Shynique’ L. Warren
April 12, 2011
Research Paper
English Composition I
Bullying
Bullying is described as a form of abuse. It involves repeated acts over time attempting to
create or enforce one person's (or group's) power over another person (or group), thus an
"imbalance of power" (www. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullying). It is a very dangerous activity in
which most individuals are inadvertently involved in. Bullying may take place at any age level;
this includes early child development stages, throughout adolescence, and even as adults. There
are two main types of bullying: physical bullying and cyber bullying. Bullying can lead to many
short term and long term consequences, such as depression, stress, anxiety, low self-esteem, and
even death. However, the extreme effects and consequences of bullying are poorly emphasized
in our society.
Bully is birthed through many different criteria, specifically starting at a very young age.
As a child, one inadvertently engages in bullying behavior due to their various surroundings and
media intake. In the early child development stages, children are affected by everything they
encounter, experience, and witness. The Internet, video games, cell phones, and IPods are all
private factors that easily target individuals at a young age and shape their perspectives on life.
Without proper, parental supervision and guidance, these things can lead individuals into a world
and path of destruction.
Cyber bullying is bullying which uses e-technology as a means of victimizing others. It
is the use of an Internet service or mobile technologies - such as e-mail, chat room discussion
groups, instant messaging, webpages or SMS (text messaging) - with the intention of harming
another person (www.schools.sa.gov). Technology has evolved over time, and many people use
this to their advantage. The Internet is widely used activity, whether it is by cell phone or
computer. This is one of the most profound ways in which bullies may have free reign. Bullies
use the Internet to intimidate, threaten, stalk, ridicule, humiliate, taunt, and spread rumors about
their targets (Gardner XIV). Cyber bullying may go unnoticed for a long period of time before it
is detected. The reason being, many people can create private accounts, blogs, and identities due
to such things as MySpace, Facebook, and twitter. People are constantly harassed and singledout when it comes to the Internet.
There are two main types of Internet harassment: cyber threats and cyber stalking. Cyber
stalking is self-explanatory; people constantly hack into your e-mails and follow everything you
participate in on the Internet. There are two main types of cyber threats: indirect and direct.
When someone makes a direct threat, he or she bluntly states his or her intentions of wanting to
hurt somebody else or him or herself. This includes statements such as “I am going to kill you”
or “I am going to end my life” (Breguet p.9). Indirect threats take a bit of reading through the
lines. These statements may include “What is the point of living? The world would be better off
without me” or “I hate you. I wish you would just go away” (Breguet p.10).
Megan Meier was a thirteen year old girl who committed suicide in October 2006 due to
cyber bullying. The mother of her former friend allegedly created a fake Facebook profile under
the name “Josh Evans.” The mother did not know Megan already had a history of depression.
Once the “false” friendship began to get more serious, it soon turned into a nightmare for Megan.
Rude bulletins and pictures, bad comments and slanders, and isolation quickly began to destroy
her reputation. Because of this devious mother’s actions and the help of many others, caused
Megan Meier to hang herself and commit suicide in her very own bedroom closet
(http://www.abcnews.go.com).
Another way bullies isolate their targets and destroy reputations is by cellphones. A
popular act of bullying through cellphones is the term known as “sexting.” Sexting is the act of
sending sexually explicit messages or photographs, primarily between mobile phones
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexting). Most “sext” messages are misconceptions of an individual. Bullies
will further enhance one’s bad reputation by creating false images or explicit texts and
forwarding them to everyone they know. Most targets of sexting do not have awareness or
knowledge of the information until it has already been exposed to everyone. Sexting can be the
most dangerous activity to get trapped in, because once it is publicly displayed, there is no
turning back.
Physical bullying is described as behaviors and actions that are verbal, physical and/or
anti-social, such as exclusion, gossip and non-verbal body language. It can occur at school or in
transit between school and home (http://www.oklahomaparentscenter.org/). Similar to cyber
bullying, physical bullying is composed of three different types: verbal, relational, and physical.
Verbal is the entrance to the other two types. It consists of whispering and dehumanizing. It the
intention of the bully to isolate the target from others, such as choosing them last and eliminating
them first in any game. Relational bullying is the most difficult to detect and often dismissed as
harmless or “normal.” It is the systematic diminishment of a bullied child’s sense of self through
ignoring, isolating, excluding, or shunning (Gardner XVII). This may include subtle gestures
such as aggressive stares, rolling of the eyes, sighs, frowns, sneers, snickers, and hostile body
language. Physical bullying is the most recognizable and easy to detect. It includes slapping,
hitting, choking, poking, punching, tripping, kicking, biting, pinching, scratching, twisting limbs
into painful positions, spitting, and damaging or destroying clothes and property belonging to the
targeted child.
Olivia Gardner was a victim of bullying. She was singled-out and rejected throughout her
middle school and high school years. Olivia was only fifteen years old when she contemplated
suicide. However, her story was heard by two sisters, Emily and Sarah Buder, and they began
writing encouraging letters to her. Soon, her story became publicly known and others began
writing to her too. Many people could relate to her, especially teenage females. Several people
began to reflect on their own lives and shared their stories with Olivia and offer advice,
sympathy, and help to her as well. Olivia was an individual that was willing to speak out about
her constant torment and ridicule. However, most victims are left ignored and remain quiet,
which causes the damage to build up inside of them and provokes a very negative outcome.
Most bullies may become victimized in their very own situation. Meaning that, there are
other factors involved with them actually becoming a bullying, and how and why they choose
their specific targets. Some people imitate what they witnessed or experienced as a child. For
example, a child may watch a television show or play a video game, such as “Penny Proud” or
“Grand Theft Auto”, which includes violent acts towards others and respond to these sources of
entertainment in a negative way. These specific shows highlight different styles of bullying, yet
they seem to only glamorize bullying, instead of portraying the consequences of bullying to the
viewers. Therefore, they may act out on what they have seen with no intention to harm but to
simply “fit in.”
In other cases, most bullies may come from a tough background and use bullying as a
scapegoat for their own problems and insecurities. I once watched a television show called “If
You Really Knew Me”, and it displayed some really key points about bullying. Some of the
bullies on the show shared how they were either being mistreated at home, going through a
parental divorce, and many other devastating factors. These issues caused them to turn to weaker
victims and take their anger out on them because they could not express their true feelings to the
ones that really caused them hurt and pain. Bullying gave these suspects a sense of hope, power,
and acceptance that they felt would help their personal situations, but in reality, it only made it
worse for them and their targets. Unfortunately, this is true in majority of bullying situations.
Overall, bullying is more harmful than most people think. Teachers and parents often
times do not witness the bullying once it begins because it can be done very discreetly. However,
the signs of bullying behavior may take place in the target early on. If noticed, bullying should
be addressed and resolved before it becomes too out of control. After hearing stories of bullying,
similar to Olivia’s story, many schools took action and began posting posters against bullying on
the walls and established counseling sessions in school. So far, there have been many bullying
awareness and prevention programs/campaigns established. These organizations will help inform
people about the consequences of bullying and how to address certain situations of bullying. If
everyone gets involved and expose the truths about bullying, I believe bullying behavior will
become extinct altogether.
Works Cited
Gardner, Olivia. Letters to a Bullied Girl: Messages of Healing and Hope. New
York: Harper, 2008. Print.
Breguet, Teri. Cyberbullying. NY: Rosen, 2007. Print.
Shapiro, Ouisie. Bullying and Me: Schoolyard Stories. Chicago, IL: Albert
Whitman &, 2010. Print.
Simmons, Rachel. Odd Girl Speaks Out: Girls Write about Bullies, Cliques,
Popularity, and Jealousy. Orlando, FL: Harcourt, 2004. Print.
Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 12 Apr. 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/
"Parents: Cyber Bullying Led to Teen's Suicide." ABCNews.com: Breaking News,
Politics, World News, Good Morning America, Exclusive Interviews - ABC
News. Web. 12 Apr. 2011. <http://www.abcnews.go.com>.
Oklahoma Parents Center - Home. Web. 12 Apr. 2011.
<http://www.oklahomaparentscenter.org>.