reasons of bullying essay

• Essay Samples
• College Essay
• Writing Tools
• Writing guide

Creative samples from the experts

↑ Return to Essay Samples

Analytical Essay: The Reasons for Bullying

Bullying can cause real misery and depression to the extent that it can destroy people’s lives. As a result, bullies are often greatly disliked and punished harshly, as they should be, but it is also important to understand the reasons for bullying so that the bully can be helped too. While we all know that it is important to help the victims of bullying, the bullies need to be helped too, or they will continue to be unhappy and will probably go on and bully others. This is one of the solutions for bullying .

One main cause of bullying is for bullies to try and make themselves look big in front of other people. They think that if they pick on somebody smaller and weaker than them, then they will look bigger and stronger by comparison. Bullies usually do this for popularity, even though people usually fear them rather than actually like them, by making themselves look ‘good’ in front of friends and potential friends. Differently, but also for popularity, other people also bully others because of peer pressure, perhaps because their friends are bullying someone and they do not want to be cast out from the group for not joining in.

Both of these causes really come down to a lack of self-esteem, and this in itself can have a number of different causes. Many bullies have been bullied themselves, which is why it is important to always help the bullies as well as the victims. They have been belittled by others, so they then have to try and prove that they are better than someone else so that they don’t feel that they are below everyone.

Many bullies also have a very unhappy home life, and then bully for a number of different reasons. This home life could be the cause of a lack of self-esteem, especially if they are abused by their parents, or they could be bullying for other reasons. It could just be that they have never been taught how to behave correctly because they have never had any positive role models, or their parents are nasty to them so they just think that it is completely normal. In other cases, people start bullying because they are acting out and trying to get attention. This is often the case with children and young people who feel ignored by their families and want to get their attention in any way possible.

All in all, there are a numerous different reasons for bullying, and they vary from person to person. It is important to understand a bully’s personal motives though, because only then can we help them and stop them from hurting others.

Follow Us on Social Media

Get more free essays

Send via email

Most useful resources for students:.

• Free Essays Download
• Writing Tools List
• Proofreading Services
• Universities Rating

Contributors Bio

Find more useful services for students

Free plagiarism check, professional editing, online tutoring, free grammar check.

• Bullying Problem in School Words: 651
• The Problem of Bullying in School Words: 2206
• Prevention of Bullying in Schools Words: 4261
• Bullying in Schools: Essay Example Words: 904
• Reducing Bullying in Schools by Involving Stakeholders Words: 2607
• Bullying in School: The Negative Effects Words: 642
• Bullying in Schools and Intervention Methods Words: 827
• Bullying in Schools: Addressing and Preventing Words: 2267
• School Bullying and Problems in Adult Life Words: 1480
• Bullying and Laws in American Schools Words: 1116
• The Issue of High School Bullying Words: 1143
• The Consequences of High School Bullying Words: 470

School Bullying: Causes and Effects

Bullying has become one of the most urgent problems in modern society. It comes from different sources and affects victims’ psychological state and quality of life. In this essay, we analyze the causes of bullying in school, its effects on victims, and mitigation measures that should be taken.

Cause and Effect of Bullying: Essay Introduction

Cause of bullying in school, bullying causes and effects: mitigation measures, works cited.

Bullying is one of the main challenges children face at school. It is a global problem that is currently affecting many youth. The rate at which bullying cases are reported causes many worries to parents. The issue is severe to the extent that many children have learned to live with it, and some have created the notion that bullying is part of their life in the early years of their development. Several cases, especially in the United States and Japan, have been reported about children’s humiliation, mistreatment, physical attacks, and even rape cases of young female learners.

The effects of bullying on a child can be very traumatizing if not carefully addressed. These effects sometimes are long-lasting and can provoke the victim to take dangerous measures to forget the incidents. According to Rigby (64), bullying experiences can cost the lives of the victims if not prevented in time. In New York, it is reported that a young immigrant killed herself due to excessive bullying. This researcher argues that it is high time for the issue of bullying in schools to be addressed. The notion that bullying is a rite of passage should be eliminated. This research paper aims to explore the causes, effects, and possible solutions to bullying in schools.

According to Olweus (34), many reasons lead to bullying in schools. One of the main causes is the cultural factor. This includes race and ethnicity. A child may be a bully or a victim if he or she comes from a majority or minority race, respectively. Another cause of bullying in schools is the nature of life a child is exposed to. In many families in developed countries, children can comfortably watch TV even in their bedrooms. Instead of studying, such children spend their time playing computer games. Their games make them bullies because they see others practice the same.

According to Tattumand Lane (27), high expectations of parents of their children contribute to bullying. The reason is that a child will spend much time studying to perform well and meet the parents’ expectations. Failure to achieve the target may develop stress in a child, and they will express anger through shouting or bullying fellow learners. Another cause of bullying in schools emanates from the family’s social status. A child from a humble background will always have some pressurizing needs that are not met. This child will always want to express this frustration to fellow learners, especially those from stable families, by bullying them.

The effects of bullying, as mentioned above, can be very traumatizing. Victims of bullying may opt to drop out of school because of the trauma they experience. Others may develop irresponsible behavior that involves missing classes on most occasions. School irregularities among the learners result in poor performance. Bullying leads to stress among the victims. This, in turn, results in poor communication with these children. McGrath (44) argues that, in some cases, excessive bullying can lead to victims committing suicide to escape from painful experiences and memories.

Some of the effects are short-term, but if not well addressed, they can result in serious complications. The victims may have bed-wetting problems, unexplained worries, and digestive problems because of the fear instilled in them. Some victims with the intention of hitting back may develop very destructive behavior. Other victims may end up engaging in drug abuse to make them forget their painful experiences. Bullying affects the normal development of victims and makes them have low self-esteem (Dupper 62). 

Mitigating bullying in schools is not a one-person battle. Since it is a global issue, it calls for a collaborative and participatory approach to addressing the problem. Teachers, parents, and policymakers have a significant role in curbing this bad behavior in schools. Teachers spend much of their time with the learners and, therefore, can easily control their behavior while in school. They should be tough and keen to identify the bullies and expel or suspend them from school to avoid spreading such behaviors among other learners. School administrators should seriously punish the physically strong learners who take advantage of the weak ones by mistreating them. The administration should not tolerate any sign of bullying within the school (Tattum&Lane 53). 

Parents should also be strict with their children and avoid anything that may turn them into bullies. Watching TV and playing computer games must be regulated at home. The child should be seriously punished if he or she shows some bullying behavior while at home. The government also has an essential role in curbing this vice. Policymakers must enact policies that address bullying in schools. These policies should be implemented and strictly adhered to, and whoever violates them should face the law irrespective of age. All the stakeholders, including the humanitarian non-governmental organizations, must join hands to curb this vice in society. Through this collaborative approach, success will be achieved.

Dupper, David. School Bullying: New Perspectives on a Growing Problem . New York: Oxford University Press, 2013. Print.

McGrath, Mary. School Bullying: Tools for Avoiding Harm and Liability . Thousand Oaks, Calif: Corwin Press, 2007. Print.

Olweus, Dan. Bullying at School: What We Know and What We Can Do . Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 1993. Print.

Rigby, Ken. Bullying in Schools and What to Do About It . Melbourne, Vic: ACER, 2007. Print.

Tattum, Delwyn, and David Lane. Bullying in Schools . Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham, 1988. Print.

Cite this paper

• Chicago (N-B)
• Chicago (A-D)

StudyCorgi. (2020, November 7). School Bullying: Causes and Effects. https://studycorgi.com/school-bullying-causes-and-effects/

"School Bullying: Causes and Effects." StudyCorgi , 7 Nov. 2020, studycorgi.com/school-bullying-causes-and-effects/.

StudyCorgi . (2020) 'School Bullying: Causes and Effects'. 7 November.

1. StudyCorgi . "School Bullying: Causes and Effects." November 7, 2020. https://studycorgi.com/school-bullying-causes-and-effects/.

Bibliography

StudyCorgi . "School Bullying: Causes and Effects." November 7, 2020. https://studycorgi.com/school-bullying-causes-and-effects/.

StudyCorgi . 2020. "School Bullying: Causes and Effects." November 7, 2020. https://studycorgi.com/school-bullying-causes-and-effects/.

This paper, “School Bullying: Causes and Effects”, was written and voluntary submitted to our free essay database by a straight-A student. Please ensure you properly reference the paper if you're using it to write your assignment.

Before publication, the StudyCorgi editorial team proofread and checked the paper to make sure it meets the highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, fact accuracy, copyright issues, and inclusive language. Last updated: November 8, 2023 .

If you are the author of this paper and no longer wish to have it published on StudyCorgi, request the removal . Please use the “ Donate your paper ” form to submit an essay.

Home ➔ Free Essay Examples ➔ Bullying Essay

Bullying Essay – Writing Guide

A bullying essay is a piece of writing that explores the issue of bullying, its causes, effects, and possible solutions. Bullying is a widespread problem that affects people of all ages, genders, and backgrounds. It is a form of aggressive behavior that can be physical, verbal, or psychological, and is often repeated over time. Bullying can significantly impact the mental and emotional well-being of those affected, leading to anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and even suicide.

A bullying essay is an assignment that students can be required to write at all education levels. The problem of bullying is pervasive in schools and has many facets that must be addressed with equal consideration. That’s why there are many things you can write about in your essay on bullying. Read on to see a short essay example on this topic with a few comments and some topics you can use as examples for this assignment.

The bullying paper example below is divided into three core elements: introduction, body, and conclusion. Each part is followed by a short analysis of that part.

Bullying Essay Example (with commentaries)

Topic: The Three Major Effects of Bullying in Schools

Type: Informative Essay

Introduction

Bullying in schools has remained constant from decade to decade. Bullying is terrible for children in schools and can have various detrimental effects. According to the Centers for Disease Control and the Department of Education, bullying comprises three core elements: unwanted aggressive behavior, observed or perceived power imbalance, and repetition or high likelihood of repetition. It is alarming that almost 20% of students aged 12 to 18 experience bullying nationwide. School bullying can adversely affect kids, including health conditions, learning problems, low self-esteem, and mental health issues.

Introduction analysis:

The introduction oof this essay provides background information on bullying. Then, the writer uses statistics from credible sources as an attention hook, which is one of the good ways to start an essay. And it ends with a thesis statement that states the three main aspects that will be discussed in the essay. However, it lacks a proper transition between the hook and the thesis statement.

Body paragraphs

The first and one of the major negative effects of bullying in school is its ability to wreak havoc on a child’s health and well-being. Aside from physical injuries which may result from physical shoving or pushing, bullying can cause headaches, trouble sleeping, and stomach aches. The mind and body are connected; hence, any stressor to a child’s well-being can manifest as physical symptoms. Bullying may also aggravate pre-existing health conditions like skin, heart, and gastrointestinal diseases. The negative impact on a child’s health is one of the more obvious adverse effects of school bullying.

In addition to affecting the child’s physical health, bullying can cause learning struggles and delays in development. The academic impact on the child experiencing bullying can be overwhelming. Often, one of the first indicators that a child may be experiencing bullying is a sudden decline in grades or poor academic performance. Sometimes, kids are so caught up with how bullying makes them feel that they forget to study, don’t do their homework, or have difficulty paying attention in class and digesting the study material. Bullied children often make excuses to skip school, pretend to be sick, or lie to their parents about attending classes. Overall, the academic impact of bullying is one of the worst ones that must be considered when tackling the problem.

To make matters worse, besides negative physical health outcomes and unsatisfactory grades or a decline in academic achievement, kids who experience bullying in schools also suffer from poor self-esteem and mental health effects. For example, bullied kids tend to experience negative emotions such as social isolation, anger, loneliness, and more. In some cases with high school students, these negative emotions can lead to the misuse of drugs or alcohol. Bullying causes kids to feel poorly about themselves, increasing their risk for depression, anxiety, self-harm, or suicide. These effects can be short-term or long-lasting, even when bullying has ended.

Body analysis:

The body of the essay discusses the three main negative consequences of bullying mentioned in the thesis statement of this bullying essay. Each of these points is elaborated on with specific examples. The language used is clear and easy to understand. However, the essay does not flow smoothly from one point to the next and feels somewhat choppy as a result.

School bullying can have significant and detrimental negative effects on kids, including adverse health outcomes, inadequate academic performance, and mental struggles. Kids who are bullied are more likely to experience a manifestation of health conditions, which may become chronic. Bullying causes kids to be less likely to perform well academically and may cause them to skip class, thereby impacting their learning. Lastly, bullying causes kids to experience unhealthy emotions and poor self-esteem. Bullying is a chronic problem that we must continue to address in schools everywhere.

Conclusion analysis:

The essay’s conclusion restates the three main points of the body and reaffirms that bullying is a serious problem with far-reaching consequences. But, it feels somewhat abrupt and could be further developed at the very end, even though it is an informative piece.

97 Bullying Essay Examples – Here’s a PDF file with more examples of papers about bullying (by various authors). They vary in size and quality, so make sure to analyze them thoroughly.

What to Write About (Topics)

Below, you will find various ideas you can use to write an essay on bullying. The topics are divided by essay type as it will affect how you write and what you write about.

Expository essay : You can educate or inform your audience about bullying or define bullying from your unique perspective. Here are a few topic examples:

• Bullying in Primary and Secondary Schools
• How to Stand up to a Bully Effectively
• What Role Bystanders Play in Bullying Situations
• How to Support Someone Who is Being Bullied
• The Legal Repercussions of Bullying
• Existing Policies and Laws That Fight Bullying
• Best Ways to Handle Bullying for Educators
• How to Overcome the Consequences of Bullying
• Examples of Effective and Ineffective Anti-bullying Programs in Educational Institutions

Classification essay : You can explore and describe the types and subtypes of bullying. For example:

• Bullying in schools
• Workplace bullying
• Cyberbullying
• Bullying of children
• Bullying of teenagers
• Bullying of adults
• Verbal bullying
• Physical bullying
• Emotional bullying
• Racial bullying
• Religious bullying
• Cultural bullying
• Fat shaming

Problem-solution essay : You can explore and describe the possible solutions to bullying. Here are some topic examples for this bullying essay type:

• How schools can effectively address bullying
• The role of parents in preventing bullying
• How we can change the culture of bullying
• How we can support a bullying victim
• How to create a more positive school climate to prevent bullying

Cause and effect essay : You can explore and describe the effects of bullying or the causes that lead to bullying. Below are several topic samples:

• How bullying leads to school violence
• How bullying can lead students to suicidal thoughts
• The long-term effects of being bullied
• How bullying affects the academic performance of students
• The psychological consequences of bullying

Persuasive essay : You can try to take a stance on bullying and persuade the readers to take action. Such a bullying essay could be written on the following topics:

• School shootings: why do school shootings happen, and how can we prevent them?
• Repeated verbal abuse: how does repeated verbal abuse affect bullying victims, and what can be done to stop it?
• Family members: should family members be held responsible for bullying?
• Bystanders: what role do bystanders play in bullying, and how can we encourage them to take action?
• Social media: how does social media contribute to bullying, and what can be done to stop it?

Argumentative essay : You can argue your point of view on bullying or any of its aspects in an argumentative paper. Topic examples:

• What causes people to bully others?
• Can we end school bullying for sure?
• Should people who bully others be punished?
• Is there a difference between boys and girls who bully?
• Is there a link between bullying and poor mental health?

Narrative essay : You can tell your personal story related to bullying (if you have one) or a story of someone you know. Topic examples might include the following:

• How I studied bullying behavior for my project
• How spreading rumors ruined my middle-school life
• How other countries I have been to deal with school bullying
• Why I changed schools five times and don’t have many friends
• How it can get to you even through text messages

Bullying is a serious and growing problem affecting individuals, their families, and communities. It is a complex subject to broach and talk about because it provides little comfort to parents, but it should be discussed to implement strategies to mitigate bullying and its effects. And while it is true that some young people will likely “grow out of” being bullied, it’s also true that some never stop being bullied.

In conclusion, this essay guide on bullying has provided a comprehensive overview of the issue and its impact on individuals. It is a problem that affects individuals of all ages, backgrounds, and walks of life. By working together and taking action, we can help create a world where everyone feels safe, valued, and respected, and where bullying has no place. If you are writing an essay on this topic, this guide can serve as a valuable resource to help you better understand the issue and develop practical solutions to address it. Remember, if you or someone you know is being bullied, speaking out and seeking help is important.

Was this article helpful?

Essay on Bullying in Schools

School bullying can be defined as the situation in which one or more students (The Bullies) single out a child (victim) and intend in behavior intended to cause discomfort or harm the child. A bully will repeatedly target the same victim several times. Under all circumstances, bullies have an advantage over the victim as they possess more power. Compared to the victim, bullies usually have physically stronger with a large circle of friends or higher social standing. Bullying can inflict emotional distress, humiliation, and physical harm. More than 95% of learning institutions experience bullying globally. Bullying must be meet a specific rationale to be considered bullying. Such requirements include repetitiveness, recurrent imbalance of power, and provocation. Bullying can occur in schools, on campus, or the outskirts of school, but its setting must have been created within the school. Regardless of the position, all the stakeholders in a school context, such as parents, educators, children, and community members, are required to contribute to the prevention of bullying in schools. School bullying is increasingly becoming a social problem in modern society. Ideally, there are several types of school bullying attached to different causes. The effects of school bullying can be classified in psychological, economical, and academic dimensions.

Types of Bullying in Schools

The common types of bullying in a school setting include verbal, sexual, cyber, psychological, physical, and higher education bullying. Notably, victims in a learning context can experience bullying regardless of age. The aforementioned types of bullying are further classified as either direct or indirect bullying. Direct bullying is defined as an attack that is openly targeted to a victim. Direct bullying is either verbal or physical. Contrary, indirect bullying involves different forms of relational aggression that leads to social isolation through defaming one’s reputation and manipulating the conscience of others into falsehood. Indirect bullying is usually hard and subtle to detect in a school setting (Goodwin et al. 330). If undertaken by a group of bullies, direct and indirect bullying can be referred to as pack bullying. The different types of bullying can be defined either directly or indirectly relative to the implication to the victim.

Physical bullying occurs when there is unwanted physical contact between the victim and the bully. Physical contact can be hand to hand or tripping and throwing items at others that can cause physical harm. The second is emotional bullying. Emotional bullying can be defined as hurting others emotionally by negatively influencing their moods and psyche. The primary examples of emotional bullying include; belittling, spreading false information, and defamation. Verbal bullying can be defined as the usage of slanderous language or statements causing emotional distress to other people. Examples of verbal bullying include harassing, mocking, teasing, and threatening to cause harm. Finally, Cyberbullying is attached to the evolution of the internet and computers. The use of computers in bullying at schoolyards is on the surge. In most instances, schools experience difficulties in controlling cyberbullying as experiences are beyond the school fraternity.

The other common types of school bullying are sexual bullying and higher education bullying. Sexual bullying is either non-physical or physical, grounded on the gender or sexuality of the victim. In most instances, sexual bullying is undertaken by the male gender. The United States department of education reports an average of 60% of expulsions and suspensions from learning institutions attached to sexual bullying (Goodwin et al. 328). In most instances, the young ones are frames into tricks to share their nudes, after which there are forced to fulfill specific sexual demands at the expense of exposure. Higher education bullying occurs at the campus or college level. Around 95% of students have reported having been bullied at the college level. Higher education bullying results in depression and suicide in most cases.

Measures to Control Bullying

The main approaches in controlling bullying in school settings include the implementation of educative programs, creating a positive school climate, engaging parents, encouraging open communication and punishments. These techniques, however, vary depending on the learning level and the prevalence of bullying in the particular period. Education programs involve creating awareness to parents, students, and teachers regarding what constitutes bullying. Educative programs are instrumental in creating insight into the harmful nature of whichever kind of bullying. All the stakeholders within the school fraternity are enrolled in sessions of creating awareness on the signs of bullying and the most appropriate intervention criteria. The most common ways in educating on bullying include role-play, identification and reporting discussions, and other approaches to decline being involved in bullying. Nickerson(19) argued that educative programs are 62% effective in curbing the prevalence of bullying in learning institutions.

Secondly, schools can help in the prevention of bullying by promoting a positive school climate. Schools with a positive climate are presumed to have a healthy development, while the negative school climate results in a surge in bullying cases, unsafe feelings, victimization, and aggression. While the elements of positive school culture vary from norms relative to power, relationships, and feelings, it’s evident that a positive climate is a product of a conscious process that becomes self-reinforcing (Goodwin et al. 330). The main determinants of a positive climate include leadership and integrity in learning institutions. Therefore, the ability to have cognitive leaders is an advantage of coping with bullying in schools.

Third, schools should engage parents. Parents spend most of their time with children at the primary level. While there are many stakeholders involved in the lives of the children, parents play an essential role in understanding their behavior. Engaging parents in bullying scenarios means initiating communication on the progress of the children in terms of behavior and performance. Integration between parents and teachers is essential in providing consistent approaches that help yield a more productive and appropriate behavior (Nickerson 22). Parents can help their children recognize while being bullied by others. However, the approach is not viable in urban schools as parents experience difficulties establishing trust with schools.

Finally, schools should initiate open communication techniques. Open communication is essential in building rapport. Having open communication means that students can disclose their problems to teachers. Open communication helps the teachers gain more insight into existing bullies in the school (Nickerson 20). For instance, classroom meetings in grade 4 will enable teachers to obtain crucial information in enacting more controls to curb bullying in schools. Teachers are expected to listen carefully during the class meetings to avoid inflicting fear on the learners. Students should be assured of confidentiality and privacy of the information obtained as any disclosure might attract further bullying.

Effects of School Bullying 

The effect of school bullying can be categorized in psychological and academic dimensions. Bullying results in poor performance in school. More than 70% of learners subjected to bullying ends up recording a decline in academic performance. The results are more severe at a young age. Bullying would result in fading of interest and participation of learners in school activities as it results in unexplained injuries linked to affecting concentration (Menesini and Christina 246). The impact of bullying on educational performance is increasingly becoming imminent. Bullying installs fear in learners from attending school regularly, thus affecting their consistency and concentration in class. Based on this explanation, it’s evident that bullied students will experience difficulties in achieving their academic goals. Moreover, bullying is linked with an unsafe learning environment that creates a negative climate of fear and insecurities and the perception that teachers do not care about the welfare of learners, thus decline in quality of education.

Secondly, bullying is associated with psychological problems. While bullying to individuals helps them enhance their personality and perceptions as they grow, it’s presumed that bullying can risk an individual developing an antisocial personality disorder linked to committing crimes. Bullying leads to depression, anxiety, and psychosomatic symptoms, which often leads to alcohol and substance abuse by the victims at a later stage in their lives. It’s argued that victims of depression feel free and open to share their experience with others, unlike in bullying, where the victims would choose to shy talking about the feeling in fear of being bullied again. In the short run, bystanders of the bullying experience may develop the fear, guiltiness, and sadness, and if the experience persists, they might get psychologically drained (Sampson). Therefore, the victims of bullying experiences struggle with insomnia, suicidal thoughts, health problems, and depression. Bullying does affect not only the students but also their classmates and family. Feeling powerless, parents and immediate family members might fall victim to depression and emotional distress. Some parents would invest more time in protecting their children, thus affecting them psychologically and economically.

Causes of Bullying

There are numerous causes of school bullying attached to religion, socioeconomic status, race, and gender. Understanding the reasons why students chose to bully their classmates is significant to teachers in combating bullying. The National Center for Educational Statistics report established that 25% of Blacks, 22% of Caucasians, 17% of Hispanics, and 9% of Asian students were bullied in 2017 (Divecha). Some of the students that bully others have higher levels of courage and confidence and can respond aggressively if threatened by the behavior. Students at the college level get bullied on sexual matters. For instance, the subscribers to LGBTQA sexual orientation get bullied based on their decision as gay or lesbians. Moreover, bullying in schools is caused by other factors attached to families. Students from abuse and divorced families are likely to bully others due to jealousy, anger, and despair.

From the above discussion, it’s evident that school bullying in whichever capacity is detrimental to human dignity. School bullying is increasingly becoming a social problem in modern society. Ideally, there are several types of school bullying attached to different causes. The effects of school bullying can be classified in psychological, economical, and academic dimensions. The primary forms of school form such as verbal, sexual, cyber, psychological, physical, and higher education bullying are categorized into direct and indirect bullying. The intervention strategies to curb bullying should involve all the stakeholders, such as parents, teachers, and students. The main approaches in controlling bullying in school settings include implementing educative programs, creating a positive school climate, engaging parents, and encouraging open communication and punishments.

Works Cited

Divecha, Diana. “What Are the Best Ways to Prevent Bullying in Schools?”  Greater Good , https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/what_are_the_best_ways_to_prevent_bullyi ng_in_schools

Sampson, Rana. “Center for Problem-Oriented Policing.” Arizona State University,  https://popcenter.asu.edu/content/bullying-schools-0

Menesini, Ersilia, and Christina Salmivalli. “Bullying in schools: the state of knowledge and effective interventions.”  Psychology, health & medicine  22.sup1 (2017): 240-253.

Goodwin, John, et al. “Bullying in schools: an evaluation of the use of drama in bullying prevention.” Journal of Creativity in Mental Health 14.3 (2019): 329-342.

Nickerson, Amanda B. “Preventing and intervening with bullying in schools: A framework for evidence- based practice.”  School Mental Health  11.1 (2019): 15-28.

Cite this page

Similar essay samples.

• Service Delivery for Cancer Patients
• Essay on Political Science Question
• Performance Management and Appraisal: A Case Study of Gap Inc.
• Essay on Rapid Technological Change and Modernism
• Smoking In Pregnant Women in the United Kingdom
• Examining Effectiveness of Resource and Institutional based Entry mode...

• Bipolar Disorder
• Therapy Center
• When To See a Therapist
• Types of Therapy
• Best Online Therapy
• Best Couples Therapy
• Managing Stress
• Sleep and Dreaming
• Understanding Emotions
• Self-Improvement
• Healthy Relationships
• Student Resources
• Personality Types
• Sweepstakes
• Guided Meditations
• Verywell Mind Insights
• 2024 Verywell Mind 25
• Mental Health in the Classroom
• Editorial Process
• Meet Our Review Board
• Crisis Support

Why Do People Bully?

Belinda Howell / Getty Images

What Is Bullying?

Understanding why people bully, factors that impact bullying.

• The Impact of Bullying

Action Against School Bullies

Recourse for adults bullied at work.

Bullying is a behavior that has historically been linked to kids on the playground, but it can happen among people of any age in any setting—schools, households, workplaces . So the main question observers of such conduct have is...why do people bully others? 

The driving forces behind bullying may vary from person to person, but bullies share some common characteristics. For example, some people bully because they know that it gets them what they want, while others bully because they are deeply insecure. No matter the cause, bullying is unacceptable, regardless of where it takes place.

At a Glance

Bullies often use threats, insults, or exclusion to intimidate and harm others. Such behavior may stem from insecurity, a need for control, a sense of powerlessness, or enjoyment. Whatever the cause, the effects on victims can be serious and potentially devastating. If you are dealing with bullies, learning what to do and how to get help is vital.

Bullying is repeated unwelcome and hostile behavior long linked to power imbalances . Bullies often target people who are younger or smaller than they are, who work as their subordinates, or who belong to marginalized or minority groups.

Sometimes, envy motivates people to bully; individuals with personal traits, skills, relationships, or possessions that bullies want to possess themselves become targets.

Bullies victimize others by using tactics including:

• Intimidation
• Intentional exclusion
• Spreading rumors and lies

Cyber Bullying

Online bullying is an increasingly common problem for young people today. Examples of online bullying include posting things about the victim without their permission, excluding them from online spaces, or spreading false stories about the victim.

Bullying exists on a spectrum. Not all bullies resort to hitting or name-calling, as children are known to do. Sophisticated adult bullies may engage in smear campaigns against their targets rather than insult them to their faces. They might also enlist others to bully a target on their behalf. This is why some anti-bullying groups say that bullying isn’t always easy to define .

However, a bully's end goal is to humiliate or harm other individuals with the intent of ruining their reputation or harming their self-worth.

There’s no one reason why people bully, but many people who engage in this conduct:

• Feel powerless
• Suffer from insecurity
• Need to control others
• Enjoy the rewards they get from bullying

For example, bullying a classmate might make a kid more popular, or bullying a worker might stop other employees from questioning management decisions. These outcomes show bullies that this conduct pays off.

Learned Behavior

Bullying is often a learned behavior. Young bullies might live in households where adults bully one another to get their way or deal with conflict. They might not know how else to get their needs met or how to manage disagreements.

Past Experiences

Some bullies have had temper tantrums to get their way since they were small children and were never told "no." Others were once bullied themselves and repeated the behavior to feel powerful. 

Individual Characteristics

Some supervisors bully their subordinates to deflect attention away from their incompetence. Other bullies believe their status entitles them to bully individuals of lower rank.

These bullies might also lack empathy , have narcissistic traits, or be emotionally unstable and dysregulated. Controlling and intimidating others helps them to feel better about themselves and self-soothe. 

Research has also shown that there are a variety of factors that can impact why people bully. Some of these include:

• Sex differences : While boys and girls are equally likely to be bullies, boys experience more physical bullying, while girls experience more verbal and indirect bullying.
• Age differences : Peer bullying tends to decrease as children age, but older kids are also more likely to experience online bullying.
• Differences : People who are perceived as different from the majority status group due to physical appearance, disability, race, nationality, color, immigration status, gender expression , or religion are more likely to experience bullying.

The Impact of Bullying 

Regardless of the causes, research suggests that bullying is a highly prevalent problem. Surveys have found that one in every three children has been the victim of bullying in the previous month.

Bullying is harmful not only to targets of this behavior but to bystanders and bullies themselves.

Effects on People Who Are Bullied

Targets of bullies may:

• Develop mental health problems like anxiety and depression
• Experience eating and sleeping changes
• Feel lonely and isolated
• Have suicidal thoughts
• Withdraw from activities they once enjoyed
• Miss days of school
• Drop out of school

Adults experiencing workplace bullying may increasingly call in sick from work. That’s why it’s essential to seek out a licensed mental health professional to work through the difficult emotions that arise in the wake of bullying. 

Effects on People Who Witness Bullying

Bystanders of bullying suffer, too. Young people who witness bullying are at increased risk of using illicit substances, tobacco, or alcohol. Like targets of bullies, they might also have more school absences and may develop mental health problems, especially anxiety and depression .

In addition, witnesses of bullying might feel guilty or ashamed for not intervening. In the workplace, observing bullying can lower morale and increase turnover rates.

What Can Bystanders Do?

Bystanders can play important roles in ending the bullying they see, particularly if they are in positions of power or have the same rank as the bully.

• Rather than turning a blind eye to bullying, witnesses can call out the bully or report the bully’s behavior to others.
• Witnesses can also take the initiative by backing up the target’s accounts about the bully.

Unfortunately, many bystanders don’t speak up because they’re afraid they’ll become the bully’s next target.

Effects on Bullies

Bullies themselves experience the consequences of their actions. They, too, have an increased risk of substance use disorders and quitting school. In addition, they tend to have more physical fights, engage in sexual activity at younger ages, and enter the criminal justice system.

As adults, bullies are more likely to abuse their children and significant others. While workplace bullies might be able to move up the corporate ladder, they must contend with the low morale, decreased productivity, and high turnover rates their behaviors cause. They may also face workplace investigations, formal complaints, and lawsuits about their conduct. 

Bullies who have some insight into their behavior may discuss the catalyst behind their bullying with a mental health provider. Then, in therapy, they can address where they learned to bully and the impact of their conduct on others. If schools, workplaces, and family members protect bullies, though, these individuals might not think they need help. 

Protecting oneself against bullies typically requires effort and sacrifice. Youth who are being bullied might benefit from assertiveness training or self-defense classes, especially if they are physically bullied.

Family Actions

Families might also want to evaluate if any dynamics in the household contributed to their child becoming a target. For example, living in a household with authoritarian parents where children are punished for expressing their thoughts and needs makes it harder for youth to assert themselves and set boundaries with bullies .  

School Actions

Of course, the school environment also plays a role in preventing bullying or allowing it to spread. For instance, the families of targeted children might need to make arrangements with school staff to ensure that bullies don’t have access to them before and after school or between class periods.

If school administrators or faculty members don’t listen to the concerns of the targeted child’s family, it might be time to consider switching schools, homeschooling, or remote schooling. 

Legal Actions

Taking legal action against the school or school district might be a possibility, too. This is certainly true if the bullied child is being targeted because of race, sexual orientation, disability, or another marginalized status.

The potential of lawsuits, bad press, and tragedies resulting from bullying is one reason school districts increasingly have anti-bullying programs. These initiatives educate the school community about bullying behaviors and urge bystanders, parents, and school staff to intervene.   

Online Bullying

In the 21st century, bullying is equally as likely to occur online as it is in person. If the bullying has spread to social media, families might need to do more than block their child’s bullies on these platforms.

They might need to contact the support staff of social media networks to have the bullies banned for violating the terms of service.

Many of these platforms prohibit common cyberbullying tactics such as impersonation or harassment. It should also be possible to remove offensive videos and other content.   

Bullied adults can also take steps to protect themselves. If the bullying takes place at work, they should carefully document the behavior and determine if there’s a safe person to speak to about it. If the bully is an immediate supervisor or another higher-up, it might be harder to get results after reporting the bullying.

If you know that other people in your workplace have been bullied as well, consider teaming up with them to add more weight to your concerns.

Unfortunately, targets of workplace bullies may find their jobs in danger after making such a complaint while their abusers remain protected. However, union workers typically have more options than workers without the protection of a union.

How to File a Complaint

If you have evidence that you’re being bullied because of your race, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, or another protected status, consult a lawyer or consider filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission . 

Looking for a New Job

Companies should take bullying seriously because it can drive the most conscientious and talented employees out of the workplace. If your workplace ignores or permits bullying, it is in your best interest to look for a new job.

If you’re financially able and your mental health is seriously suffering, you might need to leave without a new job lined up or try becoming a gig worker or independent contractor to make ends meet until more stable work arrives.  

When applying for jobs in the future, try to research the company beforehand. If the company always seems to be hiring and isn’t growing exponentially, it might be a hostile work environment with a revolving door of employees.

Read company reviews from current and former employees to see what it’s like to work there, and beware of five-star reviews that paint the company as the perfect workplace.

These could be planted reviews, as even workers who love their jobs typically admit that some areas of the company need improvement. Also, pay attention to how managers behave during the application process. It might not be a safe place to work if they are cold, pushy, inconsiderate, or evasive when you ask questions.  

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. What is bullying? StopBullying.gov

Armitage R. Bullying in children: impact on child health .  BMJ Paediatr Open . 2021;5(1):e000939. doi:10.1136/bmjpo-2020-000939

Rivers I, Poteat VP, Noret N, Ashurst N. Observing bullying at school: The mental health implications of witness status . School Psychology Quarterly . 2009;24(4):211-223. doi:10.1037/a0018164

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Effects of bullying . StopBullying.gov.

Rajendran K, Kruszewski E, Halperin JM. Parenting style influences bullying: a longitudinal study comparing children with and without behavioral problems .  J Child Psychol Psychiatry . 2016;57(2):188-195. doi:10.1111/jcpp.12433

By Nadra Nittle Nadra Nittle is a Los Angeles-based journalist and author. She has covered a wide range of topics, including health, education, race, consumerism, food, and public policy, throughout her career.  

Bullying Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on bullying.

Bullying refers to aggressive behavior so as to dominate the other person. It refers to the coercion of power over others so that one individual can dominate others. It is an act that is not one time, instead, it keeps on repeating over frequent intervals.  The person(s) who bullies others can be termed as bullies, who make fun of others due to several reasons. Bullying is a result of someone’s perception of the imbalance of power.

Types of bullying :

There can be various types of bullying, like:

• Physical bullying:  When the bullies try to physically hurt or torture someone, or even touch someone without his/her consent can be termed as physical bullying .
• Verbal bullying:  It is when a person taunts or teases the other person.
• Psychological bullying:  When a person or group of persons gossip about another person or exclude them from being part of the group, can be termed as psychological bullying.
• Cyber bullying:  When bullies make use of social media to insult or hurt someone. They may make comments bad and degrading comments on the person at the public forum and hence make the other person feel embarrassed. Bullies may also post personal information, pictures or videos on social media to deteriorate some one’s public image.

Read Essay on Cyber Bullying

Bullying can happen at any stage of life, such as school bullying, College bullying, Workplace bullying, Public Place bullying, etc. Many times not only the other persons but the family members or parents also unknowingly bully an individual by making constant discouraging remarks. Hence the victim gradually starts losing his/her self-esteem, and may also suffer from psychological disorders.

A UNESCO report says that 32% of students are bullied at schools worldwide. In our country as well, bullying is becoming quite common. Instead, bullying is becoming a major problem worldwide. It has been noted that physical bullying is prevalent amongst boys and psychological bullying is prevalent amongst girls.

Prevention strategies:

In the case of school bullying, parents and teachers can play an important role. They should try and notice the early symptoms of children/students such as behavioral change, lack of self-esteem, concentration deficit, etc. Early recognition of symptoms, prompt action and timely counseling can reduce the after-effects of bullying on the victim.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Anti-bullying laws :

One should be aware of the anti-bullying laws in India. Awareness about such laws may also create discouragement to the act of bullying amongst children and youngsters. Some information about anti-bullying laws is as follows:

• Laws in School: To put a notice on the notice board that if any student is found bullying other students then he/she can be rusticated. A committee should be formed which can have representatives from school, parents, legal, etc.
• Laws in Colleges: The government of India, in order to prevent ragging , has created guideline called “UGC regulations on curbing the menace of ragging in Higher Education Institutions,2009”.
• Cyber Bullying Laws: The victim can file a complaint under the Indian Penal Code .

Conclusion:

It is the duty of the parents to constantly preach their children about not bullying anyone and that it is wrong. Hence, if we, as a society need to grow and develop then we have to collectively work towards discouraging the act of bullying and hence make our children feel secure.

Customize your course in 30 seconds

Which class are you in.

• Travelling Essay
• Picnic Essay
• Our Country Essay
• My Parents Essay
• Essay on Favourite Personality
• Essay on Memorable Day of My Life
• Essay on Knowledge is Power
• Essay on Gurpurab
• Essay on My Favourite Season
• Essay on Types of Sports

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Download the App

School Bullying: Causes and Police Prevention Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Introduction

Bullying in schools, what the police can do to prevent bullying in schools, community policing strategies, reference list.

Bullying is a form of scurrilous treatment which mainly entails emotional, physical or verbal harassment directed towards people of certain levels, gender, race and religion just to mention but a few. It mainly occurs when there is imbalance in power such that those deemed to be on the lower physical or social levels are bullied by those in the higher levels of power and social status.

Bullying can occur in many contexts especially where human beings interact with each other such as in the work places, learning institutions, family, churches among others. It is however more prone in schools as compared to the other areas. When bullying occurs, it causes oppression to the affected parties thus affecting their social life and studies in the case of students.

This paper is therefore an analysis of the possible causes and ways of preventing instances of bullying in schools by the police. Past and present approaches of addressing the issue of bullying in schools will further be discussed.

The problem of bullying in schools has been a major problem for many school going children and individuals. This is mainly because those who have undergone it or have seen fellow students in that situation will always have the fear of being in the same environment with the bullies.

As a matter of fact, recent research has shown that the instances of bullying in schools have been on the rise. This has been caused by the absence of ethos making some of the students or rather the bullies to obtain aggressive behavior to bully others.

It is for this reason that there has been need for the intervention of the community and the government to address the issue of bullying schools lest the school environment becomes the worst place to be in.

The fact that bullying in schools is very detrimental to the growth and psychological effects of most school going children leading to instances of depression, low self-esteem and in some cases suicide makes it require immediate causes of action to prevent it.

If this vice is left untreated, the school bullies end up being the societal criminals. School bullying has been identified to result into other antisocial behaviors such as shop lifting, drug and alcohol addicts, vandalism just to mention but a few. It therefore because of this reason that the police force comes in to prevent this act before it develops into more serious crimes.

To begin with is the enactment of the School Bullying Prevention Act which states regulates the control and discipline of school children thus prohibiting them from any form of harassment, bullying or intimidation in the school environment. Through the guidance of this policy, the police are therefore in a position to act in accordance to its provisions thus making any offender punishable under the law.

The police force can prevent instances of bullying in schools by visiting the nearby schools to give them presentation on bullying. This way, the students will understand the effects and consequences of bullying thus shun away from this practice.

Through the establishment of a good relationship with the school, the police force will educate the students on violent prevention and how they can deal with cases of bullying. This is to make sure that the students that nave been bullied report the matter to the authorities without fear since they are well informed of the measures to be taken. Through this information, the rate of bullying in schools will be reduced since the bullies will be aware of the impacts they could face after such acts.

A major obligation of the police force is that of provision of safety in the society. Therefore, the police force can use this as one way of dealing with bullying in schools. This is such that they ensure the school’s environment is very safe by making routine visits to the surrounding.

This will reduce bullying instances as the bullies usually use the hidden or the not-open ground to bully others. Thus in the instance that they are ware of police making visits in the school compound, they will deter from doing such acts for the fear of being caught.

Last but not least, the school’s administration should have direct hotline link with the police forces to ensure immediate response in case of bullying.

The problem of bullying in schools is not for a few but for everyone in the society. This is because the school children will at one point in time be members or leaders of the society. Therefore the community is no exception when it comes to dealing with the issue of bullying in schools. There are various community policy strategies that are applicable in stopping bullying in schools some of which include the following;

• Involving professionals, parents, volunteers and the youth in the fight against bullying in school- This entails involving different groups and categories of people to advice and guide the children on bullying effects and impacts. These people could include the counselors who will have counseling sessions in schools to educate the children on how to deal with the problem of bullying for those addicted to it or on how to report it for the victims of bullying. Parents also play a great role by raising their children in a disciplined manner. All the aforementioned groups of people can again come together and form ‘stop bullying in schools’ campaign.
• Raising community awareness; since bullying is often difficult at most times to understand, the community can raise awareness and inform people of how they can predict and recognize bullying. This will be through educating them on the signs of bullying and the consequent measures be taken.
• Assessing the strength and needs of the community- This entails finding out how the society perceives the bullying vice and measures that have been put in place to deal with it. This way, one will be in a good position to know the requirements of the community in terms of the issue of bullying in schools.

From the above discussion, it can be clearly seen that bullying is a bone of contention for many people. Nevertheless, it is the responsibility of all ambers of the society to deal with the issue of bullying in schools and not to be left on the hands of the school administrators only. Despite the fact that bullying instances have been on the rise in the recent past, ideal measures have been put in place to deal with the issue unlike it was in the past years.

Carey, T. (2003) Improving the success of anti-bullying intervention programs: A tool for matching programs with purposes. International Journal of Reality Therapy, 23(2), 16-23

Whitted, K.and Dupper, D. (2005). Best Practices for Preventing or Reducing

Bullying in Schools. Children and Schools , Vol. 27, No. 3, July 2005, pp. 167-175(9).

• Problem of Social Exclusion in Education
• College's Response to Budget Issues Will Effect Students
• “Adolescents’ Perception of Bullying” by Frisen et al.
• Nature of Bullying
• The Issue of Bullying in the Schools
• Critique of the Argument: Is the Cost of A College A Bargain?
• Maintaining Safety in the Primary School: The Importance of Duty of Care for Students
• Duty of Care Policy Explained
• Current Educational Issues
• Most Popular Educational Issues and Points to Improve It
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2019, March 20). School Bullying: Causes and Police Prevention. https://ivypanda.com/essays/bullying-in-schools/

"School Bullying: Causes and Police Prevention." IvyPanda , 20 Mar. 2019, ivypanda.com/essays/bullying-in-schools/.

IvyPanda . (2019) 'School Bullying: Causes and Police Prevention'. 20 March.

IvyPanda . 2019. "School Bullying: Causes and Police Prevention." March 20, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/bullying-in-schools/.

1. IvyPanda . "School Bullying: Causes and Police Prevention." March 20, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/bullying-in-schools/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "School Bullying: Causes and Police Prevention." March 20, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/bullying-in-schools/.

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• Rev Lat Am Enfermagem
• v.23(2); Feb-Apr 2015

The causes of bullying: results from the National Survey of School Health (PeNSE)

Wanderlei abadio de oliveira.

1 Doctoral student, Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing Research Development, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil

Marta Angélica Iossi Silva

2 PhD, Associate Professor, Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing Research Development, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil

Flávia Carvalho Malta de Mello

Denise lopes porto.

3 MSc, Statistician, Coordenação Geral de Informações e Análise Epidemiológica, Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde, Ministério da Saúde, Brasília, DF, Brazil

Andréa Cristina Mariano Yoshinaga

4 Master´s student, Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing Research Development, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil

Deborah Carvalho Malta

5 PhD, Adjunct Professor, Escola de Enfermagem, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. Director, Departamento de Vigilância de Doenças e Agravos não Transmissíveis e Promoção da Saúde, Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde, Ministério da Saúde, Brazil

to identify the characteristics and reasons reported by Brazilian students for school bullying.

this cross-sectional study uses data from an epidemiological survey (National Survey of School Health) conducted in 2012. A total of 109,104 9th grade students from private and public schools participated. Data were collected through a self-applied questionnaire and the analysis was performed using SPSS, version 20, Complex Samples Module.

the prevalence of bullying was 7.2%, most frequently affecting Afro-descendant or indigenous younger boys, whose mothers were characterized by low levels of education. In regard to the reasons/causes of bullying, 51.2% did not specify; the second highest frequency of victimization was related to body appearance (18.6%); followed by facial appearance (16.2%); race/color (6.8%); sexual orientation 2.9%; religion 2.5%; and region of origin 1.7%. The results are similar to those found in other sociocultural contexts.

Conclusion:

the problem belongs to the health field because it gathers aspects that determine the students' health-disease-care continuum.

Introduction

The term bullying refers to a specific form of aggressive and violent behavior among peers in the school context. It is characterized by three criteria: intentionality, repeatability and imbalance of power ( 1 ) . Given the emphasis of this definition, school bullying are acts that repeat over time and involve a desire to harm colleagues or expose them to negative situations, while those exposed to negative situations have difficulty defending themselves ( 1 - 2 ) . This phenomenon may manifest directly and physically (e.g., hitting, spitting), verbally (derogatory nicknames, threats, insults, gossip), or through cyber-bullying (using social, electronic or communication media - internet, phone) or indirectly in situations where there is no direct confrontation among those involved (social exclusion, gossip) ( 3 - 4 ) .

Bullying is acknowledged as a relationship problem in which power is claimed through the use of violence and is a reality among school-aged children and adolescents in different cultural contexts ( 4 ) and a severe problem in many countries ( 3 - 5 ) . This phenomenon may lead students to experience psychological distress, compromise the teaching-learning process and influence how individuals respond to social demands over the course of their lives. These negative consequences ( 4 , 6 ) , entailed for all those involved and associated with increased prevalence and frequency with which bullying occurs ( 7 - 8 ) , transformed bullying into a severe public health problem worldwide ( 9 - 10 ) .

Studies show that both boys and girls become involved in situations of violence at school, though the actions in which they engage are different. Boys are more likely to experience physical bullying, while girls engage in indirect or verbal exchanges ( 1 , 5 , 10 ) . Even though there are an increased number of studies addressing school bullying, few of them address causal factors or the reasons determining the phenomenon. In general, the focus of investigations is on the characteristics of the students involved, the phenomenon's variables and the nuances it assumes in the school context without, however, establishing the reasons that explain this phenomenon.

In this sense, evidence from the scientific literature addressing this subject suggests that the dynamics of bullying is a result of the students' characteristics, the vulnerability or social status of one student in relation to another, that differentiate and segregate peers ( 3 ) . A study conducted in Netherlands with 80,770 students reports that the reasons students presented for the practice of bullying were physical appearance, individual behavior, level of school performance, physical or mental disabilities, religious aspects, gender issues, sexual orientation, and the inappropriate manner some students dealt with punishment ( 11 ) . The average prevalence of students identified as involved in bullying was 32.5% ( 11 ) .

A longitudinal studied conducted in the United States reports empirical evidence of increased school bullying beginning in the second half of the 2000s, with a prevalence of 25.8% in 2009 ( 12 ) . The study reports bullying was more common and more intense among boys, Afro-descendants, from rural areas, living with single parents, with low school performance and a low level of religious identification ( 12 ) . A Swedish study, reporting a prevalence of 44% of victims and aggressors, reports that adolescents tend to explain the phenomenon in terms of individual reasons instead of offering other dimensions like peer groups, school context, or social issues ( 5 ) . The study also reveals that aggressors were more likely to blame the victim ( 5 ) .

In Brazil, the complexity of concrete problems such as bullying and a concern with school health culminated in 2007 with the implementation of the Programa Saúde na Escola [Health Program at School], an inter-sector policy promoting the delivery of integral healthcare to school-aged children and adolescents. According to this proposal, primary healthcare (PHC) teams must put into practice actions that are focused on the promotion of health according to the principles and guidelines of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS), addressing the dimensions of a culture of peace and fighting the various expressions of violence within schools and the community ( 13 ) .

Therefore, identifying the causes and reasons students become involved with bullying is essential to implementing coping strategies focused on human development and health promotion in the school context. From this perspective, this study's aim was to identify the reasons associated with school bullying reported by adolescents in public and private schools in Brazil.

Study's design

This cross-sectional study used data from the National Survey of School Health (PeNSE), conducted in 2012. PeNSE addressed behavioral factors of risk and health protection in a sample of 8 th grade students attending daytime programs of public and private schools located in urban or rural areas from the entire Brazilian territory. The 9 th grade was chosen because it is the minimum level of education required to complete the self-administered questionnaire during data collection.

Study setting and sampling

The 2010 School Census was used to select the sample and those schools reporting 9 th grade classes administered during daytime hours were included in the list; nighttime programs were excluded. The sample was sized to estimate population parameters (proportions or prevalence) in diverse geographic domains comprising the 26 state capitals along with the Federal District; the set of capitals; the five geographic regions (North, Northeast, Southeast, South, and Midwest) in addition to the country as a whole. A probabilistic sample was used and the sampling plan was formed by schools (primary sampling units) and the schools' classes (secondary sampling units). In the case of non-capital cities, the primary sampling units were groups of cities and the secondary sampling units were schools, while classrooms were the tertiary sampling units. A total of 134,310 9 th grade students were enrolled in the selected classes administered during daytime hours by public and private schools located in urban and rural areas in the entire Brazilian territory. Of these, 132,123 students were considered regular students and 110,873 were present in classrooms on the day the questionnaire was applied. The final sample included 109,104 students, i.e., 83% of those considered eligible for the study ( 14 ) .

A total of 86% of students in the sample surveyed in 2012 were between 13 and 15 years old; 47.8% were male and 52.2% were female; and 17.2% students were from private schools and 82.8% were from public schools ( 14 ) .

Data were collected using smartphones, which were included in the structured, self-applied questionnaires with thematic modules that varied in the number of questions contained. Bullying was one of the dimensions addressed. Data collection was implemented by previously trained agents from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), in schools during classes from April to September 2012. Further details concerning the methodology can be obtained in specific publications ( 14 ) .

Studied variables

The variable bullying was obtained through the question: "How often did some of your friends belittle, mock, scorn, intimidate or scoff at you IN THE LAST 30 DAYS to the point that you became hurt, bothered, annoyed, offended, or humiliated? The answers were categorized as NO (never, rarely, sometimes) and YES (most of the time, always).

Reasons/causes related to why one experiences bullying were verified through the question: "What is the reason/cause your friends have belittled, mocked, scorned, intimidated or scoffed at you IN THE LAST 30 DAYS?" The answers to this question were analyzed according to the following options: (a) My race or color; b) My religion; c) The appearance of my face; d) the appearance of my body; e) My sexual orientation; f) My region of origin; g) Other reasons.

Statistical Analysis

The analysis was performed through the computation of the prevalence of the variables experiencing bullying and their respective confidence intervals of 95%, according to the sociodemographic aspects of experiencing bullying (sex, age, race/color, religion, public or private school, mother's education). The reasons/causes of experiencing bullying reported by the students were analyzed according to sociodemographic aspects stratified by race or color, religion, facial appearance, body appearance, sexual orientation, region of origin, others.

When the reason one experienced bullying was reported to be the appearance of body, it was cross-tabulated with the variable Body Image, which was verified by the question: In regard to your body, do you consider yourself: Too thin, Thin, Normal, Fat, Too fat?

These analyses were performed using SPSS, version 20, with the Complex Samples Module, appropriate for data analyses obtained by a complex sampling plan ( 15 ) .

Ethical issues

This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board according to referee report No. 192/2012 Registry No. 16805, CONEP/MS on March 27, 2012.

Table 1 shows that 7.2% (CI95% 6.6-7.8) of the students reported having experienced bullying, always or almost always felt humiliated, by schoolmates. The percentages were higher among male students, 7.9% (CI95% 7.0-9.1), in comparison to female students, 6.5% (CI95% 6.2-6.7); among students whose mothers were characterized by low levels of education, 8.3% (CI95% 7.2-9.4); among those who reported themselves to be Afro-descendant, 8.1% (CI 95%: 7.2-9.1); and among those self-reported as indigenous people 7.9% (CI95%: 7.3-8.5). No difference was found between private schools, 7.6% (CI95%: 6.9-8.3) and private school students, 7.1% (CI95%: 6.2-8.0).

Most times, 51.2% (CI95% 48.6-53.7%), causes of bullying were not identified followed by body image or appearance, 18.6% (CI95% 16.5-21); facial appearance, 16.2% (15.4%-17.1%); race or color, 6.8% (CI95% 6.4-7.3); sexual orientation, 2.9% (CI95% 2.5-3.5); religion, 2.5% (CI95% 1.9-3.2); and region of origin, 1.7 (CI95%1.5-2). The frequencies of those reporting having experienced bullying and those reporting always or almost always experienced bullying in the last 30 days were similar, except for those reporting the reason was their race/color, among whom frequency increased to always, as shown in Table 2 .

Body appearance was cross-tabulated with the variable body image for those reporting that the appearance of their bodies was the reason they suffered bullying, which showed bullying was more frequent among those reporting they were either too fat or too thin, 19.2% (CI95% 15.1-24) and 12.1% (CI95% 10.4-14.0), respectively ( Table 3 ).

The reasons did not vary according to age, except in regard to sexual orientation among students younger than 13 years of age (15% - CI95%: 7.2-28.6). In regard to sex, boys were more frequently bullied than girls and also more frequently reported experiencing bullying triggered by their race or color 8.9% (CI95% 8.19-9.9), while 4.5% (CI95% 3.8-5.2) of the girls reported bullying was triggered for this reason. A total of 3.9% (CI95% 3.5-4.5) of the boys and 1.8% (CI95% 1.2-2.0) of the girls reporting bullying was triggered by their sexual orientation. Race/color shows considerable difference in regard to how often bullying is experienced: Afro-descendant boys report four times more bullying, 23.2% (CI95% 21.8-24.7), while indigenous students report bullying at twice the frequency, 12.5% (CI95%7.5-20.3). Students of mixed race (3.8% CI95% 2.9-4.8), Caucasian (3.1% CI95% 2.5-3.9), and Asian (4.7% CI95% 1.4-14.4), reported bullying is experienced less frequently. Public schools also present a higher number of reports of bullying triggered by race/color, 7.2% (CI95% 6.6-8.0). Bullying triggered by race/color also increased among children of mothers with no education, 11.6% (CI95% 8.5-15.6), as shown in Table 4 .

This study's findings show that 7.2% of the students experienced bullying, which was more frequently reported by younger boys, whose mothers present lower levels of education, and are of Afro-descent or indigenous. Most did not report the reason or cause that triggers bullying. In regard to differences between sexes, the causes reported by boys and girls were similar, mostly appearance of the face and body, however, boys most frequently reported bullying triggered by race/color and sexual orientation.

This study highlights that "other reasons/causes" is the most frequent option chosen to explain bullying. The frequency with which this option was chosen may be due to the poor understanding of students concerning the process of victimization or how they qualify jokes or the experience of being bullied. The process of victimization is characterized by receiving negative attention or aggressive behavior from peers over time and what determines its occurrence is being different or behaving differently others ( 2 ) . Investigating what causes the phenomenon based on self-reports addresses these dimensions and the sensitive nature of the issues implicated in the issue.

Almost a fifth of the students reported body appearance, followed by facial appearance, as being causes of bullying. Similar results were found in other contexts that indicate that physical appearance is one of the main reasons a student becomes a victim of bullying ( 16 ) . A potential interpretation for this information involves culturally valued social standards in which diversity and differences are not tolerated. One epidemiological study conducted with 1,230 students from a city in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, identified that 30.1% were overweight or obese, showing that students dissatisfied with their body image were three times more likely to be victims of bullying. Statistically, however, excess weight was not significantly associated with the phenomenon ( 16 ) . In turn one study, similar to this study, that was developed in Ireland reports that body image, such as considering oneself to be thin or too thin, was significantly associated with being a victim ( 17 ) .

Classical studies addressing this phenomenon do not report evidence that body image is a determinant factor in the process of victimization ( 1 ) . Other studies however, verify that victims often present characteristics that distinguish them from most of their peers, such as obesity, thinness, or the use of prosthetics or orthotics ( 18 - 19 ) .

A student's skin color or race was also reported as being significantly associated with victimization. Afro-descendant students were four times more likely to experience bullying, while indigenous people were two times more likely to experience bullying. This dimension is also linked to social and cultural issues, to racism and prejudice, since there is a hegemonic pattern of valuing white skin ( 20 - 23 ) . One study in the United States correlated race with gender and identified that these variables were significant predictors of bullying. The study shows that boys were 25.5% more likely to become victims than girls, while Afro-descendant students were 46.3% more likely to become victims at school than Caucasian students ( 23 ) . Afro-descendant and indigenous students addressed in this study were also more likely to become victims due to their race/color. It is worth noting that individuals of mixed race did not present the same rates of being bullied, an aspect that shows the importance of verifying whether students from different races have different criteria to identify and assess violent practices.

We cannot ignore the factors and individual variables that explain the phenomenon, as we cannot ignore contextual factors, such as mother's education, in the determination of bullying. As observed, the indication of no maternal education was the most prevalent for victimization and the scientific literature considers this variable to be a demographic predictor of students' success or failure at school. One study recently conducted in the United States reports that students whose mothers presented low levels of education were more likely to become victims ( 12 ) . In general, results concerning association between mother's education and involvement with bullying are explored because the mother's education is considered to be relevant within the families' set of social and cultural characteristics.

Other issues, such as the students' sexual orientation, religion and region of origin, are not shown to be expressive causes for victimization. In fact, these individual characteristics of students are less frequently observed than other characteristics. Nonetheless, they are manifested differently between sexes; for instance, boys more frequently report victimization associated with sexual orientation than do girls. Additionally, the literature shows that sexual orientation is one of the reasons related to bullying ( 11 ) . Therefore, these are important variables through which the phenomenon may be approached and related to proposing interventions intended to understand diversity, especially considering the diffuse nature of these in modern times and the emergence of other expressions of sexuality, religiosity, and migratory movements that require understanding and tolerance of diversity ( 4 , 23 - 24 ) .

Overall, the results are relevant and contribute to the understanding of bullying and enable discussing the problem of violence within the school environment. Bullying is manifested through different signs, behaviors, and prejudice in interpersonal relationships among students. Because of its specificity and complexity, bullying in an interdisciplinary and inter-sector object that demands solutions follow the same logic and direction, such as the Health School Project. Education actions and health promotion at school are different ways for PHC workers to encourage new forms in which students may relate with each other and with the world ( 10 , 13 ) .

Finally we mention some of the study's limitations. Despite the survey's validity and reliability, its cross-sectional design hinders causal/temporal inferences between exposure to or involvement with school bullying. This limits addressing the issue of causality, though this study's results agree with those reported by prospective studies. In this sense, the individual characteristics of victims do not justify aggressive and violent behavior that is inherent to bullying, as they cannot be isolated, assessed and exclusively seen as causes or motivations to become involved with the phenomenon. Another limitation is the large number of references to the option "other causes/reasons" in the experience of bullying. Hence, we suggest that other psychological characteristics or social relationships be addressed by the instrument, such as shyness, reservation in resolving conflicts, low self-esteem, among other factors. Additionally, students should be asked to indicate causes and reasons they suffer bullying even after providing alternative answers, as an opportunity to fill in some of the gaps observed.

Conclusions

This study's results concerning the identification of reasons associated with bullying among Brazilian students show that some individual characteristics are related to the phenomenon and contextual aspects that determine it. Bullying is a common experience in the lives of Brazilian students and a problem within the domain of the health field since it gathers determinants of the health-disease-care process for school-aged children and adolescents. This debate is highly important because it support tools for the development of other studies and health practices, especially in primary healthcare and in the interface between health and education.

We expect these data to encourage attention being paid to public policies concerning this issue, resulting in indicators being provided that can support the development of coping strategies at the inter-sector and inter-disciplinary levels, with a view to encourage a non-violent culture, partnering the health and education sectors. Further studies are needed, especially those providing qualitative analyses or triangulation methods and approaches, to understand the meanings and processes in which bullying emerges in the school context and its dynamics in the reality of Brazilian schools.

Understanding Bullying And Its Causes

• For those experiencing suicidal thoughts, please contact the  988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988
• For those experiencing abuse, please contact the Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
• For those experiencing substance use, please contact SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357

Bullying is defined by the American Psychological Association as “ a form of aggressive behavior in which someone intentionally and repeatedly causes another person injury or discomfort”. Although most people associate bullying with childhood, it can happen to anyone at any age. It can also take many forms, from verbal harassment to physical abuse and more. Bullying isn’t confined to the playground, either. Individuals can experience bullying online, in the office, at home, and elsewhere. Read on to understand more about the reasons why people may engage in this type of harmful behavior and what to do if you are or have been affected by it.

Types of bullying

Bullying can take various forms and may be classified in different ways depending on how and where it’s perpetrated. Some of the most common types are outlined below.

Physical bullying

This type of bullying is the one that comes to mind first for many people, perhaps because it’s the type most commonly portrayed in media. Forms of physical bullying can include pinching, hitting, shoving, and other aggressive behaviors designed to physically intimidate and/or harm a person. It can be perpetrated by an individual or a group and can cause potentially serious physical harm as well as mental/emotional distress.

Verbal bullying

Although this type doesn’t involve direct physical harm, it can still be highly damaging to the individual on the receiving end. Verbal bullying can include threats or blackmail, stealing or damaging property for spite, playing unwanted and/or cruel tricks or pranks, and saying or writing insults or hateful remarks directed at one individual, which may include racist, homophobic, ableist, or similar language.

Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is when bullying behavior is conducted through electronic means, such as phones or computers. It may take place via text, email, social media, or other online platforms or systems. This type of bullying can be public or a mixture of both, but is almost always intentional and repeated. For example, cyber bullies may spread rumors about an individual online, post embarrassing pictures of them without permission, and send threatening or otherwise aggressive texts, emails, or instant messages.

Relational/social bullying

The behavior of social bullies is intended to impact an individual’s relationships and/or social standing. They may spread rumors about the target or embarrass them in front of peers. They may also ignore the individual and encourage others to do the same in an effort to isolate and alienate them. It’s not uncommon for a social bully to recruit or otherwise involve others in ganging up against the target. This behavior can be seen across a variety of settings, from high schools to workplaces, and it can be more difficult to detect than other forms since much of it often occurs covertly.

Common causes of bullying behavior

There are many different reasons an individual may engage in bullying behavior—and while these are not excuses, understanding them may help communities work toward solving this problem. Some of the common causes of bullying behavior are below. 

• An attempt to improve social standing: Some people might bully others in an attempt to elevate or preserve their own social status. They may feel that demonstrating that they have power over other people makes them look better within their group and defends or improves their place within it. 
• Lack of skills for emotional control: A person who bullies others may lash out because they don’t have the tools or knowledge to control their own difficult emotions. If they’re experiencing stress or sadness, for example, they may express these feelings in the form of aggression toward others.
• Troubled personal relationships: An individual who feels lonely could act out to get social attention, even if it’s not positive. A child or adolescent who is neglected or even bullied at home may act out toward others as a result of that hurt.
• A lack of social skills and/or empathy: Some people may lack the social skills to interact with others in a healthy way. They may not realize that their behavior is harmful to others, or they may not have the skills to get social attention in a more positive manner. They may also have trouble empathizing with others and putting themselves in their shoes.
• A mental health condition: In some cases, a mental health condition or challenge may be contributing to an individual’s demonstration of bullying behavior. For example, trouble with impulse control—which may result in bullying behavior in some cases—can be a sign of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or even a personality disorder like borderline personality disorder. Getting treatment for these conditions may help an individual learn to better control problematic behaviors like bullying.

Psychological impacts of being bullied

The mental health consequences on a bullied individual are often lasting and can be devastating. Bullying can cause immediate feelings of isolation, rejection, and exclusion. Low self-esteem, problems with trusting others, and anger issues are common effects of being bullied as well. One study also suggests that those who have experienced bullying are more likely to engage in high-risk behaviors such as substance use and unprotected sex. If a person is experiencing physical bullying, they could also sustain physical injuries.

Other research indicates that experiencing bullying can increase the risk of “physical health problems, behavior and emotional problems, psychotic symptoms, and poor school achievement,” and that it’s also associated with an increased risk of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts . It can also contribute to the development of a variety of mental health conditions, from depression and anxiety to panic disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Psychological impacts of engaging in bullying

People who engage in bullying behavior are also more likely to experience mental health challenges , both as a cause and effect of bullying others. Research suggests that those identified as bullies are more than twice as likely to experience depression, anxiety, and ADHD. They were also six times more likely to be diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder, which is characterized by consistent patterns of aggression, irritability, hostility, and argumentative/defiant behavior.

What to do about bullying

If you or someone you know is being bullied, seeking the support of an authority figure is often a recommended course of action. If it’s taking place at school, involving teachers or administrators can help. If it’s happening in the workplace, managers or the HR department can be notified. Authority figures like these may be able to take the appropriate action to put a stop to the behavior and signal to others that it’s not acceptable. 

If you’re experiencing emotional or mental health challenges as a result of having been bullied, seeking therapy and/or a support group can help you on the road to healing. If you find yourself engaging in bullying behaviors, therapy may also be helpful in getting to the root of them so you can change the way you interact with others for the better.

Seeking the support of a therapist

Again, a qualified therapist can offer nonjudgmental support for any person involved in bullying behavior, whether they’re enacting it, experiencing it, or have a loved one who is enacting or experiencing it. If you’re having trouble locating a provider in your area or traveling to in-person appointments, you might consider online therapy as a more convenient, flexible alternative. With a virtual therapy platform like BetterHelp, you can meet with a licensed therapist via phone, video call, and/or online chat from the comfort of home or anywhere you have an internet connection. Research suggests that internet-based therapy can represent “a viable alternative” to in-person sessions in many cases, so you can typically choose the format that works best for you.

What are essays on the causes and effects of bullying?”

An essay on the causes and effects of bullying would likely address a number of subjects, including the following. 

• What Causes Bullying: This section of the essay would likely deal with the different factors that can lead someone to be a bully, including mental health challenges, low self-esteem, and abusive parents or guardians.
• The Effects of Bullying: The next section of the essay could address what types of effects bullying can have on survivors, including the potential for the development of mental disorders, the decline in academic progress, or the feelings of social isolation it may create. 
• What To Do If Bullying Occurs: In the final part of the essay, it may be helpful to address some techniques for both preventing bullying and intervening if bullying occurs. These may include educating the public about the signs of bullying, offering health and human services to students, or creating policies that establish a safer environment. 

What is the main factor of cyberbullying?

While the question “Why does bullying happen?” may not lead to one single definitive answer, there are several factors and sources that may contribute. For cyberbullying, one significant source that may allow for more frequent bullying opportunities is social media. Websites and apps with ample user interaction (like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube) can all provide environments that allow individuals to harass one another, in addition to creating other related problems. In many cases, these sites can allow users to participate in conversations exclusively, which may embolden them to bully others without fear of consequences. 

What is the definition of bullying in an essay?

While the definition of bullying in the format of an essay may go into more detail, the National Centre Against Bullying (NCAB) refers to bullying as an “ongoing and deliberate misuse of power in relationships through repeated verbal, physical, and/or social behavior.” The NCAB goes on to reference the ways that bullying can impact others, specifying that it often takes the form of social, physical, or psychological harm.

As for how bullying works, it is carried out by an individual or a group who intends to harm other individuals or groups. In some cases, these actions may involve the misuse of authority or power. Bullies may engage in these behaviors for a number of reasons, including to feel powerful, in control, or to fit in with others. In addition, bullying may take place online, which is commonly referred to as “cyberbullying.” 

What are 3 mental effects of cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying can have numerous mental effects, including the following.

• Feeling Helpless or Isolated: Those experiencing bullying may feel as though they are powerless to stop what is happening. Due to their belief that they cannot stop bullying, these individuals may become isolated to avoid further abuse or potential judgment from others; in turn, this isolation may cause further mental harm. 
• Struggling to Focus: The experience of being bullied may make it more difficult for individuals to focus on school or participate in the activities they enjoy in their own lives. In addition, the ubiquitous nature of technology could make it harder to escape from cyberbullying, especially if one needs to complete work online. 
• Aggravating Mental Disorders: If an individual is dealing with conditions like anxiety or depression, cyberbullying may cause an increase in symptom frequency or severity. In addition, a person may develop co-occurring disorders due to their bullying, including stress-related disorders like PTSD. 

How many people experience suicidal ideation due to cyberbulling?

The National Institutes of Health estimate that those who experience cyberbullying may be more than four times as likely to report thoughts of suicide* or attempts as those who were not bullied. This may be a result of the increased time that young people are spending online, whether that time is related to recreation or required by academic institutions (as is seen with remote learning.) These risk factors may also be increased by pre-existing conditions like depression and anxiety, which could be exacerbated by cyberbullying. 

*If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, its essential to reach out for help immediately. The 24/7 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline can be reached by dialing 988. 

How many kids have depression due to cyberbullying?

One study found that individuals who experienced bullying were more likely to have depression than those who were not bullied. Over the three-year study, the prevalence of cyberbullying rose from 3.8% to 6.4% for female participants and 1.9% to 5.6% for male participants. Of those participants, 33% of females and 16.6% of males experienced the symptoms of depression in childhood. Overall, the study concluded that adolescents who experienced cyberbullying were 2.07 times more likely to have depressive symptoms. 

Can cyberbullying cause anxiety?

According to one meta-analysis , those who experience cyberbullying (which may be incorrectly referred to as the “victims of bullying”) may be more likely to develop anxiety disorders compared to those who have not been subjected to these experiences. In addition, these studies found that perpetrators of cyberbullying may also develop anxiety disorders, as well as an increased risk of depression, elevated stress, poor academic performance, and higher rates of alcohol misuse. These effects may be worsened if the bully is a prominent part of their community or someone who holds a position of power, like a part of the student government.  

How does bullying affect mental health sociology?

Bullying can affect mental health in numerous ways , and may even lead to the development of anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder. In addition, it's possible for survivors of bullying to struggle with substance use disorder or poor social functioning, which may affect their ability to maintain employment or healthy romantic partnerships. In these cases, it can be helpful to seek the help of a mental healthcare professional, like a counselor or therapist. While it may be difficult to know when to get assistance, there may not be a wrong place or wrong time in your life to seek out the help of a counselor. In many cases, these professionals can help with a variety of challenges, even if they do not relate to bullying. 

What is cyberbullying and its effects essay?

An essay on cyberbullying and its effects would likely touch on a number of subjects, starting with a definition of cyberbullying. One definition could come from the American Psychological Association , which defines cyberbullying as “verbally threatening or harassing behavior conducted through such electronic technology as cell phones, email, social media, or text messaging.” 

From there, your essay could answer questions like “Why does cyberbullying or in-person bullying happen?” or discuss how cyberbullying can affect others, possibly citing statistics of the higher prevalence of depression and anxiety in survivors. For the conclusion of your essay, it may be helpful to talk about ways to prevent cyberbullying or create a culture where bullying isn’t tolerated. 

How does cyberbullying affect high school students?

According to the U.S. Department of Education , cyberbullying can affect high school students through a variety of forms, including emails, texts, direct messages, public messages, and photos. This type of bullying can be particularly harmful due to the significant ways that children and teens can get hold of these types of technology. This availability may make it easier for bullies to apply consistent pressure to classmates or other individuals they are targeting, as many adolescents have a consistent amount of contact with internet-connected and electronic devices. School bullying can also be isolating, as individuals may feel embarrassed to discuss their struggles with classmates for fear of being ridiculed. 

• What Is Self-Defeating Personality Disorder? Medically reviewed by Julie Dodson , MA, LCSW
• Examples Of Operant Conditioning That May Help You Control OCD Symptoms Medically reviewed by Julie Dodson , MA, LCSW
• Personality Disorders
• Relationships and Relations

• Essay Guides
• Other Essays
• Bullying Essay Writing Prompts & Examples for Students
• Speech Topics
• Basics of Essay Writing
• Essay Topics
• Main Academic Essays
• Research Paper Topics
• Basics of Research Paper Writing
• Miscellaneous
• Chicago/ Turabian
• Data & Statistics
• Methodology
• Admission Writing Tips
• Admission Advice
• Other Guides
• Student Life
• Studying Tips
• Understanding Plagiarism
• Academic Writing Tips
• Basics of Dissertation & Thesis Writing

• Research Paper Guides
• Formatting Guides
• Basics of Research Process
• Admission Guides
• Dissertation & Thesis Guides

Bullying Essay Writing Prompts & Examples for Students

Table of contents

Use our free Readability checker

Bullying is a repeated, physical, social, or psychological behavior that refers to the misuse of power by a person or group towards another individual or people. It is unacceptable in the United States! However, the acts of bullying are typical for the educational institutions, especially high schools. The teachers assign corresponding essays and research papers hoping to prove the harmfulness of this phenomenon to the students. Do not confuse bullying essay and bully essay! We will explain the difference between these two, share some good topics, provide useful writing tips, and present free examples of such papers. There are times when students can do nothing about the homework. It does not mean they know nothing about the offered topic or have no talent - the lack of time is the most common reason. What our academic writing company offers is quality help with writing an essay available online 24/7. Do not miss your chance to improve your grade!  

What Is Bullying Essay?

One may ask, “ What is bullying essay? ” Okay, not all students know the definition of this word because some of them are lucky never to witness school bullying. A bullying essay is an academic paper on the humiliation, inequality, and unfair treatment of a person by another person or a group of people. It is a common phenomenon in the US schools. Bullying is one of the main reasons for the massive school murders. Because this activity may lead to the fatal, dramatic consequences, a bullying essay is one of the most popular assignments.

Working on Bullying Essay Outline

The primary thing to get ready with before writing a bully essay is the bullying essay outline. It is a must in any type of writing. An outline won’t let you get lost during the writing process. It looks like a detailed plan of action, and here is an example:

• The negative aspects & adverse consequences of bullying.
• The victims of bullying: common features they share, reasons to be involved in bullying, and mistakes the victims do.
• Conditions under which bullying takes place.
• The outcomes of bullying.
• Possible solutions against bullying: from the things students should do on their own to the involvement of parents and teachers.
• Conclusion Relate bullying as a story and rewrite the thesis statement from the introduction.

Preparing an Unforgettable Bullying Essay Introduction

In the bullying essay introduction, introduce the topic you are going to discuss. Define the term “bullying” using a dictionary and own words. Show the importance of discussing this issue by starting with an interesting fact or official statistics. The examples of the opening sentences are:

“Between 1 in 4 US students say they have been bullied at school.” “There is no general profile of a person involved in bullying. Young adolescents who bully can be either well-connected socially or marginalized.” 

The rationale for writing an interesting bullying essay introduction is to make it possible to let the reader appreciate the topic and understand its significance.

Tips on Writing a Bullying Essay Conclusion Paragraph

A bullying essay conclusion paragraph should leave the greatest impression on the reader and motivate them to contribute something to the war against bullying. A writer can start with the essay hook or rewritten thesis. Both versions are good to make the reader interested. A student has to develop a conclusion to guarantee a closure for the bullying essay that defines his or her final claim concerning the problem of bullying in schools or an entire community. It is time to stop the anti-social behaviour!

• Offer a final statement that talks about the abusive practices against the person or group of people.
• Provide learning insight to stress the important role of bullying in the life of modern kids. Show the importance of further research. Think about what makes a significant lesson for personal perception.
• Share feedback relevant to the implementation of governmental regulations created to stop the bullying.
• Come up with the recommendations about bullying to let others think about the most effective way of handling the problem.
• List the negative implications of bullying (victim’s physical & mental problems).

Post-Writing Steps

No matter whether you work on a short essay about bullying or a long one, the post-writing recommendations are the same. Do not ignore their importance!

• Look at the format and structure of the paper and fix it if needed.
• Proofread to detect & fix any grammar, spelling, or punctuation mistakes.
• Seek for the tutor’s feedback before revising.
• Apply grammar and plagiarism checking software to get rid of the errors.
• Let your peers or family members read the bullying essay to make sure it is polished.

20 Anti Bullying Essay Topics

An essay on bullying is not limited to defining the term. It has many options when it comes to choosing a specific topic. An essay on bullying may have several categories. One of the examples is cyber bullying essay - the threat of bullying with the help of social profiles and Internet, in general, is high.

• Reasons why teasing may end up bullying.
• Accepting people for who they are - preventing bullying.
• The ways to support people who were bullied in the past.
• The consequences of school bullying.
• Turning for help to the adults.
• Stopping the culture of bullying in the US schools.
• Ways to make students feel comfortable when talking about bullying.
• The problem of standing around and doing nothing to help the victim.
• How other kids may prevent their peers from bullying each other.
• Bullying in person vs. bullying in a group.
• What are the mental consequences of bullying?
• How can students prevent cyberbullying?
• Reasons why some people bully others.
• The way a bully feels once he or she put someone down.
• Family essay : The role of family members in the life of the bullied person.
• Risks for standing up for the one who is being bullied.
• New ways to increase the community’s awareness about bullying
• Describing the episode of bullying from your life.
• Things you would do if someone tried to bully you.
• Different types of bullying.

Each of these bullying essay titles is a good example of the ways to reduce bullying in schools essay. If you still lack ideas, rely on our Topic Generator for Essay . 

Read our free bullying essay examples. They will help to understand the goals of such paper better!

5 Awesome Bullying Essay Examples

Argumentative essay on bullying.

An argumentative essay on bullying is a challenge. A writer has to take one of the positions in the existing debate. Unlike in persuasive paper, there is no need to convince the target audience of your truth, and it makes the mission a bit easier. Here is an extract from such essay:

"Bullying is unacceptable, and many movements exist trying to stop this act of violence and inequality among teenagers. I will formulate an argument towards the problem at hand. Being a student of the high school, I see bullying among students of my age every day. That is why I will express my support in the fight against this phenomenon. Some things change for better thanks to the efforts of our parents and teachers, but the signs of bullying are present in most of the US education institutions. It is inhuman and has to end. Do you think the measures contemporary society takes are effective? I am a former victim of bullying: it happened several times when I was studying in the high school because of my family’s social status. The rest of the students came from wealthy families, and they believed there is no place for “burglars” like me. What they did to me was morally unacceptable. I think the government along with the legal bodies should make school bullying illegal and punish those who commit this crime according to the constitutional law. Such type of crime can have a long-term impact on everybody involved in the act. The experts define several types of this crime. Those are face-to-face like direct name calling; at a distance like spreading rumors; and cyberbullying. To me, the worst one is face-to-face even though experts name cyberbullying as the most dangerous one.”  

Persuasive Essay on Bullying

In a persuasive essay on bullying, a student has to explain his or her position towards the existing problem AND prove it to the reader. It requires more efforts than an argumentative paper. See the example below.

"School bullying is one of the basic issues in many educational institutions. Students may injure or even murder others. It happens in many regions of the world, but it looks like the United States suffer from this problem more than other countries. This type of crime is never acceptable. I have witnessed several acts of severe school bullying in my city, and I do not understand why teachers, parents, and government do nothing special to prevent such cases. Even if the act of bullying has nothing to do with physical injuries or rape, it may lead to the victim’s suicide. That is the purpose of the school bullies. I insist on forcing all shareholders in the education sector to cooperate to decide on the ways of handling and preventing this problem until it gets worse. The shareholders and working personnel are responsible for bullying. They should guarantee the safety of every student. One of the solutions I recommend implementing to fight against school bullying effectively is through special education explaining why this type of activity is to be discouraged and measures to take if bullying takes place on the eyes of other students. The students should understand the problem. Writing a persuasive essay on this topic might be a clue to the solution.”  

Cyber Bullying Cause and Effect Essay

A cyberbullying cause and effect essay should explain the reasons for bullying and the possible consequences. Most of the outcomes are dramatic and even fatal.

"Hitting someone makes a bully feel good. The strongest ones tend to express their significance through humiliating the weak. It is a natural instinct of many people. The primary reason to blame people who are weaker than you is the inferiority complex - the bully is a non-confident teen who feels better when making others look beneath himself or herself. The psychologists name one more reason. One of the main problems that lead to school bullying is the inability of parents to control their children. Those who come from wealthy families believe they will stay untouched. This feeling of permissiveness results in many different crimes and bullying is one of them. The major effect of the school bullying is the dramatic change in victim’s personality. Bullying can make initially happy and mentally healthy people self-conscious, shy, non-confident, or insane. Some of them end up in asylums. The results of bullying are obvious: the person becomes anti-social and keeps away from trying new things. The victims avoid speaking in public or participating in team games. In some situations, a bullying victim can start to have previously absent anxious signs.”  

5 Paragraph Essay About Bullying

Do you need an example of 5 paragraph essay about bullying? Find the solution below - discover more statistics & facts about bullying in the US schools.

"Bullying is one of the most common problems in the US schools. More than seven percent of kids in the 8th grade prefer staying at home once per month because of the school bullying (Banks, 1997). 15% of students are regularly bullied. Some of them are initiated into the bullying practice by the older students. The paper will talk about the definition of bullying, causes, effects, and the ways people can prevent this phenomenon. Bullying exists for ages. In most situations, it involves the School Bus Park, school hallways, and bathrooms, sometimes during recess (Banks, 1997). A bully never attacks alone. Such person prefers being surrounded by some type of minions that follow him/her everywhere. These people, minions, tend to have no personal opinion, and that makes them a treasure for the leader.”  

How to Prevent Bullying Essay

One of the most popular topics is how to prevent bullying essay. People should not close their eyes to the problems of teenagers ! Your essay may sound this way:

“A victor of bullying can do a lot to stop this phenomenon. It is necessary to take measures to protect yourself by evaluating personal strengths and weaknesses. This way, you will know how to resists the bullies. It is critical to develop and implement psychological, defensive tactics to keep away from getting in touch with the bullies. To stay away from bullying, one has to avoid any contacts with the bullies. A potential victim should not show anger in case of the attack - a good sense of humor may prevent the conflict. If bullying happens, the victim must report it immediately.”

So, writing a teenage bullying essay is useful. It helps to study one of the most serious school problems. Bullying essay should unite people in a battle against inequality and unfair treatment in educational institutions. What do you think? 

If you need to share your thoughts on a piece of paper and get the highest grade, contact our professional team of writers. We offer academic solutions for democratic prices!  

Daniel Howard is an Essay Writing guru. He helps students create essays that will strike a chord with the readers.

You may also like

A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

• About Youth Violence
• Risk and Protective Factors
• School-Associated Violent Death Study
• Youth Violence Prevention Centers

About Bullying

• Bullying is a form of youth violence and an adverse childhood experience (ACE).
• Bullying is widespread in the U.S., but bullying is preventable.

What is bullying?

CDC defines bullying as any unwanted aggressive behavior(s) by another youth or group of youths, who are not siblings or current dating partners, that involves an observed or perceived power imbalance, and is repeated multiple times or is highly likely to be repeated. Bullying may inflict harm or distress on the targeted youth including physical, psychological, social, or educational harm. 1 Common types of bullying include:

• Physical such as hitting, kicking, and tripping.
• Verbal including name-calling and teasing.
• Relational or social such as spreading rumors and leaving out of the group.
• Damage to victim's property.

Bullying can also occur through technology, which is called electronic bullying or cyberbullying. 1 A young person can be a perpetrator, a victim, or both (also known as "bully/victim").

For more information about bullying definitions, please see Bullying Surveillance Among Youths: Uniform Definitions for Public Health and Recommended Data Elements, Version 1 .

Quick facts and stats

Bullying is widespread in the United States. Bullying negatively impacts all youth involved including those who are bullied, those who bully others, and those who witness bullying, known as bystanders.

• Bullying is common . About 1 in 5 high school students reported being bullied on school property. More than 1 in 6 high school students reported being bullied electronically in the last year. 2
• Some youth experience bullying more than others . Nearly 40% of high school students who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual and about 33% of those who were not sure of their sexual identity experienced bullying at school or electronically in the last year, compared to 22% of heterosexual high school students. About 30% of female high school students experienced bullying at school or electronically in the last year, compared to about 19% of males. Nearly 29% of white high school students experienced bullying at school or electronically in the last year compared to about 19% of Hispanic and 18% of Black high school students. 2
• Reports of bullying are highest in middle schools (28%) followed by high schools (16%), combined schools (12%), and primary schools (9%).
• Reports of cyberbullying are highest in middle schools (33%) followed by high schools (30%), combined schools (20%), and primary schools (5%). 3

Bullying can result in physical injury, social and emotional distress, self-harm, and even death. It also increases the risk for depression, anxiety, sleep difficulties, lower academic achievement, and dropping out of school. Youth who bully others are at increased risk for substance misuse, academic problems, and experiencing violence later in adolescence and adulthood. 4 Youth who bully others and are bullied themselves suffer the most serious consequences and are at greater risk for mental health and behavioral problems.

Bullying is preventable. There are many factors that may increase or decrease the risk for perpetrating or experiencing bullying. To prevent bullying, we must understand and address the factors that put people at risk for or protect them from violence . CDC developed, Youth Violence Prevention Resource for Action , to help communities take advantage of the best available evidence to prevent youth violence. 5 This resource is also available in Spanish and can be used as a tool in efforts to impact individual behaviors as well as the relationship, family, school, community, and societal risk and protective factors for violence. The approaches in this resource, particularly universal school-based programs that strengthen youths' skills and modify the physical and social environment, have been shown to reduce violence and bullying or key risk factors.

Different types of violence are connected and often share root causes. Bullying is linked to other forms of violence through shared risk and protective factors. Addressing and preventing one form of violence may have an impact on preventing other forms of violence.

• Gladden RM, Vivolo-Kantor AM, Hamburger ME, Lumpkin CD. Bullying surveillance among youths: Uniform definitions for public health and recommended data elements, Version 1.0. Atlanta, GA; National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and U.S. Department of Education; 2013. Available from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/bullying-definitionsfinal-a.pdf.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Youth risk behavior surveillance—United States, 2019. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report–Surveillance Summaries 2020; 69(SS1). Available from https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/yrbs/pdf/2019/su6901-H.pdf
• Diliberti, M., Jackson, M., Correa, S., and Padgett, Z. (2019). Crime, Violence, Discipline, and Safety in U.S. Public Schools: Findings From the School Survey on Crime and Safety: 2017–18 (NCES 2019-061). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch
• Farrington D, Baldry A. Individual risk factors for school bullying. Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research 2010; 2(1):4-16. Available from https://doi.org/10.5042/jacpr.2010.0001 .
• David-Ferdon, C., Vivolo-Kantor, A. M., Dahlberg, L. L., Marshall, K. J., Rainford, N. & Hall, J. E. (2016). Youth Violence Prevention Resource for Action: A Compilation of the Best Available Evidence. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Note: The title of this document was changed in July 2023 to align with other Prevention Resources being developed by CDC's Injury Center. The document was previously cited as "A Comprehensive Technical Package for the Prevention of Youth Violence and Associated Risk Behaviors."

Youth Violence Prevention

Youth violence affects thousands of young people each day, and in turn, their families, schools, and communities. CDC works to understand the problem of violence experienced by youth and prevent it.

For Everyone

Public health.

Essay on Bullying

Essay generator.

Bullying is a pervasive issue that affects individuals of all ages, backgrounds, and walks of life. It is a problem that transcends geographical boundaries and has profound emotional, psychological, and even physical consequences on its victims. In recent years, the global community has recognized the urgency of addressing this issue and has taken significant steps to combat bullying. This essay aims to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of bullying, its various forms, the reasons behind it, its consequences, and strategies to prevent and address it.

Bullying can be defined as a deliberate and repeated aggressive behavior that is intended to harm, intimidate, or exert control over another person. This harmful behavior can manifest in various forms, including physical, verbal, relational, and cyberbullying.

Types of Bullying

• Physical Bullying : Physical bullying involves direct physical harm or the threat of harm to the victim. This can include hitting, pushing, kicking, or any other form of physical aggression.
• Verbal Bullying : Verbal bullying includes using words or language to hurt, humiliate, or belittle another person. It can take the form of name-calling, insults, taunts, or spreading rumors.
• Relational Bullying : Relational bullying, also known as social bullying, aims to damage a person’s reputation or social standing. It involves manipulating social relationships, spreading gossip, or excluding someone from a group.
• Cyberbullying : With the rise of technology, cyberbullying has become a significant concern. It involves using electronic devices and social media to harass, threaten, or embarrass others. This form of bullying can have severe consequences due to its widespread nature.

Reasons Behind Bullying

Understanding the motivations behind bullying is crucial for addressing the issue effectively. Some common reasons include:

• Power and Control : Bullies often seek power and control over their victims, using intimidation to feel superior.
• Insecurity: Some bullies may suffer from low self-esteem and use bullying as a way to boost their own confidence.
• Peer Pressure : Individuals may engage in bullying due to pressure from peers or a desire to fit in with a certain group.
• Lack of Empathy: A lack of empathy or understanding for the feelings of others can lead to bullying behavior.

Dealing With Bullying (for Teens)

Bullying is a distressing and challenging issue that many teenagers face at some point in their lives. It can take various forms, such as physical, verbal, relational, or cyberbullying, and can have lasting emotional and psychological effects. If you or someone you know is dealing with bullying, here are some important steps and strategies to consider:

• Recognize It: The first step in dealing with bullying is recognizing it. Understand that bullying can be subtle, and it’s not always easy to identify. It’s crucial to distinguish between a conflict or disagreement and genuine bullying behavior.
• Talk About It: Don’t keep your feelings or experiences bottled up. Talk to someone you trust, whether it’s a friend, family member, teacher, or counselor. Sharing your experiences can provide emotional support and guidance.
• Keep Records: Document instances of bullying, including dates, times, locations, and the people involved. This documentation can be valuable if you decide to report the bullying to school authorities or law enforcement.
• Avoid Retaliation: While it’s natural to feel angry and want to retaliate, avoid responding to the bully with aggression. Retaliation can escalate the situation and lead to more harm. Focus on seeking help and support instead.
• Seek Adult Help: Talk to a trusted adult about the bullying. They can provide guidance, help you report the issue to school officials or authorities if necessary, and ensure your safety.
• Use Technology Wisely: In the case of cyberbullying, protect your online presence by adjusting privacy settings, blocking the bully, and avoiding engaging in any further online conflicts.
• Know Your Rights: Familiarize yourself with your school’s anti-bullying policies and your legal rights. Schools are required to take bullying seriously and take appropriate actions to address it.
• Report It: If the bullying continues or escalates, report it to school authorities and, if necessary, to local law enforcement. Provide them with your documentation and any evidence you have.
• Stay Safe Online: Be cautious with your online presence, and avoid sharing personal information or engaging in online conflicts. Report cyberbullying to the platform or social media site administrators.

Consequences of Bullying

Bullying has profound and lasting consequences on both the victim and the bully. These consequences include:

• Emotional and Psychological Effects: Victims often experience anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and in severe cases, suicidal thoughts. Bullies may develop a pattern of aggressive behavior that persists into adulthood.
• Academic Impact: Bullying can disrupt a student’s ability to concentrate, leading to poor academic performance and school avoidance.
• Health Consequences: Both victims and bullies may experience physical health problems, such as headaches, stomachaches, and sleep disturbances.
• Long-term Effects: The effects of bullying can extend into adulthood, impacting relationships, mental health, and overall quality of life.

Prevention and Intervention Strategies

Efforts to combat bullying should involve a combination of prevention and intervention strategies:

• Awareness Programs: Schools and communities can implement awareness programs that educate students about the consequences of bullying and promote empathy and kindness.
• Open Communication: Encourage open communication between students, parents, and educators, creating a safe space for reporting bullying incidents.
• Strict Anti-Bullying Policies: Schools should have clear anti-bullying policies with consequences for those who engage in bullying behavior.
• Support Systems: Provide support and counseling for both victims and bullies to address their emotional and psychological needs.
• Cyberbullying Prevention: Promote responsible internet usage and educate students about the dangers of cyberbullying.

Bullying is a complex and deeply rooted issue that affects countless individuals around the world. Students participating in essay writing competitions must understand the different forms of bullying, its causes, and the devastating consequences it can have on individuals and society as a whole. By fostering empathy, promoting open communication, and implementing effective prevention and intervention strategies, we can work towards a world where bullying is a thing of the past, and all individuals can thrive in a safe and respectful environment.

Text prompt

• Instructive
• Professional

Generate an essay on the importance of extracurricular activities for student development

Write an essay discussing the role of technology in modern education.

Home — Essay Samples — Social Issues — Bullying — An Informative Bullying, Its Causes, Effects And Ways To Tackle

An Informative Bullying, Its Causes, Effects and Ways to Tackle

• Categories: Bullying Physical Abuse Victim

About this sample

Words: 2893 |

15 min read

Published: Jan 28, 2021

Words: 2893 | Pages: 6 | 15 min read

Table of contents

Informative speech outline on bullying, informative speech example on bullying, introduction.

• Definition of bullying
• Overview of the essay's focus on bullying, its causes, and effects

Effects of Bullying on Victims

• Psychological impact on victims
• Increased risk of mental health problems
• Correlation with smoking and alcoholism

Characteristics of Bullies

• Description of typical bully traits
• Correlation between bullying and misconduct
• Influence of bullying on self-destructive behaviors

Peer Dynamics and School Adjustment

• Impact of bullying on school attachment and peer relationships
• Correlation between victimization and academic competence
• School avoidance as a consequence of victimization

Long-Term Effects of Bullying

• How bullying can extend into adolescence and adulthood
• Relationship between bullying and mental health issues
• The impact of bullying on academic performance

Prevention and Intervention

• The need for schools to prioritize bullying prevention
• Developing a support network within school systems
• Empowering bystanders to speak up against bullying

Workplace Bullying

• The prevalence of workplace bullying
• Impact of workplace bullying on employees and businesses
• Strategies for addressing workplace bullying

Cyberbullying

• Definition of cyberbullying and its venues
• The role of anonymity in cyberbullying
• Responsibility of parents in preventing cyberbullying

Bullying in Health Care

• Prevalence of bullying in medical and healthcare professions
• Impact of bullying on patient care and safety
• The need for respect and collaboration in healthcare settings
• Summary of the pervasive effects of bullying
• Call for a society that promotes safety and discourages bullying

Works Cited

• Dake, J. A., Price, J. H., & Telljohann, S. K. (2003). The nature and extent of bullying at school. Journal of School Health, 73(5), 173-180.
• Dorn, L. D. (2005). Adolescent bullying and sleep disturbance. Journal of the American Medical Association, 293(24), 2993-2995.
• Hermann, P. (2007). Life after bullying. Interview with Dan Wilhelm. Childhood Education, 84(3), 173-175.
• Shah, S. (2011). Effects of bullying may add up in kids' grades. The Wall Street Journal.
• Ttofi, M. M., & Farrington, D. P. (2011). Effectiveness of school-based programs to reduce bullying: A systematic and meta-analytic review. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 7(1), 27-56.
• Twemlow, S. W., Fonagy, P., & Sacco, F. C. (2005). A developmental approach to mentalizing communities: II. The peace builders program. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 69(4), 282-304.
• UNESCO. (2017). Behind the numbers: Ending school violence and bullying.
• Vaillancourt, T., McDougall, P., Hymel, S., Krygsman, A., Miller, J., Stiver, K., & Davis, C. (2008). Bullying: Are researchers and children/youth talking about the same thing? International Journal of Behavioral Development, 32(6), 486-495.
• Wolke, D., Woods, S., Stanford, K., & Schulz, H. (2001). Bullying and victimization of primary school children in England and Germany: Prevalence and school factors. British Journal of Psychology, 92(4), 673-696.
• Wong, D. S. (2015). Students' perceptions of the effectiveness of anti-bullying strategies in Hong Kong schools. Educational Studies, 41(2-3), 161-180.

Cite this Essay

To export a reference to this article please select a referencing style below:

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Prof Ernest (PhD)

Verified writer

• Expert in: Social Issues Law, Crime & Punishment

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

3 pages / 1210 words

1 pages / 643 words

1 pages / 620 words

4 pages / 1618 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Bullying

Bullying is a pervasive issue that affects individuals of all ages, backgrounds, and social settings. From playground taunts to cyberbullying, the harmful effects of this behavior can have lasting consequences on both the victim [...]

When it comes to addressing the pervasive issue of bullying, empathy and compassion are powerful tools that can help create a more inclusive and supportive environment. By fostering a culture of kindness and understanding, we [...]

Bullying is a pervasive issue that continues to plague schools, workplaces, and online platforms, causing significant harm to individuals of all ages. As we delve into the complexities of this phenomenon, it becomes crucial to [...]

Bullying has long been a pervasive issue in schools, negatively impacting the mental health and well-being of students. While the immediate effects of bullying are often visible in the form of emotional distress and social [...]

Regina sits in her room, gazing off at her bookshelf thinking about Cady Heron. Her eyes widen as if a brilliant idea came up. She darts toward the burn book - a book with girls’ yearbook pictures with negative comments and [...]

Bullying has become a major problem, and the use of the internet has just made it worse. Cyber bullying is bullying done by using technology; it can be done with computers, phones, and the biggest one social media. Children need [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know

Official websites use .gov

A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS

A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Effects of Bullying

Bullying can affect everyone—those who are bullied, those who bully, and those who witness bullying. Bullying is linked to many negative outcomes including impacts on mental health, substance use, and suicide. It is important to talk to kids to determine whether bullying—or something else—is a concern.

Kids Who are Bullied

Kids who are bullied can experience negative physical, social, emotional, academic, and mental health issues. Kids who are bullied are more likely to experience:

• Depression and anxiety, increased feelings of sadness and loneliness, changes in sleep and eating patterns, and loss of interest in activities they used to enjoy. These issues may persist into adulthood.
• Health complaints
• Decreased academic achievement—GPA and standardized test scores—and school participation. They are more likely to miss, skip, or drop out of school.

A very small number of bullied children might retaliate through extremely violent measures. In 12 of 15 school shooting cases in the 1990s, the shooters had a history of being bullied.

Kids Who Bully Others

Kids who bully others can also engage in violent and other risky behaviors into adulthood. Kids who bully are more likely to:

• Abuse alcohol and other drugs in adolescence and as adults
• Get into fights, vandalize property, and drop out of school
• Engage in early sexual activity
• Have criminal convictions and traffic citations as adults 
• Be abusive toward their romantic partners, spouses, or children as adults

Kids who witness bullying are more likely to:

• Have increased use of tobacco, alcohol, or other drugs
• Have increased mental health problems, including depression and anxiety
• Miss or skip school

The Relationship between Bullying and Suicide

Media reports often link bullying with suicide. However, most youth who are bullied do not have thoughts of suicide or engage in suicidal behaviors. 

Although kids who are bullied are at risk of suicide, bullying alone is not the cause. Many issues contribute to suicide risk, including depression, problems at home, and trauma history. Additionally, specific groups have an increased risk of suicide, including American Indian and Alaskan Native, Asian American, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth. This risk can be increased further when these kids are not supported by parents, peers, and schools. Bullying can make an unsupportive situation worse.