Of course, bullying, a global issue, is a cause of concern in many countries. In different countries, bullying, rendered as a form of aggressive behavior in which someone intentionally and repeatedly causes another person injury or discomfort. is there in schools, communities, workplaces and other places across countries. Indeed, many experience bullying but children and adolescents face bullying more. Moreover, online bullying or cyber bullying, which is verbal threats or harassing behaviors conducted through electronic technology such as cell phones, email, social media or even text messaging, has recently become a new phenomenon and cause of growing concern in many countries.
Of course, bullying that takes the form of verbal bullying (such as teasing, insulting name-calling and threatening to cause harm), social bullying (such as leaving someone out on purpose, spreading rumors about someone and embarrassing someone in public) and physical bullying (such as hitting, spitting and making mean gestures) occurs in all developed, developing and less developed countries including the United States and the United Kingdom. According to the 2019 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey (National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Justice) of the United States, around 22 percent of students aged 12–18 years experienced bullying. Bullying in communities and workplaces is also significant, though there is a lack of specific information on this.
Of course, there are different social, emotional and other reasons for bullying. It reflects an imbalance of power between those who are bullied and those who bully others. Social orientation and gender identity can influence some to bully others. Family dysfunctions (parental disharmony), a lack of nurturing of children and emotional support to them by the family, and harsh disciplinary measures in the family are some important factors that can influence many children and adolescents to bully others. Of course, the influence of peer groups plays a very important role in bullying. This is especially the case for children and adolescents. Low self-esteem, a lack of compassion and empathy and a craving for attention of those who bully also can influence them to bully others.
But bullying leads to negative emotional, physical and other effects. Children and teenagers are mostly affected by bullying. Of course, the negative effects of bullying can bring long term mental problems to some of those who are bullied. Consequently, negative effects on children can also persist into adulthood. Some notable effects can be depression and anxiety, increased feelings of sadness and loneliness, changes or disturbances in sleep and eating patterns, the loss of interest in activities and injury or other physical harm. Some students may experience low performance and low grades because of bullying. But it is not that those who are bullied are negatively affected, those who bully can also be negatively affected. Indeed, those who bully can get involved with alcohol abuse and different sorts of criminal activities.
Undeniably, there are efforts to prevent bullying in schools and communities in different countries. In some countries, there are school based programs aiming at the prevention of bullying that hinders the path of success, growth and development. Besides, the police are active especially to control online or cyber bullying. But efforts are not as effective as is needed. Thus, more needs to be done to prevent bullying and mitigate its negative effects especially on children and adolescents. Of course, all the causes of bullying and challenges to its prevention need to be well-addressed in different countries including the United Kingdom. In this respect, school based programs need to be taken targeting those who are bullied and those who bully others. Those who bully need to be discouraged from it. The media can also highlight the negative impacts of bullying.
But in the prevention of bullying and mitigating its effects, the emphasis needs to be given to developing or improving the capacity of those who are bullied to deal with bullying, which is unlikely to be completely prevented. Indeed, the capacity to defend oneself from bullying is very significant as many bullied individuals typically have trouble defending themselves from bullying or a lack of social skills needed to deal with bullying and difficulty in maintaining social relations. In this respect, the role of family and educational institutes is very important.
