Bullying And Adolescence

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to state how bullying during the adolescent years leaves a lifelong effect on a person and the effects that it has. Bullying during adolescent years causes insecurities, depression, stress, and anxiety. All of these factors are leading causes to suicide and suicidal thoughts. Bullying affects a person throughout their entire life because they are left feeling insecure and many left with post-traumatic stress disorder. Bullying not only affects the victim but affects the family as a whole. The victim becomes more distant and pushes away family. They tend to lie about what is going on rather than confront the issue. Victims of bullying feel that confronting the issue may make things worse for themselves. Overall bullying is an ongoing issue and affects lives ferociously.

In today’s society, people are criticized in everything they do. They are judged by the way they look, sound, act, and do. During adolescence, teens are exposed to problems on a day to day basis. Sometimes, these problems become unbearable and when it gets to that point, depression and even suicide occurs. Suicide in adolescence is one of the most terrifying problems that is faced by families and young ones. The leading causes of death among adolescents ages 15 to 19 in the United States are unintentional injuries such as car crash-related injuries, followed by suicide and homicide, according to the CDC. (Howard, J. (2018, June 01). There are many families out there missing their sisters, brothers, sons, and daughters that have been taken away from suicide caused by bullying. Children around the world are bullied in some kind of way. Some may be bullied by their families, their friends, their neighbors, and even social media today. The essential definition of bullying is when a certain behavior affects another person negatively. Bullying can cause a person to be violent later on in life. If a child is bullied in any way, it is more likely that child will continue that negative path of living. When a child goes through bullying at the stage of adolescence, it is more likely that their views on life will change. They will become more violent, angry, and sensitive. Bullying at this stage in life can even lead them to not want to live anymore. Many people don’t want to believe how common teen suicide is because they don’t believe it would ever happen to them or anybody they know. However, the suicide rate is rising and it is important that people start to notice that. Suicides in the U.S. have been on the rise, up 24 percent from 1990 through 2014, and the pace of the increase has been rising since 2006. (Holmes, L. (n.d.). Psychosocial factors such as anxiety, depression, and stress are main results of bullying and can harm the adolescence critically.

In today’s generation, being a teenager is hard. Adolescence is all about making friends and looking good. Everybody wants to fit in and be a part of the best social group. Pre-teens are just trying to figure out who they are. When bullying steps in the way, it can harm this stage in life. During the adolescent years, some things start to change. People grow out of their friends, and want to be around people that have more to offer. People can become selfish and cruel to each other. Bullying has always been a major part of schools and fitting in. over the last decade, bullying has grown. Cyberbullying is not face to face, but it is through the internet. With the generation we live in today, this has become a lot easier than bullying face to face. All teenagers have access to social media today allowing them to hear and see just about anything. It is easier for teens to bully via online which can be a lot harder on the victim. When reading things online, we are not able to recognize ones content and affect. In person, we are able to see and hear the way people are talking and feeling. Online, all you see are words, leaving you to interpret them however you think they are said. The two kinds of bullying are psychological and physical. Both are a problem that affect a human mentally and push them to harm themselves.

One major result of bullying during adolescence is anxiety. Anxiety in general is a feeling of worry, discomfort, and nervousness. Bullying can be traumatic and something that can stick with one forever. Bullying is a type of aggressive behavior that is repetitive towards another person and causes discomfort. The four anxiety disorders that victims of bullying face are post- traumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, panic attacks, and social anxiety disorder. PTSD is a type of anxiety disorder that occurs after a trauma like bullying. (Gordon, S. (n.d.). PTSD involves personal experiences where the person has been threatened or traumatized. PTSD comes up in a person’s life even way after the bullying has come to an end. Thus, proving that bullying has a long-term affect. Teens with generalized anxiety disorder often feel like something bad is always going to happen. They are full of worries and fear. It is common for children to feel this way because something bad did happen to them over and over. Panic attacks are another anxiety disorder caused by bullying. People who experience this have abrupt panic attacks that can cause feelings of terror without any warning. Another disorder is called social anxiety disorder. This is when a teen is scared of being embarrassed or picked on and therefor stay away from everyday social situations. people with social anxiety disorder stay way from events, gatherings, and even quality time with family. Victims of bullying establish this disorder because they were repeatedly picked on and hurt. Victims of bullying believe that what they experienced will happen everywhere and around anyone. Depression is a main cause of suicide in the adolescence years and at some point, affects everyone’s lives. Adolescence is always a hard time in one’s life due to all the changes emotionally, physically, psychologically, and socially. These changes may be tough for many people during the adolescent years. Adolescent depression is increasing at an alarming rate. Recent surveys indicate that as many as one in five teens suffers from clinical depression. (Depression In Teens. (2016, December 08). Bullying experienced during the adolescent years is one of the biggest causes to depression. If depression is left untreated, it can lead to suicide. High school students exposed to bullying are more likely to end up depressed and suicidal. Depression and bullying can go hand in hand. In the society we live in today, bullying can occur anywhere anytime. In today’s fast-paced world, bullying can occur just about anywhere. Bullying can happen in schools, online, and even in the work place. Therefore, anyone can be affected by bullying. The internet has advanced greatly over the past couple years and therefor cyberbullying has become a lot more severe. Bullying can leave lifelong scars on a child going through the adolescent years. During this time teens are insecure and fragile no matter how tough they seem to be. Depression in adolescence also causes a wide range of disorders in mental health such as anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder and substance related disorder. These disorders can be lifelong or affect a person for years. Bullying is a main cause of stress that can leave someone feeling broken, hurt, angry, scared, and even suicidal. The types of stress that bullying can cause in adolescence are physical stress, psychological stress, behavioral stress, and stress that effects one’s personality. Some physical symptoms of stress include feeling weak, having no energy or motivation to do anything. This can lead a person to have a reduced immunity system making it harder for them to fight infection and causing them to get sick. High blood pressure is also a physical stress following with numbness of the body. Psychological symptoms of stress include having panic attacks, thoughts of suicide, depression, forgetfulness, and doubts. Bullying leaves a scar on people and can permanently damage them psychologically. Behavioral symptoms include anger, irritability, obsessiveness, loss of humor, withdrawal, and mood swings. Bullying shatters one self-confidence, self-esteem, self- worth, and self-love.

One cause of bullying can be because a victim wants to get revenge. This causes them to become the bully. They feel as though they need to become equal or get even with their previous bullies. According to Mark & Ratliffe (2011) “getting bullied by any of these people may tempt some to claim a sort of authority for themselves through bullying, rather than reaching out for help in dealing with their own issues in a more productive way.”  This can happen with face to face bullying or cyberbullying. Cyberbullying often happens when the bully does not have the courage to bully victims face to face. cyber bullying can be an extension of real world bullying too, for example, hacking into a social media account in order to display negative rumors about another person” (Hoff & Mitchell, 2009). A second cause of bullying can be out of hatred or jealousy of one another. When someone is popular or the center of attention, others seem to get jealous. During adolescence, everyone wants to be popular and if they are not they want to be friends with the popular people. This can cause them to feel hate towards them and act violently. The third type of bullying is the craving for attention. In order to be seen and known, people physically and emotionally hurt others. If a popular kid picks on someone, the cool thing to do is to pick on that person too. That person then becomes a victim of bullying. These kinds of bullying have long term affects. Victims of bullying are at a higher risk of self-harm and suicide. Children and adolescence who have been bullied have a higher risk of somatic issues which include headaches, colds, body pain and sleeping difficulties. Victims of bullying are seen to have decreased education qualifications, and success qualifications. Bully victims have a higher rate of criminal charges and robberies in young adulthood. They also display increased levels of anxiety disorder and panic disorder. Victims of bullying experience increased depression and suicidal thoughts. The types of stress that bullying can cause in adolescence are physical stress, psychological stress, behavioral stress, and stress that effects one’s personality. Their overall health is seen to be a lot worse and unhealthy compared to others. Stress and anxiety, affects one’s overall health and can leave them with severe and incurable diseases.

Bullying causes behavioral and emotional behaviors which can make things complicated not only at school and around friends but at home also. Victims of bullying often become very secretive and distant with their families leaving them isolate themselves and diminishing relationships with family. Many teens do not confront their parents about what is going on, instead they keep quiet and drown alone. Teens may also become more sensitive at home. Harmless comments or conversations may make them overreact and get defensive. Victims of bullying can leave a teen lying to their own family. This is because targets of bullying feel as though reporting a bully may make things worse for themselves. Families experience different emotions during this time. They feel angry, sad, desperate, and may go through anxiety. Seeing your child in adolescence going through so much pain leaves a parent feeling angry at hateful towards the bully’s family. It is important that families recognize that they must deal with their emotions in a healthy way in order to keep their child safe and their family together. When a child is getting bullied, parents have the thought on their mind all day. They become fearful about their child’s safety and mental health. This can cause parents to doubt themselves and their parenting.

Overall, bullying during adolescence leaves a severe effect on the victim and be lifelong. Many children are seen to act aggressively due to being bullied or can even be suicidal. Everyone reacts to bullying differently however, all reactions are negative and harmful towards a child and their families. Children around the world are bullied in some kind of way. Some may be bullied by their families, their friends, their neighbors, and even social media today. When a child is bullied during adolescence, it can really mess with them. This can change their views on life and even on themselves. Victims of bullying become insecure, stressed, depressed, and lose trust in everyone around them even their own families. They are more likely to suffer with mental illness as they grow older and are more likely to become violent individuals. When bullying steps in the way of adolescence, it can harm this stage in life. In today’s generation, being a teenager is hard. During the adolescent years, some things start to change. People grow out of their friends, and want to be around people that have more to offer. People can become selfish and cruel to each other. Adolescence is always a hard time in one’s life due to all the changes emotionally, physically, psychologically, and socially. It Is important that everyone recognizes that bullying is an ongoing problem that has lives being ruined and families being broken apart.

References

1. Howard, J. (2018, June 01). A ‘wake-up call’ about what’s killing America’s young people.
2. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/01/health/youth-injury-death-rate-cdc-study/index.html
3. Holmes, L. (n.d.). Has the Rate of Suicide in the U.S. Risen? Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/suicide-rates-overstated-in-people-with-depression-2330503
4. Bullying and Depression: The Long-term Effects on Kids and Teens. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.houstonbehavioralhealth.com/node/1745
5. Gordon, S. (n.d.). The Link Between Bullying and PTSD. Retrieved from https://www.verywellfamily.com/bullying-can-lead-to-ptsd-460614
6. Depression In Teens. (2016, December 08). Retrieved from http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/conditions/depression-teens