According to the American Psychology Association, bullying is the practice of the utilization of aggressive behavior by an individual towards another to cause injury or discomfort continually. The action occurs due to the presence of supposed imbalanced power such as physical strength, popularity, and the ability to embarrass as a way of controlling others. Also, this behavior has the potential to reoccur. According to the National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Justice 2014-2015 Statistics, twenty-one percent of all schoolchildren worldwide, between the ages of twelve and eighteen, faced one or more forms of bullying ('11 Facts About Bullying', 2021). Such included physical bullying that involves hitting, shoving, tripping, yelling, and talking about another person’s things. Emotional bullying consists of abusing someone, making fun, laughing at others, ignoring someone, and starting rumors about other people. Cyberbullying encompasses the use of technology to send and post mean messages and posting embarrassing pictures of others. The culture of bullying can affect an individual in school, at home, and at work. Its advent is a result of various factors that result in different adverse effects.
Speaking about the causes of bullying, it should be noted, first of all, that it occurs due to the bully being a victim of bullying. Children learn by example, and bullying precipitates bullying. According to Ditch, the Label Anti-bullying Charity organization, individuals that have been victims of bullying are two times more likely to bully others. Individuals that face bullying in their regular lives such as from their parents, their older siblings, or later life at work makes them consider this type of behavior acceptable and a convenient way to attain power and control stripped through bullying. Hence, the feelings of pain and anger control them into inflicting similar hurt they experience or have observed a family member instill in another family member, to dish out the pain and feel better about themselves.
The second is because bullies observe this as the only way to get what they want. Educational institutions consist of students from diverse backgrounds, whose parents implement varied methods of rearing them. Some parents bring up children in some unfortunate incidents by availing them of too much power, giving them what they want without restrictions or punishment. As a result, the feeling of entitlement makes them feel that they deserve to get all they want without considering others’ feelings. Consequently, they bulldoze other students in school by utilizing intimidation and verbal abuse as they believe intimidating others help them achieve what they want.
Third, bullying occurs as a search for attention. According to Kids Health, some bullies do not consider their actions as hurtful or mean, but as actions of teasing and expressing a liking for another individual, a situation occasioning due to difficulties in communicating. Thus, in a bid to attract others to them, they may use violence or verbal insults to get attention from other individuals. Additionally, children demand love, care, and attention from their parents at home, and they strive to acquire their attention and approval by acting in every manner possible. Thus, if a child feels invisible before their family, they feel insecure about this relationship. Therefore, the insecurity may turn into anger and frustration, thereby causing them to express these feelings by hurting and bullying others to get attention.
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