How does this theme relate to Disability Studies?
Every day grade school kids and teenagers are scared and intimidated to go to school because of one major issue, bullying. All races, classes, and ages are affected by bullying. Surveys show that 77% of students are bullied mentally, verbally, & physically (Wofford). This has become a huge issue in America in the last 10-20 years and parents and teachers are now becoming aware of this problem (Barker). Furthermore, nearly 9 out of 10 people with learning difficulties have been bullied and many face harassment on a regular basis, says a report (“Health Disabled Complain of Widespread Bullying”). So that just goes to show almost every person that has a disability has gone through some kind of bullying. The reasons why persons with disabilities are more prone to be the ones who get picked on are because they are most likely vulnerable. The main group of children that bullies attack is children with low self-esteem, that are shy and insecure, and children that are smaller than the average students, which typically most children with disabilities fall into this category. This is shown perfectly in a South Park episode I examined. In this episode, all the kids are gathered around two kids, Cartman and a midget, which are getting ready to fight. A few of Cartman’s friends tried to stop him because the midget had a black belt in karate but Cartman said, “It’s a midget dude.” From this comment, I noticed that it doesn’t matter to people what qualities persons with disabilities have because if they have a disability then they are automatically easy targets.
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(Cartman and the Midget)
Not only does bullying affect persons with a disability, but also bullying sometimes leads a typical functioning child to a child with a disability. The long-term outcomes of bullying are the major concern of scholars trying to get the word out about bullying. Victims of bullying sometimes try to avoid school and avoid social...