Introduction
Bullying is one of the most hurtful actions that a human being can face. Bullying is one of the social problems that divide our society into two groups; the first group claims that it is a criminal activity and others who believe it has been part of our culture for generations and calling it criminal would be unfair. Bullying is experienced by people in different walks of life, such as as a child in school, as an employee, etc. It is the factual evidence majority of people have been bullied at least once in their life. Some are able to overcome the pain they face from their bully, while many others struggle to cope with the pressure. The reality of the situation is that people who are unable to overcome their bullying experiences might end up dead, emotionally scarred, and depressed (Chambliss 242). Therefore, it is important to understand that bullying is very much a criminal action as it has similar impact to many other crimes as life loss is becoming more common, assault on the mind, promotes hatred, and it is a child protection issue.
Analysis
Fatal Nature
Bullying is a criminal activity as it is possible that the one getting bullied might to be able to handle the pressure that comes with it and might end their life. Therefore, bullying in one way is playing a major role in forcing someone to end their life. Due to this reason, claiming that bullying is a criminal action and should be punishable is not nor off from reality. Bullying has always been part of the common culture, but lately there have been many cases of teenagers committing suicide. Due to such events, the majority of the American states have passed anti-bullying laws as efforts are being made to ensure bullying is eradicated from the society. Several other countries are also facing similar problems as many children and adults end up getting bullied at school and in their offices.
Teenagers are a highest fatality risk due to bullying as there is not enough protection for them in schools and society. In addition, they are emotionally vulnerable and bullying can emotionally cripple them for life. One of the British MP Tracey Crouch claimed that, “it's illegal to bully someone in the workplace. Why do we not take the same approach to youngsters who are more emotionally vulnerable than adults?” (Newman). This leaves an open moral question to the society on why they are tolerating bullying in the school system, when it is one place that should be protected first. The only way children can be protected is to apply the same rules for their protection as it has been placed for adults. It is the only way children can be protected and saved from a life of shame and possible suicide.
Emotional Impact
Bullying is a form of vicious assault on the spirit, body and mind of the individual bullied. Therefore, courts need to address cases related to bullying with greater concern. In some cases, bullying can be compared to the trauma of physical torture or sexual abuse, as it crushes the soul and will of the individual, breaks their heart and leaves their mind in turmoil. The longer an individual faces the negative emotion of bullying; their emotional damage keeps on increasing. Bullying becomes difficult to handle, especially when the bully aligns with others and starts to hound an individual as a group. An isolated victim can face greater depression and anguish as bullying brings with it feelings of abandonment and rejection. The emotional impact of such behaviour is unbearable and it further adds to loneliness of getting bullied.
Workplace bullying creates a great emotional injury and the impact is seen on the behaviour and performance of the individual bullied. Those who used to be the best performers end up losing their passion once they are bullied by an individual or a group. Similarly, employees who are bullied end up missing work and behave differently as they expected to be bullied by others. They are not allowed to be part of a group and forced to eat alone and work extra for others as part of getting bullied. Such actions are not only unethical, but they end up hurting the business and overall performance. It is clear that, “these hierarchical, closed structures lend themselves to serial abuse of power, mobbing and exclusion” (Corry). In such organisations, bullies will only be forced to stop when they are treated as criminals who are willing injuring their co-worker in emotional terms.
Promotes Hatred
One of the biggest concerns related to bullying and its criminal nature is the promotion of hatred. Bullying has become a racial issue in several classrooms, offices and in our society. There are many cases reported of people bullying an individual based on the colour of skin, religion and ethnicity. Bullying is a common method used by several racists to shame an individual and isolating them as a target for hatred. Such behaviour leaves the bullied individual alone and feeling unworthy of love. Bullying is criminal in nature as it unites people to insult an individual, only because they are different from them. In this way, bullying can promote racist behaviour that is actively used to degrade an individual or group and is considered criminal in several countries.
There have been many other bullying cases where young students and employees have faced insults and name calling when it is revealed that they are homosexual. Our society is still not fully accepting of homosexuality and it has become of the most common causes of workplace and classroom bullying. Many young children and office workers are forced to miss their daily routines and feel lonely as the group in unwilling to accept them and have sexual slurs to insult them. There have been cases where students and employees are forced to end their life due to bullying from the classmates and colleagues and the hatred they face while in social groups. The only to end such hatred and prepare society, is making sure that bullying someone over their sexual preferences is deemed criminal. Otherwise, many more will perish, and the society will never evolve (Bennett).
Child Protection Issue
Young people have right to be protected and safe in their classrooms and their neighbourhoods, and bullies need to be taught a lesson. Bullying is a child protection issue as a group or an individual can seriously damage the confidence and trust of a young mind and leave scars for the future. Systematic and extreme bullying behaviour needs to be regulated as it causes nothing else but trouble for the one getting bullied. Whenever an issue of bullying is discovered, it should be treated as a child protection issue and legal intervention is needed to protect children’s rights. It is a matter of pondering, “Why, if an adult abuses a young person, does the state swing into action to protect them, but if a young person seriously attacks or abuses a peer we see it as a local difficulty best dealt with by the school?” (Cross).
There are increasing cases of tragic suicides of teenagers and emotional trauma, which have been directly related to bullying. Children are also at risk when they come from another racial background and culture and other students consider them as outsiders and insult them at will. There are other cases where children have face hate from a significant number of people in their class as they are found out to be homosexual making them an easy target for bullies. In all above matters, children need to be protected under a system and they can only be protected when bullies understand the consequences of their actions. These numbers show that to protect children and make them feel safe, laws are needed and it would mean bullying would be deemed as criminal behaviour (Toppo).
Conclusion
Bullying is a serious social problem facing our society as several people are under threat from insults from an individual or a group that has damaging consequences on the bullied. Bullying is a crime as it emotionally cripples an individual, shatters their confidence, and sometimes ends up being fatal. Lately, there are many cases of suicides and loss of employee productivity linked directly to bullying behaviour in classrooms and workplaces. Bullying has to be treated as a crime due to the consequences it has on the bullied individual and the society. Bullying behaviour has led to fatal consequences for those who lack the emotional strength to handle the pressure. In addition, bullying also increases loneliness and causes depression among the bullied. Apart from the consequences on the individual, the society also suffers as bullying promotes hatred as issues as such as racism and homophobia can be encouraged. To protect children from bullying, it is important that bullying is treated as a crime and schools consider bullying as a child protection issue.
Works Cited
Bennet., Jessica. Phoebe Prince: Should school bullying be a crime?. Newsweek. newsweek.com. 4 October 2010. Web. 25 May 2016.
Chambliss, William J. Juvenile Crime and Justice. Thousand Oaks: SAGE, 2011. Print.
Corry., Michael. Bullying is a crime, not just a problem. The Wellbeing Foundation. 2014. Web. 24 May 2016.
Cross., Emma-Jane. Bullying is a crime. The Guardian. theguardian.com. 24 July 2009. Web. 24 May 2016.
Newman., Cathy. 'Bullying should be a criminal offence'. The Telegraph. telegraph.co.uk. 19 June 2013. Web. 24 May 2016.
Toppo., Greg. Should bullies be treated as criminals?. USA Today. usatoday.com. 13 June 2012. Web. 24 May 2016.
