Ways to Identify Victims of Bullying

There are many signs of bullying and things or ways you can identify if your child or teen is a victim of bullying. Victims of bullying may have changes in their mood or behavior. Changes in behavior may include being frightened of walking to and from school, they may beg to have you drive them to school or become school phobic. They may pretend to feel sick in the mornings so they don’t have to go to school, or they may be doing poorly in school work. Another problem that may be a good indication of being a victim of bullying is that they may be losing weight. Losing weight from lack of food at school meaning the bully is taking their lunch or lunch money, or they may lose their appetite and stop eating all together. If they are being physically bullied they may come home with clothes or books that are destroyed along with them crying themselves to sleep or having nightmares. They may come home regularly with unexplained bruises, cuts, or scratches. Behavioral changes may include asking excessively for extra money or resulting to stealing from their parents to pay the bully. Changes in mood may include becoming more aggressive and unreasonable, along with taunting or harassing other children such as siblings or friends. Their mood may seem more distressed or anxious. They may attempt or threaten suicide because they feel overwhelmed and are tired of being bullied daily or on a regular basis. Victims of bullying need counseling and they need to know that they have friends and family behind them to support them. No one wants a teen or child to be bullied or to feel it necessary to take their own life. Bullies should be stopped and parents should not try bullying the bully because two wrongs do not make a right.

Why Teens Bully

Teens tend to see bullying as entertainment. They bully to put their hurt onto others. Some bullies have been put through bad things in their lives so they feel like others should feel as bad as they do. Bullies have hidden emotions and feelings that can turn into something more. Feelings that eventually put so much frustration onto them that they feel they need to relieve the stress by bullying others. By putting their emotions into bullying they avoid the inner problems that they have and in turn hurt others. Bullying should not be a get a way sort of activity that teens do to relieve stress. Teens should get counseling if they are having other issues. Though this may be true a lot of teens never seek help. Instead they turn to other things such as drugs, alcohol, bullying, and even suicide. There are many victims of bullying that have suicidal thoughts but I wonder how many bullies themselves have the same suicidal thoughts. Yes some bullies just bully people for entertainment but have you ever thought of how many bullies actually bully because they have been bullied themselves. Or maybe they were just taunted or teased as a child and are seeking revenge on people that remind them of themselves when they were younger. They tend to prey on the weaker teens or teens with lower self-esteem. How can we help bullies to get help if they do not want help? First off we need to find a way to let the bully know and understand that they are being a bully and that what they are doing is wrong.  Bullies may not see it as mean or they may not realize that what they are doing to others is having that much effect on them. Bullies need to be stopped and need to possibly be put through an intervention or counseling so they know that they are hurting others and that their family and friends do care about their actions.

Physical Bullying

Bullying can take many tolls on teens. One way that teens are bullied is physical bullying. Being physically bullied is not a good thing; it causes fear and pain to those who are victims of bullying. Teens that are physically bullied experience a bad and hostile environment. They can be bullied at school by being stuffed in a locker, having to give up their lunch money, and in the process they may get possible bruises or broken bones. Those are just a few examples of how teens are physically bullied. Some bullies use physical abuse to threaten their victims. They literally beat their victims to get what they want. This in turn has negative effects on the victims of physical bullying. Victims of physical abuse and bullying are scared to go to school or walk home alone; they are afraid that the bullies will harm them when no one is around to protect them. Victims of bullying do not always talk to anyone about being bullied. They are generally afraid that if they say anything that the bully may attack more aggressively or harass them more. Another negative effect of bullying is that victims of bullying also tend to let their grades slip. This can be caused by the victim doing the bully’s homework instead of their own, along with not wanting to go to classes in chance that they might run into their bully. Bullies tend to repeat actions that they have experienced or seen somewhere else. Some bullies also find humor in what they do, when they do not realize that what they are doing can hurt others whether it is emotionally or even physically. Even sometimes to the point of hospitalization. Physical abuse, bullying, and harassment are not something to find humor in. It is a serious matter that happens every day in some schools and most of the time it goes unseen.  It needs to be prevented and not supported by the bully’s followers.

Emotional effects from bullying

Bullying causes lots of problems amongst teens. One major problem is the emotional effects or strains it puts on teens. Emotional strains such as insomnia, fear, hyperventilation, and suicidal thoughts. Bullying can cause teens to lose sleep or in other words, become an insomniac. It can also instill enough fear in a teen that they have bad thoughts and are scared for their life, or make them feel like there is no point in moving on with life. There are bullies that come up with odd things to torment others with. They can even make the others feel like they are whatever the bully says they are, when in reality they most likely are not as bad as what the bully makes it out to be. For example a bully taunting another teen by saying they are ugly or that they are fat. When in reality most teens that are tormented for being fat usually are not fat and turn to anorexia. A bully can make a teen feel subconscious; they can cause a teen to think that they are ugly, and that they are fat. When really the teen is perfect in their own way and they do not need to change anything to fit into a bully’s perfect world. Bullies tend to try to instill fear into their peers, they feel like they should be the Alfa dog or that they are superior to others.  Bullying is cruel and unusual punishment. Teens that bully other teens need help to understand why bullying is wrong. Teens that are bullied need help to get through the bullying and to get the bullying to stop. I feel as if the only reason a teen becomes a bully is because they have a bad past, a harmful home, or some other underlying problem that is an emotional or psychological thing that makes them angry enough to be a bully.

Being Bullied

There are many different ways that teens can be bullied. Bullies generally do not see it as hurting someone, they more or less see it as entertainment. Teens can be bullied emotionally, physically, and through technology. Over half of teens today are bullied in some way or another. The majority of victims’ parents do not even know that their child has been bullied. There is a large majority of parents that find out from suicide notes left behind by the child or by reading the child’s personal journal. Over the next few weeks I will be discussing the different types of bulling, ways to recognize a victim of bullying and ways to recognize teens that are the bullies themselves. Along with the emotional effects it has on teens, the physical results from bullying, and ways to help or prevent bullying.  Bullying isn’t the least bit funny or entertaining; it can be really hurtful to others and can ruin people’s lives. In most cases bullying is a tactic to cover up some underlying problem. Most bullies have other issues in their lives that prompt them to put their feelings onto others. I feel like there needs to be more awareness programs against bullying. Along with more places that teens can go to receive help from being bullied. Whether it be counseling programs, hotlines, websites, or just a safe house for them to get away from the stresses of being bullied. I also think there should be some sort of program or counseling to keep kids from bullying. That way when or if a parent or advisor finds that a teen is bullying others that they can refer them to get help to stop them from harming others.

1st Blog

Hey Everyone,
I am starting this blog for my Writing as Engagement class and I was put into a group to talk on the topic of bullying. So for the next five weeks I will be talking about the different types of bullying, how we can help to prevent it from happening, and my thoughts and feelings on the subject of bullying. I will also be talking about the effects of bullying on teens whether it is their emotions or physical abuse. I will also list some possible advice for parents. The advice may include things such as how to talk to your children and teens about bullying if they are the bully, and how to talk to them if they are the victim. I will talk about why I think it is important to stop bullying and ways to prevent it. Bullying happens every day in many different places. It can happen in the schoolyard, in the hallways, at home, and at work. No matter how old one is, you cannot always avoid being bullied. Now-a-days they have come out with an application to avoid cyber bullying. There are also things that you should remember if you are being bullied. Things to remember may help you to know that you are not alone. Bullying needs to stop and through this blog I am putting out information on ways to help prevent it and not encourage it. So follow my blog and let others know how you feel on the subject of bullying. My main purpose for this blog is (1) for my class, and (2) to raise awareness about bullying and basically to inform, prevent, and help. Bullying Stops Here! Stop it where you’re at too! Do not encourage it but instead prevent it!