Essay Example on the Connection of Bullying and Suicides

When growing up youngsters are bound to come across different experiences, some of which are bad and are bound to affect them negatively, on the other hand there are good experiences that leave positive impacts in their lives. In this instance the issue of bullying is crucial and needs addressing as soon as signs pop up. Many a times bullying cases through research have associated with extreme consequences, such as suicides, self-inflicted pain, and seclusion from the rest of the community (Gini & Pozzoli, 2009).

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Young people are often found to be the victims as well as perpetrators of bullying, this leaves them at risk. The victims cannot defend themselves while those doing the bullying act can as well not live with the consequences of their actions, thus ending up hurting themselves as a way of finding redemption. This paper will discuss in details the link and connection between bullying and suicides in the society.

Bullying the act of attacking another person be it physically, or verbally, this often happens among the young people. The repercussions are psychological trauma that leaves both the victim and the bully shaken after the incidence. This happens mostly in a school setting where these youngsters have no one to defend them especially from the mean students when heading home or playing. In this setting either the tutors are too busy with their official duties or have left the premises as the students head home.

There is a variation of reasons behind children choosing to bully others. Some seek attention and want to get noticed by the rest of the peers. Having power over people is also one of the motivating factor when dealing with issues of bullying. To some extent youngsters use this heinous act as a way to cover up the problems being undergone at home.

According to Gini (2009) as a result of lack of adult supervision some of the young children tend to pick on the vulnerable peers as a result they develop an aggressive personality, that if goes unchecked shapes their adulthood way of life.

On the other hand mature people can also experience some form of bullying. Be it at the work place, when they have gone out to interact. Under this forum there is an array of concepts through which people use to victimize others. These include gender biased bullying whereby the focus of bullying is either on the male or female. Female bullying tends to have heavier consequences compared to that of men, as women and girls are often viewed as the weaker and vulnerable gender (Kim & Leventhal, 2008). This in most instances takes place at the work place whereby women are approached to do favors and if they refuse they are threatened in some way. In school going children it takes place when boys pick on girls especially on the playground for the younger children.

In the adolescent stage boys who want to be romantically involved with a certain girl and they turn the boy down is bound to face some kind of bullying. This tends to affect their psychology as most chose to keep it to themselves to avoid being alienated from the rest of the group. The main culprits are either the bosses, male colleagues, or male clients in the work environment set up, while in schools they could be teachers, male classmates, neighbors as well as strangers but it is not limited to males alone even other women do attack and bully fellow women. The effects are adverse as it tends to affect the general workmanship of the women in an organization.

Female bullying often takes the form of both physical and verbal with a larger percentage being non-physical. Girls especially teenage and women may not be good with physical attacks on others but are good with verbal. These attacks do have the same severe consequences on every victim as much as the physical ones. This takes the form of harsh words, spreading rumors and lies about the victim.

Most women tend to emotional when it comes to words being hurled at them, this makes them not want to be associated with anyone leading to loneliness on their part. From this set back is where different negative thoughts cross their minds, such as ending their misery by taking their lives, some opt to take drugs to help them forget some of the ordeals. All these are associated with the psychological and emotional torture the victim has undergone leaving traumatic effects in their minds, making them look for a simple way out.

Gender based bullying takes different forms including, physical where by the victim is ganged up against by peers and beaten, hit, kicked thus causing physical injury. Another form is hazing, in this instance one is forced to par take in an embarrassing action and or harmful to themselves. Cyber and verbal bullying forms yet another front in which people take advantage of to get back at others. Simple name calling, rumor mongering, spreading of false information be it face to face or not has devastating impacts in the lives of the victims.

Social alienation too is bound to be part of the gender based bullying being more noticeable on the female side (Shakoor et al, 2010). It is the act of a group of socially interactive peers secluding one person and making fun of them in the bid to make them feel out of place. Having fun by hurting another person and making them embarrassed for being different.

In the process of carrying out gender based bullying the perpetrators and victims get impacted in negative ways. Some of those who par take in this act may not know it is wrong especially the young children. It is important for parents and guardians to take up the role of ensuring their children know what bullying is, and how to avoid it (Kim & Leventhal, 2008).

There is also the issue of children falling victims, the parents need to be on the lookout for any signs and symptoms that may give a way that a child is being bullied or is bullying others. Opening a forum in which open communication is encouraged is one sure way of finding out more about bullying. Open communication between the parents and children goes a long way in ensuring that children have a shoulder to lean on and can comfortably talk about issues of bullying should they ever occur in their lives. In such instances the impacts of bullying can be minimized to the least.

Extreme cases of the impacts of bullying are often seen in children and teens, which turns out that they do not have someone with whom they can openly share their saddening experiences in regards to bullying. Youngster continue putting up with the heinous acts from their torturers ending up losing hope in life thus opting to take their lives to end the misery. This is referred to as bullycide, whereby children and teens commit suicide as a result of being victimized in bullying (Rothon et al, 2011).

Prevention is better than cure, thus the best option when it comes to bullying is to help the children develop a high self-esteem. Kids who have self-confidence and self-esteem are less likely to be picked on by bullies. Being social thus gathering enough friends too helps in ensuring that these children are not bullied. Children need to also be taught of the consequences involved with bullying acts. As for victims counselling goes a long way in minimizing the traumatic effects of bullying.

The negative impacts associated with bullying affects everyone involved the victim, the bully as well as those who saw the act of bullying. The adverse effects are on the children mostly. In most instances the outcomes on children tend to include physical injury in the case of physical bullying, negative school and mental health issues tend to be on the rise. School going children start showing signs of depression accompanied with anxiety (Kim & Leventhal, 2008).

Many a time their concentration is class seems to dwindle leading to poor academic performances. Evidence of increased feelings of sadness seems to pop up with most youngsters opting to be alone showcasing loneliness (Rothon et al, 2011). Victims sleeping and eating patterns tend to change significantly as they become insomniac and lose appetite for food due to depression. On many occasions active students who have shown interest in activities and lose interest fast may be battling with bullying. These negative outcomes if not well handled in childhood may lead to kids having the same impacts through to adulthood.

Health complaints too seem to be the accompaniment of bullying, especially those assaulted physically (Kim & Leventhal, 2008). Academics get hit the most as the achievements in relation to academics reduces significantly, their overall participation in school activities gets affected too, such as missing, skipping and eventual dropping out of school. Socialization and forging lasting quality friendships for victims becomes an issue at school. There is the issue of reduced self-esteem on the victims side as their self-confidence seems to get thwarted. Building trust in other people becomes a challenge as they become suspicious of anyone who tries to befriend them.

Children who bully others get their share of negative effects as a result of their actions. They have the potential of engaging in more violent and risky behaviors, such as abusing drugs, fighting, par take in the vandalism of properties and eventually dropping out of school because of lack of discipline. Most often these impacts follow children into adolescence and adulthood.

By standers who do nothing to protect the victims or stop the action of bullying from happening tend to showcase signs and symptoms of depression and anxiety as well, these are part of mental health issues. Their guilty conscious leads them to abuse druse as well by overindulging in tobacco use, alcohol and other hard drugs. Missing and skipping school may also become part of their routine.

Despite some of the people in society refuting the link between bullying and suicides, there is evidence that proves otherwise. The suicidal behaviors exhibited by the victims of bullying are co-related to the act itself. Such include depression, loneliness, and anxiety among the array of mental health issues (Gini & Pozzoli, 2009). Accompanying bullying are other cases that mainly lead to victims to commit suicide. Among teenagers having problems at home and being depressed adding bullying can easily lure one to committing suicide. Traumatic pasts add on to the pile of causes of young people taking their own lives (Kim & Leventhal, 2008).

In conclusion people are social by nature this extends to the younger generation. Teaching and talking often about the topic of bullying helps parents give a highlight about what it is and why it is wrong to take part in such actions. Self-esteem development is paramount for the emotional growth and stability of kids. There are dire consequences that follow unchecked bullying, thus leading to the above discussion of its connection to suicides among the young generation.

REFERENCES

Gini, G., & Pozzoli, T. (2009). Association between bullying and psychosomatic problems: A meta-analysis. Pediatrics, 123(3), 1059-1065

Kim, Y. S., & Leventhal, B. (2008). Bullying and suicide. A review. International journal of adolescent medicine and health, 20(2), 133-154

Rothon, C., Head, J., Klineberg, E., & Stansfeld, S. (2011). Can social support protect bullied adolescents from adverse outcomes? A prospective study on the effects of bullying on educational achievement and mental health of adolescents at secondary schools in East London. Journal of adolescence, 34(3), 579-588

Arseneault, L., Bowes, L., & Shakoor, S. (2010). Bullying victimization in youths and mental health problems: Much ado about nothing. Psychological medicine, 40(05), 717-729