By: Elizaveta Krapivina (Krasnoyarsk, Russia)

(Age: 16)
Bullying destroying society

I am sure a lot of you are aware of this widespread word called “bullying”. Most of you
naively will think that bullying is a harmless action that isn’t going to affect or impact anyone,
but unfortunately it happens in reality. Bullying is a pervasive social issue that continues to
afflict individuals across various age groups and settings. Technically, it can happen
anywhere such as at school, at work, at kindergarten or even at home. Bullying is defined as
an aggressive behaviour that intended to cause harm and affect a psychological trauma
towards the victim. It causes depression, anxiety, difficulties in focusing at school and low
self esteem.

When I was around 12 or 13 years old I moved to a new international school in Thailand. My
English wasn’t advanced enough, so I was facing difficulties speaking with other children. I
thought that the kids are friendly in this school and they will help me to improve my English,
but I was wrong. Most kids were talking horrible things behind my back and saying hurtful
words to me. I wasn’t abused physically but I was painfully verbally bullied. Because of that I
was afraid to meet new people and I was having difficulties with my low self esteem and I
didn’t want to go to school.

As you can see bullying can happen to anyone without any specific reason or something we
don’t have or can’t change it. Did you know that most of the young students have committed
suicide because of the bullying? About 14% of high school students considered suicide and
more than 7% had attempted a suicide. Have you ever wondered how the school shooting
started? 75 % of school shootings have been linked to bullying. And approximately 87% of
students surveyed report that bullying is the motivator of school shootings. The other type of
bullying is cyber bullying. Cyberbullying is similar to bullying but instead it is used with
technology such as social media in order to target a victim with abominable words.

Together we can help each other to stop the cruelty of humanity and teach others that
bullying is an offence. A wise person has once told me that you don’t have to change
yourself for anyone, otherwise you wouldn’t be happy. Be yourself. Just because you are
being bullied, doesn’t mean you are worthless. Even if you are being bullied, there is nothing
wrong with you. You can always have a chat with your family and tell them your problems at
school or talk to your friend who is loyal to you. That’s how young people can create a
peaceful future by helping others and preventing bullying.

Remember guys, bullying is not a joke. It is a serious situation that has to be stopped.
However, we can't solve problems by violence. Try to confront your bully and ask them “why
are they doing that?”. If they wouldn’t say anything or they will carry on mocking you, ignore
them and talk to the adult. Youth can change the world by changing people’s behaviour and
show them what we can do to make earth a better place. World is surrounded with cruel
people but has a small percentage of pure hearted people. For me instead of seeing a
peaceful world, I see a brutal world edged with horrible people. If we can’t solve this
problem, the dark side of the people will overpower us and our world will be covered with a
fierce future.
In my personal opinion, the youth hold the potential to shape a peaceful future by actively
engaging in education, activism, and fostering intercultural understanding. Through
education for peace, young individuals acquire the useful skills and knowledge to resolve
conflicts peacefully, especially confronting bullying. YOU CANNOT BULLY PEOPLE!
BULLYING DESTROYING SOCIETY!

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullying_and_suicide
https://www.educationcorner.com/bullying-facts-statistics-and-prevention.html