Forms of Bullying
Bullying used to be childhood playground fights that were just depicted in old movies, but nowadays bullying is a bigger problem than before. There are multiple forms of bullying that are common throughout schools and society itself. One might not know that they are being bullied or being the bully themselves. As society has progressed the types of bullying has changed as well. In addition, technology also plays a key role in allowing bullying to continue in society. However, even though bullying is increasing, people’s awareness to stop it in its track is also at a rise.
Bullying is existent in some form throughout society, but mostly in schools. The most prominent form of bullying is verbal. During middle school years, kids often verbally bully others during school hours; whether it would be about looks or figure. According to a study conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), 29.3 percent of middle school students have experienced bullying in the classroom, 29 percent experienced it in the hallways, and about 12.2 percent were bullied in the bathroom (McCrabb, n.p.). No matter the location, bullying can occur anywhere. Bullying becomes more intense as students transition from middle school to high school. There have been reports of cases where high school students threatened, physically hurt, and sexually harassed other students in the United States. In one extreme case, at a New Jersey high school, allegations of harassment, intimidation, and bullying resulted in cancellation of the school’s football season (McCrabb, n.p.). The side effects of bullying can physically and emotionally scar a child, if proper steps are not taken to stop the bullying.
Even though technology has many advantages, it also has some disadvantages. One of them is when technology is used wrongfully to ‘cyber bully’ other individuals. Cyber-bullying is typically prevalent on social media. Nowadays everyone and anyone have some form of a social media account which allows them to communicate with others anywhere in the world. Cyber-bullies use social media as a platform to launch attacks on fellow classmates or random strangers. They falsely accuse the victim of a wrong action or intimidate them with numerous threatening messages. Studies showed that Facebook is ...