Bullying

By: Jack Kohr

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Why bullying is bad
Chapter 2: Types of bullying
Chapter 3: What motivates the bully
Chapter 4: Bystanders
Chapter 5: What you can do to help
Conclusion

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Introduction
Did you know that 3.2 million kids are victims of
bullying each year? Imagine you're one of them. How
do you think it would feel to be one of those kids,
going to school each day trying to get to school
without being called names or injured. Then going to
class and getting pages ripped out of your notebook
and trying to tell someone to stop but they don't seem
to care. Ask yourself would you want this to happen
to you? Would you do something for the millions of
kids that go through that everyday of the year?
Would you?

Victim
An innocent person who
gets taken advantage of
by other people.

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Chapter 1: Why Bullying is Bad

There are many reasons why bullying is terrible.
One reason bullying is bad is because it can make kids feel hurt,
scared, sick, lonely, embarrassed, depressed or sad. Bullies might hit,
kick, push people to hurt people, or use words to call names, threaten,
tease, or scare them. Nobody would ever want to be treated like that. It
would make anyone feel terrible.
Bullying is also terrible because it could sometimes even make
people so depressed that they commit suicide. Another reason bullying
is bad is if the person who is getting bullied tells an adult that they are
being bullied, the bully will get in a lot of trouble. Jennifer Allison from
the University of Michigan, about 30% of students in the United States
are involved in bullying on a regular basis either as a victim, bully or
Suicide:
both.
To
One more thing is some kids will come up with excuses not to go
intentionally
kill yourself.
to school so they can't get bullied. That's even worse because then
when they go to school their teachers are probably disappointed in
them because they haven't been doing much class work so they won't
have good grades and then their parents will be mad at them also
because they're not doing well in school.
One last thing is that also according to Jennifer Allison from bully
statistics,it is more likely that bullying happens on the way to school
than at school. As a result that means there won't be a teacher to tell so
sometimes the bully could get away with the bullying.

This is an example of a bullying cycle and

usually what goes on during a
bullying situation and the roles
people play.

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Chapter 2: Types of Bullying

There are many types of bullying or ways someone can be bullied
in the world.

Cyber Bullying
Cyber bullying is a very common type of bullying around the
world. According to Leticia Barr of Scholastic.com, 43% of the kids
interviewed by Scholastic said they had been cyber bullied over the
past twelve months. Cyber bullyingmost of the timeis someone
electronically verbally bullying someone else through email, texting, or
social media. Furthermore, sometimes as a result of cyber bullying,
some kids might be depressed, so they may even commit suicide. As
you can see cyber bullying is very common and nobody would want it
to happen to them.

Physical bullying
Another type of bullying is physical bullying. When somebody's
physically bullying someone else usually they're hitting, kicking, or
pushing someone. Also sometimes people steal, hide or ruin the victim's
belongings. Other times they make someone do things he or she doesn't
want to do. Along with cyber bullying, physical bullying is also very
common and since it is so common, most parents think bullying is a
part of growing up according to pbs.org.

This is an example of
physical bullying.

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Verbal bullying
One other way of bullying is verbally bullying someone else.
Some ways that people verbally bully others is by calling them names,
teasing them, or insulting them.

Relationship bullying
One last type of bullying is relationship bullying. Relationship
bullying is when a bully refuses to talk to the person they're bullying
and spreads lies or rumors about someone else. That is completely
sinister because they're saying false things that other people will hear
and it will make the victim's situation even worse.
As you can see bullying is very common and there are many
ways someone can be bullied.

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Chapter 3: What Motivates the Bully

There are many motivations for someone to bully someone else.
One reason a bully may bully someone else is that they are
really down or mad about something and then they see someone else
having a great day and they get jealous and so they bully them so
they're not the only ones having a horrendous day. That is not good at
all because it's just going to keep on going like a domino effect and
soon everyone will have a horrible day. Also some kids may be going
through some struggles or hard times at home where arguments may
Motivation:
break out and they might do the same at school.
A reason for
Other times the bully might not know how much they're hurting
doing
something.
the person they're bullying, says Kids Health organization. When that
happens the bully will keep bullying the victim because the victim
doesn't tell the bully to stop and so the bully doesn't know that they're
hurting the other person.
Some kids bully other kids because they don't want to get bullied
themselves. That type of bullying is called reluctantly bullying. It is
very important to know that these bullies are bullying others so they
feel safe. Usually this type of bullying only lasts for a small period of
time because when the bully's fear goes away they usually stop
bullying because they were only doing it to not have it happen to
themselves.
Other bullies are driven to bully because they want freedom.
These bullies usually do less violent acts of bullying because
Autonomy:
teachers are against bullying. What matters to them is to show off
Freedom
from being
their autonomy and authority.
controlled.
One last motivation for bullying may be fun. This may sound very
cruel but to some bullies bullying could be very fun. According to
Yolanda Morris of Veanea organization, cyber bullying is usually
where bullies have fun bullying because they never actually see the
victim or hear them. Also in cyber bullying the bully isn't trying to hurt
the victim so it makes it more fun for them.

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Fact!
77% of
students
have been
bullied
verbally,
mentally,
and
physically.

Chapter 4: Bystanders
A bystander is when someone either helps or hurts the situation.
There are two types of bystanders a hurtful bystander and a
helpful bystander. A hurtful bystander will sometimes encourage the
bully to keep bullying or tell him to start. Also, according to Jennifer
Allison from eyes on bullying organization, a hurtful bystander will
cheer, laugh, or do something to make the bully have more power or
get more confident. Hurtful bystanders will sometimes help the bully
and kind of be a sidekick. Even if a bystander is just watching it
unfold that person is exactly like the bully. They're not doing
Bystander:
anything to stop it or help it. The other type of bystander is a helpful
A person
who is at
bystander. A helpful bystander will usually stand up to the bully or
the event
tell a teacher about what's happening. Others will discourage the
but doesn't
bully or help the person being bullied. Also according to Ryan
do
anything.
Massey at the Erase Bullying Foundation, helpful bystanders can stop
the bullying situation in as little as 10 seconds!
Some ways to be a helpful bystander:
Make it clear to your friends that you wont be involved in
bullying behavior.
Never stand by and watch or encourage bullying behavior.
It may not be happening to you but what if it was?
Dont tease or spread gossip about others this includes on
social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.
Never forward or respond to messages or photos that might
be mean or make someone upset.
Support the person who is being bullied and encourage
them to ask for help.
Report bullying to someone you trust (like a teacher,
principal, your parents, etc.).
If the bullying is serious or you think someone's life or safety is at risk,
report it to the police.
Bystanders are a huge part of bullying, they make it better or
worse and most of the time they don't do anything and make it worse,
when all they need to do is tell a teacher.
As you look at this graph you
notice that 74% of the time a
bystander will complicate the
situation or make it worse. When
that happens that is an example of
a hurtful bystander.

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Sidekick:
A person
that a
helper to
leader in
this case
the bully.

Chapter 5: What You Can Do to Help

There are many ways that you can stop bullying. For example if
you see any type of bullying or the smallest thing that could be
bullying, tell a teacher, parent or somebody you trust. If someone is
having a bad day then cheer them up. Just a compliment can make
someone's day. That may even give them confidence to tell a teacher
themselves if they're being bullied. One other way to help is if you see
someone sitting alone at lunch, sit with them or even sit with them on
the bus. Also occasionally invite them over so they're not alone. Be kind
to the person who's being bullied. If you don't do or say anything you're
not helping you're just making everything even worse.
Another possibility that you could try is what a school in
California did. A teacher caught a class bully in the act of punching
another student, she immediately sent the bully to the principal's office.
The bully's punishment was a one-day suspension which he spent
sitting in the school office, where other students could see him. The
student learned his lesson and never bullied again, and the bully's
victim learned that his school was a safe place where bullying and
violence would not be tolerated. As you can see if teachers punish a kid
for bullying they will learn their lesson and the bullies won't ever bully
again because they know what the consequences will be, making
bullying less of a problem.
One person that knows how to stop bullying is Alex Libby. Alex
Libby is a boy that was harshly bullied at every school he attended.
After being bullied for so many years Alex knew what was happening
to him and to many others around the world wasn't right. So Alex
became an intern helping the Bully Project to stop bullying. Alex is
making a difference in bullying because he knows what it feels like to
be bullied. You can do the same. It doesn't mean you have to become an
intern for a bullying project but try to do something like Alex.
As you can see there are many safe things to do if you see
bullying happening. So if you see anyone getting bullied or see
someone bullying someone else, try to do these things and it will simply
make the world a better place.

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Facts:
Over 3.2 million
students are victims of
bullying each year.
Approximately 160,000
teens skip school every
day because of
bullying.
Remember, over 3.2 million students are victims of
17% of American
bullying each year. After reading this, try to do at least one
students report being
of the things I mentioned when you witness bullyinglike I
bullied 2 to 3 times a
said it will really make the world a better place. Some
month or more within a
school semester.
important things that you should take away from after
1 in 4 teachers see
reading this are:
nothing wrong with
Ways to stop a bullying scene
bullying and will only
The types of bullying that are most common
intervene 4% of the
time.
How a bystander effects a bullying situation
By age 14 less than

Ask yourself one more time, would you want this to happen
30% of boys and 40%
to you? Next time you see a bullying situation will you do
of girls will talk to their
something or just let the victim suffer?
peers about bullying.
Over 67% of students
believe that schools
respond poorly to
bullying, with a high
percentage of students
believing that adult
help is infrequent and
ineffective.
71% of students report
incidents of bullying as
a problem at their
school.
90% of 4th through 8th
graders report being
victims of bullying.
1 in 10 students drop
out of school because
of repeated bullying.
As boys age they are
less and less likely to
feel sympathy for
victims of bullying. In
fact they are more likely
to add to the problem
than solve it.
Physical bullying
increases in elementary
school, peaks in middle
school and declines in
high school. Verbal
abuse, on the other
hand, remains
constant.

Conclusion

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Sources
Scholastic.com
Pbsnobullying.com
http://www.stopbullying.gov/kids/what-you-can-do/#bullied
http://kidshealth.org/kid/grow/school_stuff/bullies.html
http://www.eyesonbullying.org/bystander.html
Veanea.org

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