Bullying’s Grim Toll: A Cry for Urgent Action

Bullying’s Dark Reality: A Life Locked in an Invisible Cage

Bullying is extremely wrong and uncalled for. Bullying affects over 3.2 million victims every single year, leading to one out of ten people dropping out of school, 160,000 people skipping school, low self-esteem, depression, self-harm, and even suicide; the third leading cause of death among children under 14 years of age. This is a serious problem that needs to be put to an end.

Bullying is like being locked in a cage and not knowing where you are; it is scary, and you are afraid to ask for help. Logically, most people would agree that the backlash of bullying is often one of the biggest social diseases among our youth. It affects many people all over the world, and no matter how you put it, bullying is not acceptable. It has to be put to an end to make our world a more peaceful, accepting place for everyone.

Bullying’s Lifelong Impact on Mental Health

According to Alice G. Wilton, Ph.D.D., after a new study in JAMA Psychiatry, ‘Kids who had been victims only had a greater risk for depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, generalized anxiety, panic disorder, and agoraphobia as adults.’ These kids were so damaged by bullying that they actually became more prone to depression and anxiety. Dr.Wilton also said, ‘Kids who were both bully-victims and bullies – they experienced all types of depressive and anxiety disorders, and suffered most severely from suicidal thoughts, depressive disorders, generalized anxiety, and panic disorder, compared with the other groups of participants.

Too many people are losing their family members and lives to bullying. As the number of bullying increases among teenagers and children, the amount of youth suicide and depression increases as well, and it won’t stop until we make it. Studies have indicated that 77% of students have admitted to being bullied in real life or online. Studies have shown that the growth rates of domestic violence are the leading cause of bullying online and in schools. Cyberbullying is also one of the worst things a human being can do to another. It is a major part of bullying due to the anonymity it gives. Anyone can bully any other, so kids take advantage of that fact and bully each other.

Bullying is an absolutely intolerable crime that is affecting our children and will continue affecting them generation after generation if we don’t put it to an end. The effects of bullying are way too far of a risk to the lives of our loved ones. If we cared for each other how we want to be cared for, then the world would be a much better place.

References

1. U.S. Department of Education. (2020). Statistics on School Bullying. U.S. Government Publishing Office.
2. Johnson, S. M. (2019). The Hidden Trauma: Mental Health Consequences of Bullying. Psychological Press.