Bullying, by definition, is a type of aggressive behavior which a person purposely causes discomfort or harm to others for multiple times. It is usually carried out physically or verbally. This form of behavior has a typical pattern of hurting, shaming, and threating others to show dominance or power. On that ground, the usual victims of bullying are those people that are younger, smaller, and weaker. Bullying can occur in any place and at any time if both the bully and his or her prey are present.
There are different kinds of bullying — such as physical, verbal, cyberbullying, relational, collective, and mobbing. The methods on how the bullies release their aggression also differ because it depends on the form of bullying that they are going to execute. Most cases of bullying happen in school and on various digital platform. According to National Center for Education Statistics, the average of students with ages 12 to 18 years’ who reported that they are being bullied in school within the school year is approximately 20%. Based on Pew Research Center, moreover, there is a massive amount of teenagers — about 59 percent, that are experiencing online bullying and harassment. The list goes on and the numbers get high as time passes by.
The relationship of the bully and the victim can be compared to the predator-prey relationship. The former is more dominant while the latter is less powerful; thus, the one with more power will always defeat the others. A person is not naturally born as a bully. This characteristic is not innate and it is not in the genes of a human. Bullying is a behavior with various cause and as time progressed, it grows and develops in a person. The reasons why people become bullies ranges from their experiences to their environment. Although they have experienced awful situations, it is not right to transfer those pain to innocent ones. It is like randomly throwing snow balls to a stranger in a continuous motion without any reason. The effect of bullying lives in the head of the victim for a long time and, worse, forever.
The effects of bullying to those who are being bullied include:
- Isolation
One of the first effects of bullying to the victims is isolation. People tend to isolate themselves from others because of being abused, violated, harassed, or shamed. The idea of not belonging to the group will constantly pop up to their minds; thus, they opt to withdraw themselves from the community and be content with their own company.
- Low self-esteem
Deflated self-esteem brings out other complex and negative emotions, such as unworthiness, unfitness, unsuitability, and futility. People that are victims of bullying are not just those who have low self-esteems but also those who possess good self-confidence. After being bullied, they tend to question their capabilities and worth resulting to lowering of their self-esteems.
- Poor performance
In a bunch of bullied people, most of them are students while others can be adults, employees, or people with disabilities. The effect of being abused with the same person using the same method leaves a massive hole with horrifying creatures in a person’s mind. That is why most of the bullied are showing poor performance in school, work, and other things or places where they used to excel.
- Substance Abuse
To cope up with the terror of being bullied, others choose to find comfort by using harmful substances and drinking too much alcohol. Some also opt to smoke cigarettes and pots like they are digging their own grave. Although this coping mechanism falls to the negative side for it has numerous side effects, it is one way to soothe the mind of a bullied person.
- Suicidal Thoughts
A bullied individual is prone to overthinking and can somehow leads to the formation of suicidal thoughts. Bullying increases the act of committing suicide. The targets sometimes lose their hope and feel helpless. The amount of fear that the bully, the act of bullying, and even the thought of being bullied gives to the victim sometimes become too much to handle.
- Mental Disorder Development
There are plenty of impact bullying can create to a person’s life. The biggest and worst effect is the development of mental disorder in a bullied individual. What makes this situation saddening is that these people did not ask and deserve it. Amongst the common disorders that these victims form are panic attacks, anxiety disorder, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. These illnesses will most probably stay and worsen the lives of these people.
Sometimes, in bullying, the bully also becomes a victim but the effects on these predators are different from what the preys have experienced. The worsening case of bullying is the cause why a wide array of anti-bullying advocacy is being promoted and executed all around the globe. Bullying, indeed, makes a large effect on the minds and lives of its victims.
Oliver’s Twist 