“Can Bullying be Stopped?”
Before we can discuss why people bully and if it can be stopped, we first need to have a clear understanding of what bullying is. Some consider bullying to be purposeful attempts to control another person through verbal abuse - which can be in tone of voice or in content such as teasing or threats - exclusion, or physical bullying or violence, which the victim does not want. While some ties the feature of "peer abuse" and "repeated activity" into the definition of bullying, others acknowledge single instances and age difference in their definitions of bullying. Bullying occurs in schools, workplaces, in homes, on playgrounds, in the military, and in nursing homes. For example, in the article, "Uncovering the hidden causes of bullying and school violence" published in Counseling and Human Development in February, 2000, Barry K. Weinhold states, that bullying is the most common type of violence in contemporary US society. (Weinhold)
The statistics of bullying are surprising, 1 out of 3 middle and high school students reported being bullied, and 900,000 high school students reported being cyber bullied during the 2007 school year. These statistics are very disturbing because victims of bullying are more likely to be depressed, have low self-esteem, experience physical ailments, and dislike school. There is also a greater chance the child could harm themselves. (Bjorem)
In a culture that is fascinated with winning, power, and violence, some experts suggest that it is unrealistic to expect that people will not be influenced to seek power through violence in their own lives. Researchers point to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as glorification of bullies in the name of entertainment and point out that the high rate of domestic violence means that many young people grow up expecting that violence is an acceptable way to get what one wants.(North Dakota State University)
If the institution at which the bullying takes place -...