The Facts On Bullying - Cause and Effect

It is amazing how so many people are affected by this ongoing conflict. It is not a war or battle, but kids die every year from it. What is this mysterious killer? The answer is bullying. Bullying creates a terrible effect on anyone that experiences it, including the bully. First of all, bullies make their victims depressed and make them lack self-confidence. Secondly, the bully gains negative qualities. Lastly, it distracts everyone around the bully and the victim from a quality education.

Did you know that 60% of boys who were bullied in middle school have had at least 1 criminal conviction by the age of 24? Bullying has a terribly negative effect on the victim. As many as 160,000 kids skip school on any given day because of bullying. The bully makes the victim feel like he/she is not important in life. It sometimes even drives them crazy. Studies show that 15% - 25% of elementary kids admit that they have been bullied! How would you feel if everyday you were told you meant nothing to the world? Three teenagers will go to court soon in Massachusetts for literally bullying a sixth grader to death. The sixth grader just couldn’t take it anymore.

You also must remember that the bullying also hurts bullies. 15% - 20% of elementary kids report that they have bullied someone before. They develop terrible qualities that give them a disadvantage later in life. MyChildSaftey.net reports that children who bully are more likely to engage in criminal and anti-social behaviors. When you become an adult, you cannot get away with harassing your peers. If you develop that quality when you’re young, you won’t get far in life. Surveys have shown that both boys and girls that have been or are bullies are much more likely to carry a concealed weapon. Especially if you’ve been a bully, you won’t usually come out on top. You will have someone superior to you that won’t take nonsense. Also, states like Wisconsin have created strict bullying laws so that extreme bullies could possibly be arrested.

My final reason is the lack of education a victim and bully will get. Expert Patricia McDougall confirms that bullying affects the development of the bully. Bullies and victims are either afraid of each other or focused on teasing each other. Education.com states that victims are significantly more prone to missing more school because of unexcused absences. It doesn’t feel good to be constantly thinking of a bully. Instead of doing his/her homework, a bully might be planning to embarrass his/her victim. Studies show that both even have a higher risk of running away from home in attempt to miss school all together. I wouldn’t want to be a victim or a bully. Boston University of Education will have a meeting on March 11 to discuss how to prevent this situation.

There are some people in the world that believe that bullying improves a kid’s behavior. Maybe it really does “toughen a kid up”. A survey in Australia showed that 5% of kids say that the bullying does them good and they are not bothered by it. Some people even believe that bullying helps a bully’s self-confidence and leading ability. In my opinion that is a terrible assumption. Maybe if their child were being bullied they would truly understand. It could be that these people were once bullies themselves and want to feel better about their past actions.

In conclusion, bullying is not the path to take to become happy with yourself. Actually, it is the absolute worst way to feel better about yourself. Being a bully has negative effects for the victim and even the bully. The moral of the story is do not bully. Just put yourself in the victim’s shoes. Try to understand what is going through their head. That alone can do you wonders.