Bullying refers to aggression characterized by repetitive intentional psychological or physical oppression involving abuse of power in relationships to control or cause distress (Carr-Cregg). In this respect, bullying may include physical violence and destruction of property, extreme criticism, and other verbal abuses. In some instances, bullying may be hard to distinguish from friendly jokes among children (“Bullying and mental health,” 6). Bullying in schools needs to stop because it has adverse effects on both the bully and the victim.
Moreover, the bullied student may develop headaches and may fear visiting lavatories or travel by school buses were if the bully targeted them from these areas. It follows that the physical health of the student may deteriorate significantly. Some of the bullied children may lack sleep that makes them weak during the day and renders them susceptible to depression and other social disorders.
At the same time, similar effects may happen on the bully. Fundamentally, the bully may seem and feel more powerful over the victims. However, they are also afraid of the possible consequences if caught. There are laws against bullying that can lead to prosecution. As a result, the bully lives in perpetual fear that affects their physical health. Besides, the bullies may hurt themselves in the process of bullying others. For example, in the case of physical confrontation or damage of property were fights arise, the bully may get hurt, just as the victim would.
Property damage causes losses on both sides. The bully, who destroys a computer of a victim does not gain anything from it. If reported to the authorities, the parents or guardians of the bully pay for the damages. Although the victim may get back the property, there are is no guarantee of recovering everything. For example, replacing a damaged laptop does not ensure that the student would recover all the contents that were in it. If the student had not stored the data in a separate data bank or online, the victim risks losing it all. Although there is recovery software, they may not recover everything. From this point of view both the bully and the victim stands to lose something of significance to them.
Bullying involves low self-esteem for both the bully and the bullied. Low self-esteem affects the interpersonal relationship of the students and, consequently would adversely affect their relationships with the rest of the learners. In this regard, the bully and the victim would struggle in establishing and maintaining healthy relationships within the school, and also in the society. A majority would withdraw from the others, feel hated and disconnected from school. Others would be careful to avoid conflicts in the school. Due to this, their creativity reduces significantly.
Since bullies use their time planning on how to target their victims, they tend to pay less attention to class work. As a consequence, they perform poorly something that escalates their behaviors with an aim to compensate for the low grades. A similar fate befalls the victims. The constant harassment, verbal abuse, and damage to property ensure that the victim cannot concentrate on school work. In severe cases, the victims cannot visit the libraries, or study alone for fear of the bullies. Others do not participate in classroom discussions.
Besides, a student who faces harassments is prone to abusing drugs. The anxiety, depression, and worries associated with bullying forces the victim to use drugs to deal with the challenges. The drugs would, in turn, affect the physical and mental health of the learner. Moreover, the bully, to satisfy the craving to intimidate others uses drugs to boost their ego. Prolonged use of drugs would lead to addiction. In the case of insufficient money to buy drugs, the child may begin petty crimes to get enough money to buy them.
In the case the bully targets children with disability, it tends to worsen their conditions. Consider for example a child with hearing or sight impairments. The student may need to rely on others for help occasionally. However, a victim of bullying may not have the courage to accept or request for help due to the emotional distress. The victim may feel isolated and dejected leading to adverse effects on performance. A similar thing may happen to the obese children. Instead of their friend encourage them to lose weight, they may feel hated, and withdraws from others, both of which accentuates the problem over time.
Moreover, bullying wastes valuable resources in the school. Institutions have to hire trained counselors to help students with their problems and bullying takes a good proportion of the time. It follows that instead of helping students to deal with problems that they cannot control such as inequality, poverty, and emotional distress from broken families, the school counselors spend time counseling bullies and bullying victims. Both the bully and the victim fails to get desirable advice on other issues. By extension, it also affect the rest of the students in the school and also adds a financial burden to the parents.
Bullying may also have some positive impacts. First, it enables the victims to develop competent mental faculties that may have positive effects. For instance, if one gets constant criticism about their weight, they end up accepting themselves and viewing their physical appearance in a positive way. It can also help in bringing to the attention of the victim potential problems that may occur. For example, an obese child may come to realize the possible harm of being obese through bullying and takes up drastic measures to reduce weight. Bullying is an indication of underlying problems. Therefore, acts of bullying others offer clues about the perpetrator's potential mental health concerns. In this regard, the acts of bullying help counselors in the diagnosis of extreme mental problems and offer intervention within a reasonable time.
Bullying also prepares the child for life after school. Fundamentally, bullying in school may adversely affect the child. However, it represents what happens in the society. Upon completion of school, the child would have to face a chaotic world with constant criticism. If individuals get exposure to criticism and develop the right coping mechanism through counselors; they are in a position to handle problems better. As a result, they would succeed in their jobs.
Works cited
Bullying and mental health: guidance for teachers and other professionals. PDF file. Available at <http://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/media/5436/mental-health-and-bullying- module-final.pdf>
Carr-Cregg, Michael. Bullying. 2011. Pdf file. Available at <http://earlytraumagrief.anu.edu.au/files/201103carrgregg.pdf>
Eriksen, Louise Tine, Nielsen, Skyt Helena, and Simonsen, Marianne. The effects of bullying in elementary school. 2012. IZA Discussion Paper No. 6718. Pdf file. Available at <http://ftp.iza.org/dp6718.pdf>
