BULLYING
-Samyukta Puri
The intended audience for this paper includes elementary and high school students, counselor, parents, school faculty members, and people from any age group of 10 and above. (27 words)
Using one’s power over the weak ones and feeling superior about it is known as bullying. It occurs when one has to put down another in order to gain his or her strength. Every person around this world has once faced bullying, whether it be at home, school, or work. Bullying can be physical, verbal or cyber. Bullying usually comes from learning it from adults, monkey-see-monkey-do. From the elementary school, children usually see their seniors bullying them, and they learn the same and follow it. Parents and teachers do not take bullying as a serious matter, which makes it worse. As it is said, the plant that prospers has smooth leaves, whereas the plant that grows badly has dangled leaves, meaning the wunderkind display their talent from an early age. If a child is not stopped when they are young, they are going to take the bad habit with them till they grow up, and bullying never stops. I knew bullying is a problem, but I did not know it is this big of a problem myself. After having the depth learning about it, bullying is a serious problem not just in the USA, but all over the world. Bullying has made people end their lives or go into severe depression; it is indeed a crime. When society recognizes that bullying is a collective problem to be taken seriously regardless of the ages of the bullies or their victims and stops addressing bullying solely as child’s play, only then bullying will be effectively eradicated.
Victims of bullying on college campuses result in dropping out of school or even suicides. With workplace bullies, the stake is high and are further compounded as victims lose their jobs, their homes, and their families. In addition, to suffering at the hands of the bully, adult victims are further ostracized in society with wails of “why can’t you just get along?” or “you must have done something to provoke it.” There is something empowering when a victim stands up to the attackers and receives support from the community. It is almost endearing to see a child who is being bullied suddenly protected by a motorcycle gang going or coming from elementary or middle school. A story like that gets hundreds of thousands of likes on Facebook (Yam Huffington Post). According to the census bureau, bullying still affects nearly one in three American school children in grades six through ten. One study reveals that one out of every four students’ reports being bullied during the school year with more than 65% not reporting it.
In schools, victims are retaliating against their attackers in violent ways, similar to the burning bed syndrome for domestic abuse victims. Although it appears that the government may be minimizing the seriousness of this possibility saying “A very small number of bullied children might retaliate through extremely violent measures. In 12 of 15 school shooting cases in the 1990s, the shooters had a history of being bullied. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 1) In 2008-09, 28 percent of students ages 12-18 were bullied at school. (Buckley 4)
There is no need for the federal government to limit their definition to school-aged children as adult bullies also engage in many forms of the power struggle. Although the mental element is a separate and distinct component, it is not pursued with the same enthusiasm by prosecutors as physical elements. The sad truth is most of these bullies affect people mentally more than physically.
Ironically, when a victim strikes back the victim is the one usually charged with a crime despite being the original offender getting away with the often repeated tortious-like behavior. The difference can be that each incident of bullying behavior by itself does not reach a level protected by law and a victim’s response may. But if the law had an aggregate component, then victims would be more effective in fighting back legally.
If the policies focused more on addressing or displacing the bullying behaviors rather than victim minimization, maybe bullying would decline. When dealing with incidents involving adults, society tends to focus too much on how the victim invited the argument, rather than hold the bullies accountable for their actions, almost as a way to make sense of the senseless violence. One area this is repeatedly revealed is rape cases where the defense will proclaim that the victim asked for it by the clothes she was wearing or if she was consuming alcohol. Not one rape statute will list a victim’s clothing or alcohol consumption as an element to committing the crime. Further, clothing and consumption are not consenting defenses either.
One issue for many victims of bullying is they are often advised to adjust their behavior so as to not further counteract the bully. One problem with the advice is that victim’s behavior most likely has nothing to do with what provokes the bully since it stems from the bully’s internals struggle. Further, this advice may not play out well when other dynamics are involved such as group bullying. Instead of focusing on teaching victims to modify their behavior, the root cause is what needs to be addressed. The root cause is the bully.
Bullies can be very smart and strategic in their attacks. Bullies can push far enough to where their behavior causes minimal damage each time but over time the cumulative effect creates a pressure cooker where the victim finally explodes in retaliation.
The United States is able to ensure a safe educational environment or workspace for people regardless of their gender, religion or national origin is commendable. Having shown that civility based on these specific attributes can be legislated, it is time to take it to the next level as companies have been provided with ample time to make the changed on their own and yet have not done so. Perhaps corporate America needs assistance in ousting their bullies. Similarly, with colleges and graduate schools, it is time to stand up to bullies and tell them their intolerable behavior will not be endured any longer and should the bullies choose to continue their destructive roles, then at least the consequences will be clear and they along with their employers or protectors will pay the price for causing injuries instead of their victims absorbing all costs.
Victims need to understand the difference between directives from a superior and bullying, while employers need to know that demanding behavior in issuing directives will no longer be tolerated – despite an absence of discrimination. Companies and schools can institute training on conflict resolution, how to talk with superiors/subordinates, and truly empower a company’s and this country’s greatest assets – its people.
Legislators need to update the current laws to include higher learning environments and have clear consequences defined. Permit general harassment claims. If a person is found to have committed bullying in the higher education arenas, the consequence should be a suspension or expulsion. By taking these steps, the bullies and their enables will grasp that their outdated ways will no longer be permitted.
Bullies grow up. It is time the laws did too!
WORKS CITED
Yam, Kimberly. “After 5-Year-Old with Disability Was Bullied, These Bikers Had Her Back.” Huffington Post, 1 June 2015.
“Effects of Bullying.” StopBullying.gov, 12 Sept. 2017, pp.1. www.stopbullying.gov/at-risk/effects/index.html.
“Student Reports of Bullying and Cyber-Bullying.” Census.gov, 6 April 2012, pp.4. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/cspan/bullying/20120406_bullying_ies.pdf