formal - apa writing sample

Bullying – Causes, consequences, and awareness. 1

Bullying – Causes, consequences, and awareness.

Stephanie Schneider

100647434

COMM 1007

Currently the national news has an overwhelming amount of reports about teenage

physical and verbal abuse. This in turn has lead to an outcome of an alarmingly high rate of

suicides due to teen bullying. Bullying can come in many forms, from verbal to abusive; and

cause short-term to long-term consequences impacting family and friends without warning.

Bullying is a growing problem among teens and can lead to depression, alienation, and suicide.

Celebrities are now taking a stance to raise awareness in hopes to prevent statistics of bullying

from rising, and we as a society should also.

To know the answer of why bullying is growing to this social-epidemic, society has to

start with the question, what causes bullies? I remember always being told bullies are insecure,

jealous, or come from broken homes - but this is all untrue. Bullies have high self-esteem, but

lack compassion and impulse control. This is why outbursts of anger from a bully directed to

someone else is done for the bully to feel better. (What causes bullies? 2010. Publicsafety.gc.ca).

This feeling gives them the “punching a pillow” effect; the way an average individual would

release frustration. Bullies lack social skills to properly communicate and enjoy having the claim

over someone else, which is almost a rewarding or fulfilling feeling. (Bullying and victim:

possible causes, 2005. Associatedcontent.com). I think bullying is a behavior


disorder versus a mental disorder, therefore does not require use of medication. With the right

rules and laws and a zero-tolerance attitude, the statistics of bullying would decrease immensely.

What are the statistics of teen bullying? The involvement of bullying, whether from being

bullied, witnessing, or taking part in the actual bullying itself is found in any environment. In

fact, 30% of teens are bullies in the United States, which signifies 5.7 million teenagers. (Is

teenage bullying common? 2009. Bullyingstatistics.org). Bullying is more common in younger

teens than older, but it is clear that it strongly impacts teens in a disturbing manner. The statistics

of bullying fall under all genres of bullying, from verbal, abusive, cyber, or emotional. These

personal attacks come in various forms such as continuously pushing someone as they pass one

another in a hall, hitting, taunting or threatening, intimidating, teasing, name-calling and making

sexual preference comments and remarks. (What are some types of bullying? 2009. Byparents-

forparents.com). Bullying may also be more indirect, but no less still personal such as spreading

rumors, encouraging others to reject or dislike the individual, stealing or damaging the victims

belongings. As I hear the amount of teen deaths resulting in a gay teens committing suicide

simply because he or she was teased over their sexual preference, it becomes a concern that

perhaps our school system is not enforcing a zero tolerance rule regulating bullying. Any

repetition of these actions upon another can lead to mental instability, insecurities, or a lost

feeling of self worth.

The constant attacks of any forms of bullying can lead to minimal signs that may be hard

to recognize such as feeling anxious, losing focus, or avoiding classes to escape being

victimized. (Office of Justice Programs. 2008. FS–200127). Larger cases of bullying


can create depression or teens may become withdrawn or lose interest in social activities, and in

drastic measures – suicide. (How does bullying affect teens? 2010. Keepschoolssafe.org).

Unfortunately, I only could imagine being afraid to come to school only to dread the awful

things about to happen before me, or having to plan a different route to take home just avoid

being abused verbally or physically. I can understand how it would become exhausting to the

point where b would feel like I was not good enough to be in the same social atmosphere as

those who made fun of me. I too, would hide, and feel all the same things as a teen, whom maybe

is too scared to reach for help. In an article on “Jared’s Story” I read about a girl who took her

own life at the ripe age of fifteen. (Kristina’s story. 2010. Jaredsstory.com). This article disturbed

me deeply. She was absolutely beautiful, when I looked at her photo I thought it was a mistake

and that no one who was so young and vibrant looking could harm themselves. Kristina Calco

was an active member in her school to conquer her painfully shy and timid ways in hopes of

making friends, Kristina was a member of the JV cheerleading squad, swimming and ski team,

student broadcasting staff, year booking, and newspaper staff. As bright and promising as her

extra-curricular activities were, the dark side shadowed all. Kristina was the victim of bullying

for a little over three years, constantly being brainwashed with comments by a group of boy

peers that she was “ugly” and that they would never date her because she was “nasty”. Not to

any of her parent’s knowledge, the young girl’s suicide was a complete shock. After piecing

together tons of instant messages, a loaded journal, and MySpace entries to her friends, all

piecing together a timeline of what took place in Kristina’s life. In one of Kristina’s journal

entries she deeply expresses her lack of self worth, “I just pretend I look really good, sometimes

it’s really hard though because I don’t like being, thinking... that I’m pretty when I’m not.”

(Kristina’s Story. 2010. Jaredsstory.com). Immediately my heart sunk, as this is a girl I can relate


to, but I am sure most girls her age could also. The feeling of not feeling pretty enough, but I

think young girls do not understand many feel this way. I can understand it must be immensely

harder to cope with when it is the opposite sex telling someone they will never attract anyone.

For someone like Kristina, her friends tried to comfort her, but it was not enough. Teen bullying

ate her like a cancer and consumed her entire life. A beautiful girl, full of potential, hope, and

promise and could not open up to find help and confide in those to stop being abused because the

damaged had been done and she felt like her bullies were right. This is where we need to speak

out against bullying, and stop anymore “bullycides” from occurring, and tell teens that there is

someone who cares and society is listening now.

More and more celebrities have stopped and started to listen to bullying awareness. The

first major person to change his entire outlook and make a vow to quit bullying would be

celebrity blogger Perez Hilton. Perez Hilton is infamous for bashing with “comedic drawings” on

their photos, from children to outing his fellow gays. Perez admits to Ellen DeGeneres, “In doing

so a lot of people have called me a hypocrite and a bully myself and a big one ... From now on I

really want to be part of the solution and not part of the problem”. (Perez quits bullying, 2010.

Thestar.com). Ellen DeGeneres is another big celebrity who is actively recruiting support from

her fellow star-studded friends to promote awareness to stop bullying. Recently on her show she

spoke to Madonna via video chat who took her stand about teen bullying. (Madonna speaks

out against bullying. 2010. Afterellen.com). I adored her interview with Madonna because

she recognizes the gay community and admits she has been bullied because she can relate to

feeling different, isolated and alienated because she did not fit in with the clicks at school.

However, that did not stop her from continuing to find a passion that made her feel like she


belonged somewhere. She goes on to praise her gay ballet dance teacher for welcoming her into

a community of dance and artists and this is where she felt like she belonged somewhere and

began to feel safe, secure, and told Madonna it was okay to be different. I especially admired

how Madonna says, “I can’t imagine young kids today going through their adolescence years not

having somebody that they can talk to, somebody that they can have an infinite with, that tells

them, and reassures them that it’s okay to be who you are.” (Madonna speaks out against

bullying, 2010. Afterellen.com). Madonna becomes more passionate about the

importance of having a community of people to just listen and help those who are being bullied,

and who need to have someone who are there just to listen and support. Her simple advice for

everyone is to just stop, not talk about, read, nor listen to any gossip. This way we do not pass

our behavior down or around to those who follow our actions. I could not think this is more of an

admirable action to display for a community. As a society we thrive on talking about and reading

about other people. If we just walked away or just stayed focused with the task at hand, maybe

less gossip and rumors about other individuals would be spread. This would mean less

miscommunication would occur through the grapevine. Our society is already moving forward

with such positive figures realizing we have an issue and willing to speak out against it.

With celebrities already recognizing that teen bullying is not to be taken lightly nor

overlooked because it can lead to alienation, depression, and deep feelings of insecurity and

feeling scared or anxious. (Celebrities share experiences with bullies in wake of

teen suicides. October 07, 2010. Foxnew.com). Most importantly, it can lead to

suicide. It is the time for our community to take proactive stance. A more outspoken place for

students to turn, where they feel safe to open up about any issues with bullies and their


depression that they could be trying to conquer on their own. It is important for schools to

support a zero tolerance policy and a treatment program, so we as a society can put a stop to

“bullycides”. In the United Kingdom a statistic is shown that one out of sixteen families one will

experience a suicide due to bullying. (Bullycide, 2007. Overcomingbullycide.com). In

conclusion, the thought of preteens or teenagers taking their own life over something that is

completely preventable is deeply disturbing to me. I could not even fathom if my eleven-year old

sister became so haunted by her peers that she thought suicide was her only way of escaping.

Bullying is a growing problem, but we as a community can put an end to this abusive, verbal,

and emotional, behaviour that can lead to short and long-term insecure feelings and result in

death.

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