Cyberbullying and bullying in general can affect both children and adults’ mental health. Schools do not tolerate bullying and there are plenty of rules that are made just for bullying. Students get manipulated to keep quiet and they can get hurt. Students get the words bullies say stuck in their heads and it can sometimes lead to depression.
Students in and out of schools can get harmed physically, mentally and emotionally. Counselors in schools always try to get students to speak up about someone teasing or hurting them, sometimes even leads teens to stop coming to school or dropping out. The harm the bully does can lead to consequences and the bully wants them to keep quiet. Sometimes the bully threatens the person to not say anything about what they are doing to them.
“I think bullies are also someone who used to get bullied so they see themselves trying to get back at the world,” said Mariam Al Ghaib, sophomore
The words bullies say can really get to a child, such as the words they say towards the person can get them to think that they do not deserve to be in this world and it makes them think about suicide. The bullying can lead to children becoming depressed and developing suicidal thoughts not caring about the outcome. Bullies can harm people without knowing the possible impacts and they just do it for their own satisfaction. The “bullies” are humans as well as everyone else but often either think they are superior, want to reflect their pain onto some people, or may even just think it is fun teasing those they consider weaker than them, according to stopbullying.gov.
Cyberbullying is as impactful as bullying in person, the only difference is that it is over the internet either social media or messages rather than in person. They hide behind a screen hating and commenting rude things about a person, not caring about the impact of their harassment. These comments are often in public, meaning that they can be seen by anyone and under someone’s post at times. These people have no limits on who they can harass. Despite common conceptions, cyberbullying can hurt individuals just as much as a schoolyard bully.
Bullying makes the bully feel stronger or important, it can affect the person’s self esteem and it can take away from their confidence,” said Ms. Hughes J, 1 on 1 special programs.
The victims are not the only ones impacted, bystanders can also be hurt by what they see when someone bullies someone else. They are more likely to smoke tobacco, alcohol or drugs, miss or skip school and have increased in mental health problems according to stopbullying.gov. Upstanders are the ones that stand up for the person getting bullied. Being an upstander can really make you see a different point of view on things and you have to put yourself in the shoes of the person that is getting bullied. The upstander takes charge to the bully and it can impact kids but the bully will not like the act of someone else standing up for someone they are bullying. Bullies can be affected from bullying others.
As the bully becomes more reckless, most drop out of school. The impact of bullying when they’re young can go on until they get older. They become harmful to others and themselves. There have been multiple and plenty of rules in schools not permitting bullying the consequences of it. Most of the bullies do it in disguise behind teacher’s backs or out of school but there are upstanders that take charge and stand up for the people that get hurt. People that are getting bullied should stand up for themselves and other than harm, they should speak. Stand up for someone and yourself it can change someone else’s and your own life.
