What is bullying?

Bullying is continued harassment though acts of domination

towards another person, either through physical or emotional
abuse. It can be done in person or even through online chat
rooms and social media sites. This behavior is specifically meant
to cause emotional or physical harm to the victim.
Teenagers bullying habits can include, but are not limited to,
threatening and demeaning behaviors meant to belittle or target
someone, hostile texts and messages, obsessive calls, stalking,
internet harassment, social media attacks, name calling or other
berating behaviors, physical intimidation, and even more overt
physical acts of violence.

How does bullying usually begin?

Many parents of teenage bullies ask themselves how their
offspring could be capable of such abusive behaviors. They
always want to know if the parents, the teenager, society or
biology are to blame. There are various underlying causes to a
bullys behavior, often rooted in the anxiety of being adolescent,
but at other times this behavior can spring from a traumatic
experience, pressure from friends, faulty parenting styles, or any
intricate combination of these dynamics. Bullying is done in most
cases to increase feeling of personal power of the person doing
the bullying. The need for the reassurance for personal abilities
that makes degrading someone else such an easy fix.

Why bullying in peer groups?

The moment a child can start feeling like a big shot without
having to do a lot to get there or deal with any negative
consequences. Being seen as the top dog is something that will
attract friends to become part of the bullying group. These peer
groups will then also start to do the bullying as a group which
ever minority they seems fit. The gain of power is easy to get
used to. This will then become the start of a group dynamic, that
will set one group of children against a other group. This makes it
not always easy to recognize from the outside. Just as it is not
easy to bring up by the child, cause the lose of being part of that
peer group is something they cant emotionally unbearable.

Hormones
Hormones play an integral role in the act of bullying. Chemical
changes in the youths brain as they continue to grow and
develop contribute greatly to all acting out behaviors.
Imbalances in hormone levels during this time can cause
surprisingly erratic and dominating behavior, even from children
who never behaved in this way before. People who experience
hormonal imbalances often describe intense feelings of turmoil
and isolation. These imbalances will often eventually pass as the
chaos of the teen years wanes, unless there is an underlying
chemical problem.

Emotions
Emotions are directly related to hormonal dynamics, though
hormones are not solely responsible for distressed emotions.
Many things could cause a teen to experience negative emotions
and their hormones often serve to amplify them, like adding
gasoline to a fire that is already burning. Romantic problems,
feelings of alienation, parental neglect or abuse can all lead a
teen to feel out of control. This is very confusing indeed and many
have described feeling as if they were out of control. To baffled
and upset teenagers bullying can seem like the only way to take
back control of a chaotic world and master their swirling
emotions, and this method can work for a short time. But the
relief that springs from acting out against another is not
sustainable. Eventually the teenager will have to come to terms
with their emotional world, whether through their own means or
through the guidance of their elders, talk and behavior therapy.

Self esteem
Self esteem issues can also contribute to bullying dynamics. For
teenagers bullying can seem like an easy solution to low self
esteem. This is not a conscious decision, but an underlying desire
to undercut others to make themselves feel more powerful. For
example, a teenager may feel over weight, alienated, and self
conscious. If they target an overweight or unpopular person to
degrade in front of people, in their minds they are distracting
others from their own perceived faults and shortcomings. For
teenagers bullying can make them feel powerful where they
would otherwise feel threatened or weak.

Acting out abuse

Sometimes bullying behavior can be a direct result of abuse the

bully is sustaining or witnessing at home. If a teenager feels
consistently dominated by their parents or caregivers, they may
attempt to act out that domination on their peers. This is either
because domination was normalized in their home and they
perceive the destructive behavior as normal, or they are
attempting to regain control where their caregiver has left them
powerless. Either way, teachers have a responsibility to look out
for the early warning signs in adolescents.

Effects of bullying
The effects of bullying can lead to permanent problems in the
victims life, such as low self esteem, self hatred, or internalizing
and carrying on the dominating behavior on their own. These
problems may take years of therapy, costing thousands of dollars,
to repair. The victim of bullying can feel pressured, worthless, or
flawed. They will often blame themselves. All of these dynamics
could lead to a lifestyle of self-harm or other destructive behavior.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports on
teenage bullying statistics every year, and they say that bullying
of 8 to 15-year-olds is on the rise. One in five children in this age
bracket had participated in cyber-bullying. These statistics show
that many young people are participating in this kind of bullying
behavior.

What to do if you suspect bullying:

It is important to act quickly if you know that your teen is bullying
or being bullied. The reason that time is of the essence is because
bullying can quickly escalate to violence, and the faster these
problems are recognized the sooner they can be reported and
resolved. Name calling and harassment is a slippery slope to
abusive actions, and it is the adults responsibility to watch for
these behaviors in teens they are responsible for, or around often.
When a parent suspects that these dynamics are at play it is
important for them to contact the parents of the youth being
bullied or doing the bullying as well as any other adults that may
be relevant such as teachers, principals or other care givers. It is
essential that all adults be informed of the situation to protect the
victim form these circumstances. Depending on the nature of
these actions, the caregiver may decide to report the child to the
authorities.

If bullying has crossed the thin line from harassment into abuse,
then it is paramount to act quickly to minimize the damage. Time
is of the essence, and just as with a physical injury, ignoring it will
not help it to heal.
Preventative measures through education and early
intervention
Now that we know how bullying happens, we can take measures
to prevent it. Prevention is best had through education and
intervention. Videos can be shown in classrooms on the harmful
effects of bullying and portray the act as a crime rather than a
harmless act. Usually when teens are presented with the severity
of the consequences, they will be more likely to act appropriately
in situation where bullying may happen.
Intervention is another key solution. If a caregiver or teacher over
hears mean talk or behavior they should appropriately punish the
offenders and talk to them about the consequences of their
actions. A talk should also be had with the victim of the mean
behavior so that they can know how to ask for help if the abuse
escalates. Often, bullying scenarios are made worse by the
victims inability to come forward.
Knowing what to look for in adolescent behavior, proper
preventative education, a strong dialog between caregivers and
children, and how to proceed when bullying is expected all
needed to minimize the damage of such behaviors. Bullying may
be unavoidable in some cases, but adults have the power to
protect and minimize the damage

Where and When Bullying Happens

Bullying can occur during or after school hours. While most
reported bullying happens in the school building, a significant
percentage also happens in places like on the playground or the
bus. It can also happen travelling to or from school, in the youths
neighborhood, or on the Internet.

EFFECTS OF BULLYING
The SHORT TERM effects of bullying are:
Low self-confidence

Depression
Suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts
Abnormal fears and worries
Sleep disorders
Nervous habits
Frequent crying
Bed-wetting
Poor appetite or digestive problems
School problems
Rage
This is a suicide note:
"Dear Mommy and Daddy,
All of my life i have been teased,harassed and pushed
around. I can't stand it anymore.
I love you all very much and i'm sorry to do this to you
and disappoint you once more, but
i just can't go on living because there's no place in the
world for someone like me." - Kirby's suicide note
I don't think it's fair for kids to feel that unwanted, and
made fun of so much that they decide to take there own
life away.It's not fair to them and there family, because of
kids who can't grow up and realize that bullying is not
okay .

The LONG TERM effects of bullying are:

Psychological Post-Trauma disorders
Self-destructive behavior
Alcohol or substance abuse may result

CAUSES OF BULLYING
#Want to get noticed
#They like having power over there peers
#They have problems at home
#Think it's cool and funny
# Aggressive personality
# Lack of adult supervision
# Jealousy
# Revenge
# Take their feelings out on others
Some people bully to get power, they think if you push
people around and make them do what you want them to
do you will get noticed. They think that gets their name
out there that makes them feel cool they get attention
they become popular.but some bullies do it just because
they like to hurt people see the victim cry and if the
victim has to the nerve to n to respond the bully has no
pity.Most people think if you are popular you can get
away with things that they know isn't right.Some
common causes of bullying is when kids don't have
enough super vision they think they can get away with
any think Another causes is that some people just have
an aggressive personality, and because they have they
low self-confidence issues.