Bullying essay

Take a moment, and just imagine. Imagine you are playing hide and seek with a sibling or friend. You are searching for a place to hide when you see an old trunk that your grandmother owned. You think it’s a perfect spot to hide, so you hide in it. After you are in, you close the top and wait. You wait and wait for your sibling or friend to come and find you.

They never do.

You just give up after a while and try to open the top, but it won’t open.

It’s locked.

You are stuck in the trunk, possibly for hours or more.

That’s what it feels like to be a person affected by bullying. They are trapped. Trapped in a tight space, with the choice to fight for their way out, or die.

Bullying can emotionally scar you for life whether you think so or not. It’s a part of everyone’s life, and once you get bullied, you are never the same again.

There are different types of bullying; physical, verbal, emotional, and cyber. These kinds of bullying are very common nowadays whether it’s in high school, middle school, at work, or elementary school. 30% of the teenagers in the U.S. are either a bully or a victim of bullying. But that does not mean bullying is not an issue in other countries. One of the causes of bullying is people feeling that they are better than others. You may know someone who wouldn’t necessarily win a beauty contest, or someone who struggles with being overweight. These physical appearances are noticed within seconds of someone catching a glimpse of someone else, but just because they are noticed that does not mean that they just stay in someone’s mind. Some people were born prone to speaking their mind, or some just like to say it out loud to get laughs from others around them. You might have got picked on for wearing clothing that isn’t up to others’ standards, or you might have got picked on for being overweight at some point in your life. You matter where you are in life you can never be good enough for the people around you, and those bullies picking out your flaws are the major reason for bullying.

Another cause of bullying is insecurity. No, not the insecurity coming from the victim. The insecurity coming from bully. Each bully has gone through something in their life that caused them to be cruel to others and bully people. Some people grew up in an abusive home, or some people are insecure from others so they try to act superior by bullying people smaller than them. Insecurity is probably one of the most common things in the U.S. and worldwide. Nobody ever feels comfortable in their body and happy all the time. They never feel like they are good enough for others. Insecurity is in both the bully and the victim, most of the time the insecurity in the victim coming from the bully.

There are many possible effects of bullying. One of the major effects of bullying is teen suicide. Most people go through bullying for their whole life and it gets to a point to where they just can’t take it anymore. So much loneliness and anger and fear has built up for so long and it gets to the point where they think the only way out is to kill them self. They don’t want to live anymore. It’s not just teenagers who have thoughts of it though. High schoolers and middle schoolers are the most common people who have suicide thoughts. Bullying results in 4,400 deaths per year. For every suicide among young people, there are at least 100 suicide attempts. Bullying is a key cause of teen suicide.

Another everyday effect of bullying is self harm. Teenagers get bullied frequently and it builds up so much pain that cutting their wrist relieves the pain. Knives are one of the most common items used in cutting. Teenagers get the weapon, and go into the bathroom to cut themselves and watch their wrist bleed to relieve the pain caused by everyday bullies. It’s really a terrible thing what just saying someone is ugly or calling them stupid can do to their life and body. Suicide and cutting are very common effects of bullying.

If you have ever been a bully, or a victim, just stop for a moment and realize what you are doing. Your mean words can do so much more to someone than you think. I personally have been bullied pretty much all of my life, believe it or not. The person next to you right now could be a victim of bullying. Sometimes the people you least expect are the ones who get hurt the worst. While that girl over there seems perfectly fine, she also cries herself to sleep every night. That guy over there that is overweight? Yeah, he has an eating disorder. That girl that cakes her face in makeup? She was abused as a child and she used the makeup to cover up the scars. You can’t judge someone just by their appearance. They have a story that you haven’t even tried to read yet. So I challenge you. Someone that you see getting bullied, go up to them and tell him that they are beautiful and extremely amazing. You just might save a life.