kaplan Karen. Victims of bullying live with the consequences for decades, study says. Los Angeles Times. April 18, 2014. Web. 4 Nov 2016.

Kwan, Grace Chi En, and Marko M. Skoric. "Facebook bullying: An extension of battles in school." Computers in Human Behavior 29.1 (2013): 16-25.

Mishna, Faye, et al. "Cyberbullying behaviors among middle and high school students." American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 80.3 (2010): 362-374.

O'Keeffe, Gwenn Schurgin, and Kathleen Clarke-Pearson. "The impact of social media on children, adolescents, and families." Pediatrics 127.4 (2011): 800-804.

Perren, Sonja, et al. "Tackling cyberbullying: Review of empirical evidence regarding successful responses by students, parents, and schools." International Journal of Conflict and Violence 6.2 (2012): 283.

Stuart, Jeffrey. Personal Interview. 4/11/2016.

Valdebenito, Sara, Maria Ttofi, and Manuel Eisner. "Prevalence rates of drug use among school bullies and victims: A systematic review and meta-analysis of cross-sectional studies." Aggression and Violent Behavior 23 (2015): 137-146.