CHAPTER
2
DISCUSSION
What are the reasons
why other people bully the weak?
Definition
and Types of Bullying
Definition of
bullying is the use of force, threat, or coercion to abuse,
intimidate or aggressively impose domination over others. Bullying is
defined as a repeated verbal, physical, social or psychological
behavior that is harmful and involves the misuse of power by an
individual or group towards one or more persons.
(http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/studentsupport/bullying/definition/)
Bullying can cause a victim to feel upset, afraid, ashamed,
embarrassed, and anxious about going to school. It can involve
children of any age, including younger elementary grade-schoolers and
even kindergarteners. Bullying behavior is frequently repeated unless
there is intervention.
(http://childparenting.about.com/od/schoollearning/g/bullying-definition.htm)
On
the other hand, children who are ostracized by their peers and
bullied often become depressed, but new research suggests that the
relationship may work the other way around as well: children's
depressive symptoms in elementary school precede social victimization
and isolation later
on.(http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/09/the-complicated-relationship-between-bullying-and-depression/).
Adult
bullying doesn't receive the same amount of press. But it has been
found that the social form of bullying doesn't stop at childhood, but
continues into adulthood. The same sorts of activities associated
with childhood bullying are present in adults.
(http://anxietypanichealth.com/2008/08/25/bullying-causes-anxiety-disorders-and-its-not-just-kids/).
Bullies
bully for a reason and nobody knows why they do and sometimes they
pose a threat, also that the rest of the student body and their
victims are very intimidate by them because of what they can do. In
reality, bullying is one of the number one top issue around the world
and it is one of the things that the government is trying hard to
stop. “Even though people are outside of high school. The memories
of these experiences continue to be associated with depression and
social anxiety.” (Allison Dempsey, 2008).
With
regard to bullying, self-harm behaviors may stem from a desire to
relieve tension or communicate stress, and in most extreme cases may
represent a suicidal intent in the individual. The study found that
16.5 percent of 16-17 year olds had self-harmed in the previous year,
and 27 percent of these did so because they felt as though they
“wanted to die.”
(http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/05/29/being-bullied-increases-likelihood-of-self-harm/55357.html)
“Many
children suffer in silence and never speak out being bullied. While
bullying also increases the risk of depression, many adolescents in
our study self-harmed without being depressed – so it is important
that when children or adolescents show signs of self-harm or
indications of non- specific symptoms, we consider bullying as a
possible cause and provide them with support.” (Wolke, 2013)
Hospital admissions for self-harm among teenage girls have jumped by
10 percent in just one year, new figures reveal. In the last 12
months, there were 13,400 cases of self-harm among girls aged 15 to
19 that required hospital treatment – up from 12, 220 in the
previous year.
Bullying
can be taken to a new level and a more dangerous one. Bullying and
harassment can have negative on the development and mental health of
the GLBTQ community, such as extreme anxiety
and depression, relationship problems, low self-esteem, substance
abuse and thoughts
of suicide. “Because of this, it is a major underestimate of the
rate of bullying among gay youth. While family and peer support have
important positive effects for gay youth and reduce feelings of
suicide and depression.”(Patrick;
2013;http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2013/05/16/anti-gay-bullying-tied-to-teen-depression-suicide)
Reasons
why bullies bully others
A.
Family problems
Most of us don't
know the reasons why bullies bully others and one of the reasons why
they do it is because of family problems. The bullies experience
painful things as well, even though they don't show it they put their
anger and their hurt through bullying others.
Parenting
styles that emphasize
demands over parent-to-child affection can indirectly encourage
bullying behavior. Part of the reason lies in children failing to
gain positive support when they've performed well or behaved well.
Without parent emotional
rewards to guide the child's behavior, the child will seek eternal
rewards.
In such cases, children might find rewards through bullying, such as
gaining peer respect or gaining material goods, including possessions
of classmates.
(http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/parental-influence-bullying-5917.html)
Bullies within the
family, especially female bullies, are masters or mistresses, of
manipulation and are fond of manipulating people through their
emotions and their beliefs, attitudes and perceptions. Bullies see
any form of vulnerability as an opportunity for manipulation, and are
especially prone to exploiting those who are most emotionally
needy. The family bully encourages and manipulates family members to
lie, act dishonorably
and dishonestly, withhold information, spread misinformation, and to
punish the target for allege infractions, for example, the family
members become the bully's unwitting and sometimes witting
instruments
of harassment.
Family
problems is one of the main reasons why bullying is such a huge
problem in the community. Sometimes family issues, particularly
those involving abuse
or violence, mean that you have to leave your family, home or partner
and start a new life elsewhere. Coping with your emotions, getting
money and finding somewhere to live all at the same time can be
really hard.
B.
Jealousy
Youngsters from
affluent backgrounds are being targeted because of their accents,
their parents “flashy” houses and their hobbies. Some teenagers
even reported trying to change the way they speak to stop being
accused of being “posh”. The poll of almost 2,000 students has
revealed that those from wealth
families are in a “high risk” category for being bullied. Some 12
percent from high-income homes said they have been targeted because
of their wealth, with those from the 200,001 British
pounds plus bracket most likely to say they have been persecuted.
The findings
come as leading head teachers warn of a growing “posh prejudice”
which is leading to “jealousy and hostility”.
Victims
may be good at what they do
A lot of times kids
will be bullied because they get a lot of positive attention for
something. This could be everything from excelling in sports, making
the cheer-leading
squad or getting the editor's position on the school newspaper.
Bullies target these students because they either feel inferior or
they worry that their abilities are being overshadowed
by the target's abilities.
Bullies
bully the smart ones and the good ones because they think that
the smart ones will over-power them in a sense the smart people will
get the spotlight rather than the bullies, so instead the bullies
just do what they do and get the spotlight for themselves.
Targets
have an illness or disability.
Oftentimes, bullies
target special needs children. This can include children who have
Asperger's, autism, ADHD, dyslexia or any other condition that sets
them apart.
Targets
have different religious or cultural beliefs.
One example of
bullying because of religious or cultural beliefs includes the
treatment Muslim students received after the 9/11 tragedy. But any
student can be bullied for religious beliefs. Both Christian students
and Jewish
students are often ridiculed for their beliefs and practices as well
