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How Bullying Affects the Minds and Bodies of the

Young Kids Being Affected on Both Sides

Alexis Hale

Nevada State College

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How Bullying Affects the Minds and Bodies of the

Young Kids Being Affected on Both Sides

Numerous articles and stories have been written to provide some of the negative effects

of the young children affected in the topic of bullying in school environments. Bullying is a

controversial topic, others write about it, while others want to do things but do not have the

courage to do so and take some action. Bullying is a serious effect in someone's life in many

negative ways. Contradictory ideas towards bullying is kids just need to toughen up and will be

fine, even though it goes farther than that.However, it is devastating to watch a child has to go

through all that pain and trauma and feel alone and scared of school, and how they are not

willing to help them. The negative effects all start in the education departments and where it

continues to grow negatively for those young children.

Discussion

Through the past years, the idea of bullying has changed significantly as the education

department has changed too. The idea of bullying has only been what happens physically but

they do not realize the effects of them mentally, which is a lot more lasting than physical pain.

Though, not only are the ones being bullied are affected by the outcomes, but the ones who are

creating the bullying scenarios. They have much more mental pain than the one who is being

affected. Not many individuals see that this is a two way street and both of them are affected for

the worse, affecting them in the school environment.

Definition of Bullying

The dictionary states that the definition of bullying is “seek to harm, intimidate, or coerce

(someone perceived as vulnerable) (Ditconary.com).” However, the definition is highly incorrect

and does not cover all the bases of what the actual definition should be. The true definition of
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bullying should be “someone being harmed physically and mentally through many different

scenarios such as in person or online.” Also, has many lasting effects for them as they continue

to grow into an adult with negative effects on them for almost 10 years. All of this happens in the

environment of the schools. Schools take precautions but does not stop all that is happening for

the children. “According to StopBullying.gov, a website managed by the U.S. Department of

Health & Human Services, nearly 50% of students in grades 4 through 12 experienced bullying

within a given month and more than 70% of students admit to having seen bullying occurs in

their school (Barrington, K, 1).” The signs are everywhere, but there are those who choose to

ignore them. The school departments have been slowly disregarding bullying, and every year

there are fewer precautions taken.

Those Being Bullied Affected

Young kids at around the ages of 6-13, enjoy being able to go to school and learn and

grow with their friends and teacher. However, that joy of learning can drastically change as just

so much as one person can change that young child for the worse. Bullying in schools occur

more than they may think, but there is nothing that they are able to do unless that child is able to

come forward and tell but is afraid. That fear of the bullying affects their success in the

classroom, in a negative direction. Mr. K Barrington of of the article “ How does Bullying Affect

a Students Academic Performance, gives detailed information on “According to this UCLA

study, Jaana Juvonen, a professor of psychology at UCLA and lead author of the study, bullying

and low academic achievement are frequently linked. Juvonen is quoted saying, “students who

are repeatedly bullied receive poorer grades and participate less in class discussions… students

may get mislabeled as low achievers because they do not want to speak up in class for fear of
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getting bullied”. Juvenon also remarked that “Once students get labeled as ‘dumb,’ they get

picked on and perform even worse”. another piece of evidence that will be used is “ According to

the Michigan Association of School Administrators, the effects of bullying extend far beyond the

academic scope. Students who are repeatedly bullied may experience physical symptoms like

stomach pains, headaches, and trouble sleeping. These side effects may pair with anxiety about

going to school or participating in class which only leads to further loss of interest and reduced

academic performance. Students who are bullied often exhibit low self-confidence, frequently

experiencing depression, suicidal thoughts, and even violent outbreaks”. With the negative

effects in the school, this affects their education significantly and especially for those who are

being bullied have a bit more coming for them then the bully themselves. Education or School

should be a place for them to feel safe, but if the students are unable to feel safe and not want to

come to school because they are afraid. Then there academic performances will decrease

dramatically and possibly jeopardize their futures.

How The Bullies are Affected. Those in our society think they should only feel sympathy for

those who are being preyed on which is the case, but nobody really stops and looks at the other

side of it. The one who is starting it in the first place, the problems they may have which affect

the school has on stopping the bullying but being able to help as well for their grades and future

too. Another type of article was written by L. Blumen, “ How does bullying affect the bully?”,

the author gives evidence such as “ For example, research suggests that students who bully are

more likely to engage in violent behavior, to steal or vandalize property, to smoke, to drink, to

report poor grades, and to carry a gun. The results of multiple long-term research studies suggest

that these students are also more likely to commit serious crimes later in life. Unfortunately, it is
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not always easy to spot a bully. Bullies can be some of the students with the highest social skills

or the best grades – they may even be good at ingratiating themselves with administrators,

teachers, and other adults.” The explanation will be that the effects of bullying are a cycle and

its a never ending of negative effects and it's like a disease and will spread to others thinking that

it's the way to act. Another piece of evidence to bring in is “Bullies had some additional and

different risks, demonstrating a 4-5 times increased risk for antisocial personality disorder

(described as a lack of empathy, lying, and criminal behavior). Earlier studies have shown that as

bullies grow up, they tend to have more problems holding down jobs, more problems in

relationships, more issues with drugs and alcohol, and are more likely to have police records.

Bully-targets suffer the most severe and widest-ranging consequences. They run a 5-fold risk of

depression and a 10-25 fold risk of various panic disorders.” More of the bullya negative effects

are more long lasting than short term. They are able to develop different disabilities which

affects their ability to learn and need to have some special requests on how they are able to learn

and the best way for them with the difficulties that they may have. The schools do not take into

account that they bully may be going through something and punish them, when in reality they

should be helping their students and have them become the best they can be. Schools neglect

most of the time bullying in general but there are ways that they can be better and help them, and

become better as an education department across the country.

Ways of Improving the Bullying. There are many steps that schools can take to ensure there

students are having a great learning environment, but a lot of the schools ignore them. A young

lady named Maria Wallace wrote an article targeting schools called “ Ways Schools Can Prevent

Bullying” written in Psychology Today states “Professionals should teach the children skills for
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handling bullies through role-playing and other techniques. For example, the students can write

plays and act out different bullying scenarios in the classroom. Each child should act out being

the bully, the bully’s supporter and the victim, to gain a more tangible understanding.” These

types of scenarios are more for the younger side of bullying when the children are still

developing, this is a way for the schools to have the students catch on the concept at an earlier

stage. Though there are some ways for the older side of the spectrum with 8th grade to 12th

grade. At this age most of the students know what it is and it may not occur as much as at a

younger age but the effects are brutal. In this age spectrum, the students are more self conscious.

There was an unknown author who had written an article called “How parents, teachers and kids

can take action to prevent bullying” and this one begins to get into more depth with adolescent

teens. States that “Students and parents need to be a part of the solution and involved in safety

teams and anti bullying task forces. Students can inform adults about what is really going on and

also teach adults about new technologies that kids are using to bully. Parents, teachers, and

school administrators can help students engage in positive behavior and teach them skills so that

they know how to intervene when bullying occurs. Older students can serve as mentors and

inform younger students about safe practices on the Internet. Schools and classrooms must offer

students a safe learning environment. Teachers and coaches need to explicitly remind students

that bullying is not accepted in school and such behaviors will have consequences. Creating an

anti-bullying document and having both the student and the parents/guardians sign and return it

to the school office helps students understand the seriousness of bullying. Also, for students who

have a hard time adjusting or finding friends, teachers and administrators can facilitate

friendships or provide “jobs” for the student to do during lunch and recess so that children do not

feel isolated or in danger of becoming targets for bullying.” They want the students to be able to
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open up and come forward to other adults. Schools should be creating ways for them to come to

them openly and have no fear. Otherwise, if they do not come forward then there is no way that

the schools can help and ensure the students.

Conclusions and Future Research

In order to gain a complete understanding on this delicate matter, it is necessary to

conduct more research on the topic. Bullying is a cycle of just negativity all the time and there

are ways to prevent it if the young children are willing to make those steps to get there. School

departments would be willing to make those extra steps to help those who are in need of the

support. Throughout the paper, the topic of discussion was explored through the different minds

of others, those bullied, who are bullying, and those who want to help or need help. Schools

should be a safe environment and in order to do that, the students need to have no fear of coming

to school. Instead be able to be excited to go out and learn. Some of the different future research

that should be conducted is conducting studies on the behavior of those bullied and relating it to

crime with the long term effects that have happened due to the incidents that may have happened

in their younger life. Another thing to conduct further research on is not only the effects that it

may have in school but also the effects it will have on the families of both sides of the kids. Ones

who are bullied and the bulliers, how school life may also affect their home life and vice versa.
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References

Barrington, K. (2016, March 22). How Does Bullying Affect a Student's

Academic Performance? Retrieved January 14, 2020, from

https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/how-does-bullying-affect-a-students-

academic-performance.

Blumen, L., & Bullying Prevention Tips. (2013, June 16). How Does Bullying

Affect the Bully? Retrieved January 14, 2020, from https://bullyingepidemic.com/how-

does-bullying-affect-the-bully/.
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Wallace, M. (2012, December 4). 7 Ways Schools Can Prevent Bullying.

Retrieved January 14, 2020, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/how-raise-

happy-cooperative-child/201212/7-ways-schools-can-prevent-bullying.

Bullying: Symptoms & Causes: Boston Children's Hospital. (2005). Retrieved

January 14, 2020, from http://www.childrenshospital.org/conditions-and-

treatments/conditions/b/bullying/symptoms-and-causes.

How parents, teachers and kids can take action to prevent bullying. (2011).

Retrieved January 14, 2020, from

https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/bullying.

Hurley, K. (2014, July). Short Term and Long Term Effects of Bullying:

Psychological & Societal. Retrieved January 14, 2020, from

https://www.psycom.net/effects-of-bullying.