Bullying is one of the
greatest challenges that children face.
With the advancements of technology and social media comes more avenues
of attack. These days it is not just the
bully that takes your lunch money.
Social media has given rise to cyber bullying. With this shift of persecution moving away
from the physical face to face interactions of the past, this creates a braver
bully and more prevalent bully. Behind a
screen it is much easier to say racial slurs, attack sexual identity, insult
intelligence, etc. Another more
impactful issue that has come to the surface is that every single person can
now become an antagonist. The rise of
the average Joe/Jane bully has really shifted the scales to a crisis point. We would like to make an effort to stop harassment altogether by: educating and defining what bullying is, how it
alters the life of the victim, and how it affects their community.
To begin to solve any
problem an objective assessment of why it happens and define what it is. Why does a bully bully? To me at its very root the outward attacks
stem from insecurity. Insecurity comes
from fear and attachments not being met.
Part of the problem is a lack of healthy relationships with respectable
adults. Big brother, boys and girls clubs,
and other community outreach programs are great resources for youth but they
are not enough. Healthy positive
relationships with children need to become a priority in our communities. With healthy relationships greater influence
for good is possible. Teaching these
skills can have profound impact to reduce the perpetuation of bias and bigotry.
Creating a definition
is the next step. This step is a bit
trickier. In its most basic sense bullying
is any action that is degrading, intolerant, or destructive to
self-esteem. Insensitivity has been one
of the greatest causes of suffering in humanity. Educating society, especially the rising
internet generation, about what can be considered bullying needs to take
precedence. Problems arise when an idea
is too ambiguous. When few fully understand what a problem is, why it is a
problem, and consequences associated with the problem we are only superficially
covering a great wound.The final piece to the puzzle is portraying the
potential implications of these acts. Research
conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in October 2010 showed that prescription of antidepressants increased by almost 400% for all ages 1994 and 2008. “From the figures obtained from the UCR database, we can learn that from 1960 to 2009, there have been a total number of 59, 307, 925 violent crimes reported in the US.” violent acts , increased rates of crime and substance abuse. The progress made with the civil rights movements and that spirit needs to carry on. The best way to honor their legacy is to continue their pursuit of equality, sensitivity, and acceptance.
Tyler Long was from Murray County, Georgia. He died at the age of 17 on Oct. 17 2009. There was a documentary of his story about being bullied around as well as other victims that have also been bullied. Tyler’s parents have touched many lives, and they have tried to decrease bullying by making every students, teachers, and school district aware of the seriousness of the situation. Tyler’s parents were infuriated that the Murray school districts were not doing anything to prevent or have serious punishment for those who are bullying kids around. Tyler took his life away because of bullying. His parent’s did not want other kids to feel the same thing or even think about talking their life’s away. Tyler’s parents as well as other parents who have gone through the same situation organized an awareness to share with their community called “stand for the silence” they try to encourage other kids to be aware of bullying and if they see other kids being bullied around they encourage them to stand up for those who are being bullied. Sit with kids who are by themselves and make friends with them.
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