What is bullying?

Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged

children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. In the next paragraphs
of this essay we will talk about bullying, its causes and effects on victims.
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Victims of bullying are described as more anxious and insecure in comparison to
their fellow students. They have a tendency to be uninvolved, shy, and lonely. They
are usually not aggressive and have a negative self-image. As Dake, Price, &
Telljohann (2003) describe it, “Poor self-concept plays a central role in a vicious
cycle that perpetuates and solidifies a child’s status as a victim of peer abuse.”
Consequently, research found that children who are victims of bullying are at risk
for a variety of mental health problems, the most common being depression. Victims
of bullying are reported to have higher rates of smoking addictions and alcoholism.
Wilhelm (2007), in an interview with Hermann, describes what he thinks may have
been the reason he was bullied. “I went through all kinds of bullying – verbal,
emotional, physical … I got picked on because I was ‘annoying’. I suppose I was – I
had an emotional, verbal personality and had no idea how to fit in, no capacity to
be ‘cool’.”
Emotional distress provoked by bullying, impedes student’s ability to concentrate
on their academics. Bullied students are likely to earn lower grades and score
lower on standardized achievement tests. Fitting with the aforementioned “vicious
cycle”, children with learning disabilities are more likely to be bullied. They
tend to have characteristics that aggravate and intensify their risk of involvement
in victimization. Unfortunately, once a student is perceived as a victim it can be
very difficult to change that label even if the active bullying decreases.
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In contrast, typical bullies are described as popular and often athletic. As
mentioned earlier, they have excellent social skills and can persuade others to
join them in their “fun”. Bullies are psychologically strong and often have the
ability to turn nearby peers into fellow bullies.
As a practice, bullies have more aggressive attitudes towards their social
surroundings and a positive attitude about violence. Accordingly, there is a
positive correlation seen between bullying and misconduct. Compared to others,
bullies are significantly more likely to become involved in self-destructive
behaviors such as alcohol use, tobacco use, fighting, stealing, vandalism, skipping
school, and having trouble with the police.
Studies have found that most bullies believe fighting will make them popular and
that victims deserve what happens to them. Bullying is most likely to occur when
there is limited adult supervision and tend to involve several peers as onlookers.
Unfortunately, bystanders tend to respond in ways that are out to protect only
their social status.
Research has clearly indicated that peer victimization is highly correlated with
school maladjustment such as lower school attachment, perceived peer rejection,
loneliness and school avoidance. In addition to social realms, studies concur that
a relationship exists between bullying behaviors and academic competence.
Researchers found that students who were bullied and victimized displayed lower
academic competence. Other studies showed that students involved in bullying were
significantly less likely to reflect high levels of school adjustment (doing well
on schoolwork, following rules, doing homework) or school bonding (desire to do
well at school). Also, researchers found significant correlations between
victimization and school avoidance and that “victimized children tend to become …
school avoidant after they are victimized by peers”.
To continue the essay, while bullying is known to affect those involved, it is
becoming recognized internationally as a significant public health concern because
of increased risk for the negative effects to extend into adolescence and
adulthood. Recent studies indicate that victims may have serious problems with
their social life into adulthood. Dorn (2005) in an interview with Dufresne gives
details “There are so many victims who have taken their own lives, who have dropped
out of school, who are in prison because of what they went through … It is also
pretty clear that chronic bullies have a much higher likelihood of serving prison
time.”
In addition to the physical and emotional scars caused by bullying, a new study
found that victims may suffer long lasting academic affects. Shah (2011) describes
a study conducted based on the performance of 9,590 students enrolled in 580
schools. The study’s results indicated that the grade point average of students,
who were harassed or teased, dropped significantly in high school years.
Prevention of school bullying needs to become a priority issue for schools. A
strong, safe support network must be developed within school systems. In order to
develop the network, input from school personnel, parents, and children should be
solicited. An anti-bullying program should be consistent of school rules being
enforced, increased awareness of the problem and should target multiple levels.
A crucial group that needs to be addressed is the bystanders at the scene of any
bullying. Bystanders are generally the majority of the people in the room. That
makes them a powerful force if they choose to speak up against a bullying attack.
Far too often, unfortunately, bystanders are hesitant to defend a victim, for fear
of becoming the victim themselves.
This should be an important focus in any anti-bullying program a school or
organization conducts. If there is bullying in the institution, the institution’s
culture must change. Bystanders, just like potential victims, should be empowered
and taught that they can make the difference in the well-being of the people around
them.
Once the culture becomes one that does not tolerate bullying, the situation can
drastically improve. Aside from isolated incidents of bullies being told off by
their peers or authorities, potential bullies would be discouraged from acting on
their negative impulses. Bullies tend to be desperate for the approval of others.
If a school can make it clear that it’s not “cool” to bully, that school runs a
much lower risk of having issues with bullying among their students.
Another important angle to tackle is to help the bullies themselves address the
issues in their lives causing them to hurt others. Counseling services for bullies
should include helping these students improve social skills, manage anger, and
learn better problem solving strategies. Interventions with identified aggressive
youth must begin with behavior management and students must receive clear
instructions that bullying will not be tolerated and will have disciplinary
consequences.
Schools should make use of incentives and rewards for appropriate behavior.
Interventions would help reduce the negative consequences of peer victimization by
supporting stronger peer relationships and promoting stronger peer acceptance at
school. The students, faculty, and parent body all need to work together to
eliminate bullying from their midst.
Bullying cannot be ignored when trying to improve educational outcomes. Ignoring
social-emotional issues such as bullying is a short-sighted view of educational
progress. The connection between student peer relationships and their academic
performance is indisputable.
In our times, the subject of bullying cannot be discussed without discussing the
rampant issue of Cyberbullying. Defined by Oxford Dictionaries as “the use of
electronic communication to bully a person, typically by sending messages of an
intimidating or threatening nature”, cyberbullying can be tremendously harmful in
our world today.
There is a myriad of venues in which cyberbullying can occur. It can be a harmful
text message, or an insult thrown into the midst of an active group text. Perhaps a
barrage of emails, or even a defamatory personal website. The world of social media
is fast-changing and wide-reaching, but on any platform where people interact from
behind a screen, cyberbullying is a threat.
A critical factor unique to the issue of cyberbullying is anonymity. A common
“playground” bully will sometimes be deterred from attacking the victim if they are
afraid of getting into trouble with authorities, retaliation from active
bystanders, or disapproval from their peers. A cyberbully, however, can often fire
their hateful words from behind a mask; unknown and untouchable.
Schools can assist in fighting cyberbullying with educational programs, strict on-
campus technology rules, and counseling, but preventing cyberbullying is ultimately
a responsibility that lies on parents. Anyone with a son or daughter must make sure
they are giving him or her the proper guidelines and restrictions to ensure they
are not the victim, nor the perpetrator, of cyberbullying.
Within the last two decades, bullying among elementary and middle school aged
children has become a growing concern. The majority of bullying research has
focused on schools and school-aged children. Much research has focused on the
negative impact bullying has on a child. It is believed that students involved in
bullying and victimization are more likely to have academic and social adjustment
problems. Research has been conducted to determine the effects bullying has on a
student. Research suggests a strong correlation between bullying and weak academic
achievement as well as poor socialization.
Just as bullying is not limited to the school grounds, it is not limited to people
in school. People of all ages in all areas of life can bully or be bullied. There
is more bullying in offices than one might expect. Recent studies have indicated
that workplace bullying is on the rise.
The “2017 US Workplace Bullying Survey” showed that almost 60% of American workers
are affected. It has also been shown that although workplace bullying is not
equally split between men (70%) and women (30%), women tend to bully more women
than men (more than 65% in both cases).
Workplace bullies are very often the bosses or superiors, but this is not always
the case. There are plenty of cases of bullying within co-workers. The common
denominator throughout these cases is some sort of fight for power or control.
Employees are always competing for status, position, and promotions. Employers are
prone to feeling the need to assert dominance so they feel in control.
These struggles can spill into the social interactions between employers,
employees, and co-workers, and bullying will often ensue. A study in Australia
found this bullying to be quite frequent. Nearly one in every two Australians faced
some kind of workplace bullying in their lifetime. These were not simply unique,
one-time cases. Of the people who were bullied, 40 percent said they had
experienced workplace bullying in multiple workplaces throughout their career.
We saw that bullying had strong effects on school-aged children. People get older,
but even a fully grown adult can feel very real effects from being bullied at work.
The survey found that nearly half (46%) of people say bullying directly hurt their
performance in the office, and the same amount believe their mental health was
affected as well. More than a quarter (28%) say it has a detrimental effect on them
physically, and more than one in five (22%) have reportedly had to take time off
work because the bullying was becoming too much to handle. A shocking 36% workers
have permanently left their jobs due to bullying.
Not only does this obviously hurt the individuals involved, it also has negative
impacts on businesses and the economy. Acas (2018) estimates that bullying at work
costs the UK economy £18 billion a year, from employees missing work, quitting
their jobs, and reduced quality of work.
Studies have shown that bullying in the workplace causes stress, low self-esteem,
weakened cognitive functioning, and threatens overall emotional and physical
health. People who are targeted by these harmful actions are at high risk of
depression. Researchers have found a direct correlation between the ‘learned
helplessness’ caused by victimization, and subsequent depression. Some people have
even experienced post-traumatic stress from bullying, and it is sadly a known cause
in too many cases of suicide.
Aside from the damage done to the bullying victim, it also has an impact on the
other people occupying a given workplace. A positive work environment is built on
respect, encouragement, and healthy competition. An office infested with bullying
will produce the opposite of the desired results. Fellow employees will spend their
day in fear of becoming the next victim. The helpless feeling bullying causes is
certainly not empowering to those in a workplace. The damage it does to office
morale goes without saying.
Some fields have shown to be particularly prone to workplace bullying. It is
scarcely acknowledged how serious of an issue this is in the health care industry.
As is the case in every other area in which bullying exists, bullying among medical
professionals can cause significant physical, psychological, and financial harm.
In Greece, 635 doctors and nurses working in neonatal intensive care units were
surveyed on this topic. Over half of them said they had seen or experienced
bullying in their workplace. Both nurses and doctors alike had these numbers over
50%. According to the survey, nurses considered themselves victims less often than
doctors. Another survey analyzed nearly 1,400 American students in their final year
of medical school. Of those questioned, an enormous 84% reported to have
experienced belittlement during their time in medical school. Nearly 600 people
claimed to have gone through outright harassment or abuse,
This survey also inquired as to the source of the bullying behavior. The least
common starters of bullying were fellow students. The bullying was found to be
primarily provided by their supervising professors and residents. It is theorized
that this comes from a feeling of unacceptance of the incoming professionals. Those
ranking higher the students may feel threatened by those who are learning under
them and this can bring aggressive behaviors to the surface.
In another Sekeres study of an American medical school, students were asked to
provide examples of the bullying and abuse they had witnessed or endured. The
answers very often included being verbally negative stereotypes. Female students
were attacked with disrespectful comments about their “small brains” and inability
to control emotions.
There were many reports of the abuse being in a subtle or even blunt sexual manner.
Being frequently touched inappropriately led to a strong sense of discomfort and
insecurity. The sexual harassment was not limited to physical instances. One
student reported, “The chief resident asked explicit questions about my sexuality,
sexual experiences, and sexual practices. He could not be discouraged and continued
doing so throughout the entire rotation.”
These results are sadly ironic when we consider why doctors and nurses are drawn to
their field in the first place. Many of these people enroll in medical school to
pursue their passion of caring for others. Sadly, the students are too often
treated abusively by their colleagues and superiors. It is a cruel irony that
doctors and nurses are drawn to medicine to care for others, yet the majority have
been bullied by their colleagues and superiors.
Even beyond medical school, bullying in the health care field continues. The most
common cases being nurses abused and berated by doctors. Many accounts of
physicians screaming profanities at nurses in hospital rooms, and even physically
attacking them have gone viral around the internet; exposing a very prevalent issue
Not only does this behavior harm the victims directly as we’ve discussed in the
essay previously, but there is far more at stake in a medical scenario, concerning
the wellbeing of the patient. Bullying can cause malpractice in a variety of ways.
If a nurse feels stressed and afraid while caring for a patient, it is much more
likely for them to slip and err, potentially causing more damage. A shaky hand can
insert an IV incorrectly. A stressed mind may forget a basic piece of information
or medical procedure.
Sometimes the effects of bullying will show on the end of the doctor who is doing
the bullying. If a physician doesn’t respect the nurse’s medical expertise, or
feels too much pride to listen to a nurse’s suggestion, it can result in the wrong
care being administered; harming the patient and making everyone involved liable.
Unfortunately, some healthcare institutions seem to contribute to the culture the
belittles nurses. In many hospitals in the United States, the administrations add
menial labor to the nurse’s job description. They are told to sweep floors, manage
trash cans, and clean bathrooms in an effort to cut expenses of a janitorial staff.
This only feeds into the divide between nurses and doctors and validates the
disrespect directed at nursing staff. The roles of physicians and nurses need to be
presented as complimentary. Nurses have graduated extensive schooling of their own,
and while they do not and should not outrank physicians, they have far too much to
offer medically to be merely the doctor’s “handmaid”. Once respect between health
care professionals is at a healthy level, bullying will dissipate, and the health
and safety of the patients will be better maintained.
The effects of bullying can be compared to the danger of radioactive waste. It
damages anyone exposed to it. It has immediate and long-term ramifications on its
victims. Being a target of bullying does not abruptly end when school years are
over. The harm of being bullied has been proven to be very real in every way. It
can haunt a victim emotionally, academically, and physically. These are facts
proven over and over again. The effects last well into adult life, as do the
actions. As shown in this essay, there is evidence of bullying of all ages in high-
level colleges, on the internet, and even the most prestigious professional fields.
Bullies are troubled individuals, and ideally we as a society can help them work
out their causes and make them positive social contributors. There should be no
such thing as a victim of bullying. Schools, homes, workplaces, and online
platforms need to be safe places where no one can be hopelessly abused. Bystanders
must be empowered to discourage bullies from their actions.