Who can be affected by Bullying: Teenagers and young adults continued

In the previous blog I began explaining the different methods of cyber bullying used among young adults and teenagers which included using social networks. This blog I would like to continue that topic by explaining cell phones that are used so frequently among teenagers and your adults. First, I want you to stop and think about how many cell phones you see daily and how many of those cell phones are being used by teenagers and young adults. According to www.cmch.tv, 60% of teen’s between the ages of 10-14 and 84% of teens and young adults from the age of 15-18 all have cell phones. On average these teenagers and young adults send over 3,000 text messages per. month.

As most people have discovered cell phones can be extremely beneficial to teens such as in an emergency situation or in case of daily plans changing. Although, cell phones and text messaging can be very convenient this form of technology can be a huge health risk as it is one of the leading culprits behind cyber bullying. Text messaging can be used to cyber bully a person without being face-to-face with that person. These bullies tend to be females and normally these girls would never say these mean things face to face. However, texts messages can be sent anonymously therefore making the bullies attack on that person even more distressful to the victim as they have no clue who is saying these mean things. Text messaging can be used to send hurtful, rude, mean messages, spread rumors, and create lies. These bullies goals are to embarrass, humiliate, or make fun of others in order to gain a sense of power and social status.

This form of cyber bullying can be spread anonymously, shared with a very wide audience and the victims can be attacked 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 day a year. Therefore, parents need to be extremely aware of the types of messages their children are sending and who they are sending them too. Parents also need to conscious of the warning signs that his or her teen or young adult is being bullied or bullying someone else.

STOP BULLYING.

Who can be affected by bullying:Teenagers & young adults

            Today’s generation of teenagers and young adults are constantly being consumed by everyday technology as our generation depends upon this for almost all their social connections. On average teenagers and young adults send over 3,000 texts monthly, spend 31 hours on a computer weekly and forty-three percent of teens claim to have been cyber bullied within the past year. Cyber bullying is a serious problem that is escalating quickly as more and more methods of social communication through technology are developed.

            A recent personal example of cyber bullying would be, the other day I was passing by my15 year old little brother while he was chatting on his facebook account. I first noticed his facial expression had a distressed look upon it and I asked what was wrong, but before he even had time to answer I seen why he had this look of  distress. He was talking to one of his now former church camp friends and she was continuously cursing and swearing at him for no apparent reason. This obviously was very upsetting to my little brother as he didn’t know how to respond to that type of language. It sickens me to know that such a young girl could think that talking to one of her “friends” in that manner was okay. It makes me even more upset to think that she would consider that method of persuasion in order to get what she wanted which was for my little brother to agree with her. Thus, I then advised my little brother to be the more mature person and not sink to her level and react to her fowl unlady-like language. I simply told him to either kill her with kindness or to let her choose her own path without being drug down that same path with her.

            The example above is a very mild case of cyber bullying however adults, parents, and even school officials need to be aware of all cases no matter how mild. My advise to adults and parents would be to always monitor and be able to access your child’s social accounts such as facebook, MSN, My space, Bebo, and Twitter. If your child claims he or she doesn’t want you to see something, most likely it doesn’t need to be posted on the internet. Another piece of advise I would have for parents would be to make sure all privacy settings on these social accounts are set so ONLY family, friends , or people that you trust can access this information.
STOP BULLYING    

Warning sign of being bullied

            Many children, teens, and young adults are bullied in many different ways which can include verbal, social, physical, and Cyber bullying. However, many of these children , teens, and young adults are too scared to come forward to tell someone or they are just too embarrassed. Another reason bullying has become such a problem among today’s generation is that parents, adults, and even teachers are not giving their children and students enough time. We as Americans are constantly on the go and are extremely busy people. Therefore, you need to stop and ask yourself are you really seeing the world around you?  Do you actually know what is going on in his or her life? Do you know who he or she is talking too? Do you know what he or she is watching? Do you know what he or she is posting online? Parents and teachers need to be aware of the warning signs for bullying as this is a very critical time in that young person’s life. The effects of bullying can be permanent leading to an un-healthy life style with depression, fatigue, and even death. The following are some of the warning signs parents and teachers need to be aware of if he or she:

1.       comes home with damaged or missing clothing or other belongings

2.      reports losing items such as books, electronics, clothing, or jewelry

3.       has unexplained injuries

4.      complains frequently of headaches, stomachaches, or feeling sick

5.       has trouble sleeping or has frequent bad dreams

6.       has changes in eating habits

7.      hurts themselves

8.       are very hungry after school from not eating their lunch

9.      runs away from home

10.  loses interest in visiting or talking with friends

11.  is afraid of going to school or other activities with peers

12.   loses interest in school work or begins to do poorly in school

13.   appears sad, moody, angry, anxious or depressed when they come home

14.   talks about suicide or tries to commit suicide

15.  feels helpless

16.  often feels like they are not good enough

17.  blames themselves for their problems

18.  suddenly has fewer friends

19.  avoids certain places

20.  acts differently than usual

21.  wants to be alone all the time

22.  acts depressed

23.  loss of interest from hobbies they once loved

What is Bullying?

What is bullying?

Bullying is an aggressive behavior that involves unwanted, negative actions that follow a repeating pattern over time generally creating an imbalance of power or strength.

            What are the different types of Bullying?
Bullying can include verbal bullying, social bullying, physical bullying, and the rapidly increasing Cyber bullying.

             Verbal Bullying
Verbal bullies use words as their choice of weapon in order to hurt or humiliate their victim. Verbal Bullying can include including derogatory comments, name calling, insulting, making racist comments, and constant teasing. “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never harm me”. This common rhyme has been told over and over again to kids of all ages. However, this saying is entirely wrong as the harsh reality is that teasing and taunting can have devastating affects in some ways although this can be easily over looked as there are no visible scars.

                Social Bullying
       Social bullies use the strategy of “actions speak louder than words”. Therefore, social bullies use the power of silence to bully their victims by convincing their peers to exclude, isolate, or reject certain people. Therefore, these types of bullies cut victims off from their social connections.  This type of bullying can be linked to verbal bullying . This type of bullying most commonly occurs from children that spread nasty rumors about others or exclude an ex-friend from the peer group. (This occurs most often with girls)  The most devastating effect with this type of bullying is the rejection.

                     Physical bullying
           Physical bullies are a classic case of bullying which is often demonstrated in movies. These bullies easy identified and are generally well known among the school population. These bullies often use threats such as hitting, kicking, punching, or taking and damaging the victim's property.  These bullies often learn these violent behaviors from watching parents, older siblings or from being physically abused themselves. As these types of bullies get older their attacks generally become more aggressive.

            Cyber bullying

        Cyber Bullying is a very serious problem among today’s generation of children, teens and even adults. Bullying has become more than a face to face confrontation as today’s generation is more tech. savvy than ever. Therefore, making it easier for bullies to humiliate their victims socially by spreading rumors through text messages, myspace, facebook, or email anonymously. This type of bullying often causes a tremendous amount of stress due to the fact that it is anonymously and these bullies can attack their victims at any given time. These bullies often engage in behavior they normally wouldn’t if they were face to face.      

             STOP BULLYING.

Who can be affected by bullying:Childern

The classic movie The Christmas Story from 1983 demonstrates in my opinion the most typical case of bullying among children. Throughout this movie it shows scenes demonstrating Ralphie, Randy, Flick, and Schwartz all being bullied going to and from school by two boys. The mean boys endlessly called the four boys names and threatened them. All four boys at one point or another were experiencing physical, verbal and emotional bullying. Clearly, this bullying struck fear into these boys as they fled at the mere sight of the two mean boys. Although, this movie expresses bullying in a comical manner realistically close to half of all children will experience school bullying at some point while they are at primary or secondary school according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. And at least 10 percent of children are bullied regularly. Boys are more likely to use physical threats as a strategy in their bullying. They like to force others to do what they want and gain power from a situation by physical intimidation.

The movie Mean Girls from 2004 displays more of the verbal and emotional forms of bullying that so commonly affect girls. Although, this movie targets high school girls, these forms of bullying do not only occur during high school surprisingly. I have discussed this many many times with my friends and family. Girls put way more thought into fights, getting back at one another, etc. Overall girls are WAY more emotional than boys and take things more personally. According to the 2009 bullying statistics at www.bullyingstatistics.org  their study showed that female and white students reported the most incidents of being the victims of bullying.

Child Bullying should not be taken lightly as it can cause serious depression, physical harm, or even death. Everyone should be aware of child bullying and the affects it could have on future generations to come.

STOP BULLYING.

Introduction to Bullying

Have you heard the echo? Harassment, abuse, and discrimination are several words that can be used to describe the echo that has existed for centuries. It’s chime can be easily heard among adults, teenagers, and even children. This constant recurrence effect’s everyone and anyone at least one time or another in their life and is not to be taken lightly. The consequences of this echo can be low self-esteem, physical abuse, or even death. Whether, it would be at school, through texting, facebook, or even the everyday workplace, everyone is affected by bullying! Bullying is a form of intimidation or domination towards someone who is perceived as being weaker. Bullies feed off of fear, resistance, and anyone who might challenge their authority. Although, the United States has improved and raised bullying awareness by passing Anti Bullying laws among 45 states. The percent number of bullying cases is stilling growing. I personally think this is due to a lack of parenting, self control,and outside influences such a TV, cell phones, and most of all the mind-blowing internet.

            I am starting a blog about bullying for my English 112 class. Throughout my blog I will discuss the different types of bullying, who it affects and how, how to recognize the signs of bullying, how to prevent bulling, statistics, give examples and share any interesting thoughts about bullying along the way. Overall all I hope to better educate myself on this topic, given this opportunity and through that hopefully I can use my knowledge to raise awareness among my classmates.   

STOP BULLYING.