Why Bullying In Schools Need To Stop

Students are expected to feel safe in school but the recent rise in bullying incidents has forced them to be scared and to a point, avoid school altogether. In the last few months alone, several occurrences related to bullying have already occurred and it seems to only escalate further. Bullying behaviour has intensified to the point that victims resort to suicide to escape the constant verbal and physical abuse they suffer.

The constant amount of schoolwork and the pressure to succeed are just two of the factors that add to the daily worries of being a student. Bullying, a social behaviour involving power imbalance, is another factor that pushes a student to break and eventually, end his/her life. Students who are bullied suffer from mental and emotional turmoil and there are even those who become victims of physical abuse. This is because aggressive nature of bullying can come in the form of verbal, physical, or psychological behaviour.

A study revealed that school bullying and youth violence result in psychopathologic behaviour, which includes anxiety, depression, aggression, and compulsion, just to name a few. Additionally, victim-perpetrators are the ones who are at risk the most. This only reveals what is already known about bullying: it is a cycle that influences the victims to become perpetrators themselves.

The results of bullying are long-term, and it often permanently affects the over all well being of the victim. Some of these effects include lower self-esteem, withdrawn behaviours, depression, and anxiety. Embarrassment, stress and loneliness are also some of the emotions which victims suffer from and in school, these can result in disconnection, lower grades, less friends, and in extreme cases, substance abuse. Rivers provides a brief summary of the several studies linking negative childhood experiences with social isolation, dysfunctional behaviour, and even psychosis.

With all the studies conducted to analyse the behaviour, impact, and factors of why bullying occurs, now, more than ever, is the prevention and intervention necessary actions. Anti bullying is a campaign that should be participated not only by schools, but also by the government, parents, teachers, and most importantly, the media. By working towards the same goal of eradicating bullying behaviour, agencies will now have more effective and holistic methods to solving this negative attitude that continues to threaten the development of young children.