Bullying Has Evolved Into a Growing Concern Essay

Bullying has evolved into a growing concern among child development specialists. With an increase in teenage suicide and an explosion of reports of online harassment, bullying has changed the way that adolescents interact with each other. For decades the act of bullying has been accepted as being a part of life that children deal with and then grow out of. However, the case is that the gravity of these incidences has increased and is having dire consequences. To begin with, there are multiple types of bullying (Swearer, Espelage, & Napolitano, 2010). Bullying itself is the act of purposely intimidating another individual through verbal, physical, or emotional abuse that leads to further negative psychological implications (Cowie, Blades, & Smith, 2011). However, this act can be committed through a variety of mediums.

Physical bullying entails the causing of harm to one party from another through means that cause physical pain (Swearer, Espelage, & Napolitano, 2010). Examples of physical bullying include the constant shoving or pushing of other children who are deemed as belonging to a lower status at school. The stereotypical image of bullying is usually of physical bullying. This would be a type of direct bullying. Another type of bullying that is becoming more and more increasingly popular is cyber-bullying (Swearer, Espelage, & Napolitano, 2010). Through social media venues such as MySpace©, Facebook©, or Twitter©, children, adolescents, and teenagers are constantly exposed to rapid and consistent waves of information. Sadly, a great portion of the time, the information being shared through the Internet leads to some sort or some type of bullying situation (Boston Children's Hospital, 2013). False rumors are shared more easily and quickly through these social media websites, and videos that may not have been intended for public view are purposely posted with the intention of harming someone. The anonymity of the Internet has created and increased the number of cyber-bullying cases.

Bullying entails the intentional harm of another individual through various methods of abuse (Davies, 2011). Girls are especially known for initiating indirect bullying as a result of relational aggression. In this definition of bullying, the harm is more emotional and psychological than any of the other forms of bullying (Cowie, Blades, & Smith). Much like cyber-bullying, there is no physical harm involved, but the consequences are the same. This type of bullying entails the spreading of incorrect or sometimes unjustified rumors, name-calling, belittling school social status, or verbal abuse because for being of a diverse nature (Sweaer, Espelage, Napolitano, 2010). All of these actions cause lasting psychological harm to the parties on the receiving end (Boston Children's Hospital, 2013)

Although the unfortunate and unwanted consequences of bullying are well documented in the media, the causes for bullying are not adequately advertised. The person committing the act of bullying is usually the result of poor adult supervision (Sweaer, Espelage, Napolitano, 2010). These children are stereotypically not watched over in their homes, have a poor or nonexistent sense of social structure, and are known for consistently developing attitudes of defiance (Cowie, Blades, & Smith, 2011). The empathy that is not felt by the perpetrator as he or she is committing psychological damage to another individual is extremely characteristic of bullying. The combination of all of these attributes leads to the development of an individual who will not care about hurting others, and therefore will continue to bully others as a result (Davies, 2011).

Bullying can have a variety of causes. While characteristically a bully is already possessing some of the qualities that have lead him or her to become a bully in the first place, bullying can be caused by differences in views and opinions toward other cultures, ethnicities, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, or social standing (Cowie, Blades, & Smith, 2011). Although these attitudes could develop as a result of a bad experience with one individual belonging to the specific category, a bully will lack the compassion necessary to understand the differences and will continue to do harm and cause psychological afflictions. Aside from the discriminatory attitudes that the bully may have, a sense of superiority and higher excellence felt by him or her may aid the continuation of the bullying (Sweaer, Espelage, Napolitano, 2010). When children grow…