Have you ever been bullied? Every year 13 million students are bullied that’s about 19%. Bullying is a type of harassment. Victims of bullying are usually different than the bully in some way like race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin. Most bullies either have trauma they are trying to cope with or have been victims of bullying themselves. Bullying is bad because the words do hurt, bullying can affect the ways kids learn, and it can cause depression and anxiety.
Bullying has many long-term effects that you may not realize. The victim’s grades take a beating while they are being bullied. Kids are so scared they will get bullied that they can’t focus during class or tests and that ends up being the only thing they can think about or focus on. “Wang et al. also found that for every 1-point (out of a 5-point scale) increase in peer victimization, students’ GPA decreased by 0.44 units. As well as being repeatedly associated with poor academic achievement, bullying victimization has been associated with low self-esteem, low educational motivation, reduced academic self-concept (reading and mathematics) and lower commitment to study, and higher extrinsic motivation and test anxiety rates”(How Can Bullying Victimisation Lead to Lower Academic Achievement? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Mediating Role of Cognitive-Motivational Factors). This shows that even when bullies don’t realize the effect of what they are doing it could still potentially sabotage the victim’s grades and in some severe cases maybe even their future.
Most people don’t realize that words do hurt people. Even if you say “I’m just joking” that could’ve been someone’s insecurity that you pointed out, that is considered bullying. “The experience of being bullied can end up causing lasting damage to victims. This is both self-evident and supported by an increasing body of research. It is not necessary to be physically harmed to suffer lasting harm. Words and gestures are quite enough. In fact, the old saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never harm me,” is more or less exactly backwards. For the most part, physical damage sustained in a fistfight heals readily, especially damage that is sustained during the resilient childhood years. What is far more difficult to mend is the primary wound that bullying victims suffer, which is damage to their self-concepts and to their identities. Bullying is an attempt to instill fear and self-loathing. Being the repetitive target of bullying damages your ability to view yourself as a desirable, capable, and effective individual” (George). This illustrates that words hurt more than getting in a physical fight because you heal within a few weeks but most words live with you for years.
Bullying can cause victims to have major stress, trauma, and anxiety. Sometimes victims can even have PTSD. Most bullies don’t realize how much bullying can affect others. “Every individual is different and incidents that traumatize one person may not affect another. As stated by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), children or teens who have been exposed to trauma and violence may be more likely to bully others and be bullied. Some children who experience trauma and bullying may have strong feelings of distress, while other children may appear desensitized. As an example, a study on bullying and post-traumatic stress found that some children may repress their thoughts or feelings about what took place. This can lead to numbness or loss of interest in activities. This study also found that children may experience intrusive thoughts, such as sudden flashbacks of their bullying experience. It is important that caregivers understand how to respond to bullying and are sensitive to possible traumatic stress.” This demonstrates that trauma, stress, and anxiety can stem from bullying. Furthermore, kids can even have trauma and stress disorders from bullying.
To review, bullying can cause many harmful effects. Most cases of depression or impure thoughts come from people getting bullied. Not only can people become depressed and stressed but they could even start bullying other people. When people are bullied their grades can take a hit and sabotage their future. What can you do to prevent bullying? Get educated about bullying and be a role model. If you or someone you know is being bullied, help them and ask for help. So remember the next time you say something, words can hurt people so think before you speak.
