Bullying in High School

 

 Clàudia Ayuso

Bullying is far too common nowadays. Let’s face it, most of us have been bullied before whether it’s due to appearance, the way we view things, or race. Bullying also causes the victim to seclude themselves from the outside world and sometimes become the bully. For instance, parents might say that bullying is a part of life, well it isn’t; at least it shouldn’t be. According to the University of Utah’s Health department, “About 60% of kids don't tell an adult if they are being bullied. Many kids don't report it because they worry that nothing will be done or that they will be partially blamed…” (University of Utah Health department, 2023) If bullying is really that bad of an impact on students to where they don’t tell their parents, is that really a part of life? There are also many types of bullying like cyberbullying and verbal bullying; just to name a few. To get a better understanding we first have to figure out what exactly is ​​​​​Bullying? According to Cynthia Vinney at verywellmind, "Bullying is defined as any intentional, repeated aggressive behavior directed by a perpetrator against a target in the same age group. One of the most noteworthy components of bullying is an imbalance of power between the bully and the victim. Sometimes, the power imbalance is obvious when, for example, a bigger, stronger kid bullies a weaker, smaller kid or when a group of people bullies a single individual. However, sometimes the power imbalance is more difficult to discern because it involves less obvious factors, such as differences in popularity, intelligence, or ability, or knowledge of the information the victim finds embarrassing." (2024 Vinney)

Bullying is most common in high school and can be caused by many things like name calling. It’s not just name calling though, there are way more ways someone can get bullied. According to an article by the “Institute of Education Sciences” the most common ways people get bullied is either being "subject to rumors or being made fun of, called names, or even being insulted.” (2018 Institute of Education Sciences)

Institute of Education Sciences​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

​​​​

When talking about bullying, there's always a "How" but never a "​​​​​​Where".For instance, some of the most common places that students are bullied are in a "Hallway or Stairwell, Classroom, or Cafeteria" (2017 USCOnline). And there are many more places a high schooler can get bullied, but those are just the main places. For instance, the school bus and the bathrooms are some more commonly known places someone can get bullied.

USCOnline

But there should also be a focus on what happens to bullying victims after being bullied? Well a bully victim could become a bully themselves or even a -perpetrator-. And to back this claim, the “Perspectives in Education” states, “Being both a perpetrator and a victim of bullying was found to be as a result of a belief that being a victim of bullying makes one less respectable and bullying others brings back the lost respect. Victims also feel the need to make others suffer the pain of being bullied that they are going through so as not to suffer alone. Victims also bully others as a form of self-protection and defense against being bullied.” (Shiba, Dudu, and Kebogile Mokwena 2024)

There are many ​​​types of bullying. But there are 6 categories of bullying that are the most significant and they are: Physical bullying, verbal bullying, relational bullying, cyberbullying, sexual bullying, & prejudicial bullying. The first category of bullying is physical bullying,  “Physical bullying involves any assault on a person's body, including hitting, kicking, tripping, or pushing. It can also extend to inappropriate hand gestures or stealing or breaking a victims' belongings.” (2024 Vinney) An example of this is if someone threw a rock at you for looking weird. The second category of bullying  is Verbal Bullying, “Verbal bullying involves using spoken or written words to insult or intimidate a victim. It includes name-calling, teasing, and even threats.” (2024 Vinney) An example of this is cursing someone out for looking at them funny. The third category  of bullying is relational bullying. “Relational bullying, which is also referred to as relational aggression or social bullying, involves actions intended to harm a victim's reputation or relationships. It can include embarrassing the victim in public, spreading rumors, purposely leaving them out of social situations, or ostracizing them from a group.” (2024 Vinney) An example of relational bullying is pouring water on someone's head in front of a busy hallway. The fourth category of bullying is cyberbullying, “Cyberbullying is bullying that happens via electronic devices like computers, smart phones, and tablets. It can take place over text messages, social media, apps, or online forums and involves posting or sending harmful content, including messages and photos, and sharing personal information that causes humiliation.” (2024 Vinney) An example of cyberbullying is posting unfavorable comments on someone's social media post. The fifth category of bullying is Sexual Bullying, “Sexual bullying is online or in-person bullying that involves sexual comments or actions, including sexual jokes and name-calling, crude gestures, spreading sexual rumors, sending sexual photos or videos, and touching or grabbing someone without permission.” (2024 Vinney) An example of sexual bullying is talking to someone in a sexual way to make them uncomfortable. The 6th and final category of bullying is prejudicial bullying, “Prejudicial bullying involves online or in-person bullying based on the target's race, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation. It is based on stereotypes and is often a result of the belief that some people deserve to be treated with less respect than others.” An example of prejudicial bullying is saying that a mexicans favorite food is tacos. 

In conclusion, Bullying is far too common nowadays. Let’s face it, most of us have been bullied before whether it’s due to appearance, the way we view things, or race. Bullying also causes the victim to seclude themselves from the outside world and sometimes become the bully.

Bullying in High School

 

​​University of Utah Health

Bullying is far too common nowadays. Let’s face it, most of us have been bullied before whether it’s due to appearance, the way we view things, or race. Bullying also causes the victim to seclude themselves from the outside world and sometimes become the bully. For instance, parents might say that bullying is a part of life, well it isn’t, at least it shouldn’t be. According to the University of Utah’s Health department, “About 60% of kids don't tell an adult if they are being bullied. Many kids don't report it because they worry that nothing will be done or that they will be partially blamed…” (University of Utah Health department, 2023) If bullying is really that bad of an impact on students to where they don’t tell their parents, is that really a part of life?  There are also many types of bullying like cyberbullying and verbal bullying; just to name a few. To get a better understanding we first have to figure out what exactly is ​​​​​Bullying? According to Cynthia Vinney at verywellmind, "Bullying is defined as any intentional, repeated aggressive behavior directed by a perpetrator against a target in the same age group. One of the most noteworthy components of bullying is an imbalance of power between the bully and the victim. Sometimes, the power imbalance is obvious when, for example, a bigger, stronger kid bullies a weaker, smaller kid or when a group of people bullies a single individual. However, sometimes the power imbalance is more difficult to discern because it involves less obvious factors, such as differences in popularity, intelligence, or ability, or knowledge of the information the victim finds embarrassing." (2024 Vinney)

Bullying is mostly found in high school and can be caused by many things like name calling. It’s not just name calling though, there are way more ways someone can get bullied. According to an article by the “Institute of Education Sciences” the most common ways people get bullied is either being "subject to rumors or being made fun of, called names, or even being insulted.” (2018 Institute of Education Sciences)

Institute of Education Sciences​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

​​​​

When talking about bullying, there's always a "How" but never a "​​​​​​Where". For instance, some of the most common places that students are bullied are in a "Hallway or Stairwell, Classroom, or Cafeteria" (2017 USCOnline). And there are many more places a high schooler can get bullied, but those are just the main places. For instance, the school bus and the bathrooms are some more commonly known places someone can get bullied.

USCOnline

But there should also be a focus on what happens to bullying victims after being bullied? Well a bully victim could become a bully themselves or even a -perpetrator-. And to back this claim, the “Perspectives in Education” states, “Being both a perpetrator and a victim of bullying was found to be as a result of a belief that being a victim of bullying makes one less respectable and bullying others brings back the lost respect. Victims also feel the need to make others suffer the pain of being bullied that they are going through so as not to suffer alone. Victims also bully others as a form of self-protection and defense against being bullied.” (Shiba, Dudu, and Kebogile Mokwena 2024)

There are many ​​​types of bullying. But there are 6 categories of bullying that are the most significant and they are: Physical bullying, verbal bullying, relational bullying, cyberbullying, sexual bullying, & prejudicial bullying. The first category of bullying is physical bullying, “Physical bullying involves any assault on a person's body, including hitting, kicking, tripping, or pushing. It can also extend to inappropriate hand gestures or stealing or breaking a victims' belongings.” (2024 Vinney) An example of this is if someone threw a rock at you for looking weird. The second category of bullying is Verbal Bullying, “Verbal bullying involves using spoken or written words to insult or intimidate a victim. It includes name-calling, teasing, and even threats.” (2024 Vinney) An example of this is cursing someone out for looking at them funny. The third category of bullying is relational bullying. “Relational bullying, which is also referred to as relational aggression or social bullying, involves actions intended to harm a victim's reputation or relationships. It can include embarrassing the victim in public, spreading rumors, purposely leaving them out of social situations, or ostracizing them from a group.” (2024 Vinney) An example of relational bullying is pouring water on someone's head in front of a busy hallway. The fourth category of bullying is cyberbullying, “Cyberbullying is bullying that happens via electronic devices like computers, smart phones, and tablets. It can take place over text messages, social media, apps, or online forums and involves posting or sending harmful content, including messages and photos, and sharing personal information that causes humiliation.” (2024 Vinney) An example of cyberbullying is posting unfavorable comments on someone's social media post. The fifth category of bullying is Sexual Bullying, “Sexual bullying is online or in-person bullying that involves sexual comments or actions, including sexual jokes and name-calling, crude gestures, spreading sexual rumors, sending sexual photos or videos, and touching or grabbing someone without permission.” (2024 Vinney) An example of sexual bullying is talking to someone in a sexual way to make them uncomfortable. The 6th and final category of bullying is prejudicial bullying, “Prejudicial bullying involves online or in-person bullying based on the target's race, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation. It is based on stereotypes and is often a result of the belief that some people deserve to be treated with less respect than others.” An example of prejudicial bullying is saying that a mexicans favorite food is tacos. 

Sam Miller

In conclusion, Bullying is far too common nowadays. Let’s face it, most of us have been bullied before whether it’s due to appearance, the way we view things, or race. Bullying also causes the victim to seclude themselves from the outside world and sometimes become the bully.

Harassment in the Workplace

 

Have you ever heard or seen someone yelling at one another over some food in your workplace?  This type of behavior is verbal harassment, and it happens way too often for people to just brush off their shoulder.  This is happening to many young Americans today and ruining the work experience for them.   

Imagine yourself, you’re 16 years old and a few weeks into your first job.  You just got to know your co-workers around you and found them to be really nice.  Then. On a random workday one of your managers starts to get screamed at and threatened to go outside to “settle this”.  I don’t think anyone would want to work in an environment where the customer is this toxic and rude to employees.   

Well, this is the exact experience that happened to me, and I’m still at that job to this day.  As I was watching my manager get told to fight outside, all I could do was just stand and watch since the customers are always right.  Knowing I couldn’t do anything in the moment I start to think about the future and what could possibly happen next.  I started to think about how I could calm all the staff down after seeing what had just happened in the window.  After she pulled away unnecessarily fast, everyone was shell shocked at my manager's face when she turned around.  But no one was hurt, everyone was just a little shook up at the end of the day. 

This doesn’t just happen occasionally, the problem with verbal harassment is still on the rise in America.  with 66% of US employees saying they had experienced or witnessed verbal harassment in the past month.  This is a huge problem, and I don’t understand why people think they will always get their way whenever they raise their voice or have to threaten someone.  If everyone just treated people with the respect, they deserve none of this would have to be experienced. 

What if someone were to fight another person over a food item.  Then the worker would be in the wrong even if the customer started it first.  The business would probably get shut down after that and the customer would get a lawsuit against them.  Nothing would be in the worker's favor.   

Verbal harassment is something very powerful and can change how you think just by something so small being said. In fact, there is research suggesting that, in childhood, verbal abuse can quite literally change the developing structure of the brain.  This is terrible since children look up to parents or adults for the truth and to care for them, but if children start to get harassed by them, who are they going to trust? This could result in children developing poor adult mental health and could ruin the rest of their childhood.   

Patience is the biggest part of this problem.  Some people think fast food is instant food.  It’s not.  It actually takes a good number of people to run a fast-food business and if one of them can't make it, it slows the whole line down.  Also, if there's a long line in the front of the building you don't have to wait, just go inside.   

On this day, the women that was yelling at my manager went through the drive-thru knowing the inside was empty.  She could’ve easily parked her car and come inside with no problems, but she didn’t want to walk.  And the line was almost to the street, so she knew what she was getting into.  The wait was only about 20-30 minutes, and we were working our hardest inside. Everyone else in the line didn’t really mind the wait because they have patience.  This singular woman had to ruin mine and my co-workers' days. 

How this can be prevented is the question all the workers that have seen or gone through verbal harassment problem have been asking.  There are many ways I found to prevent verbal harassment in the workplace on a website called workplace fairness.  Some of them start training the employees for times when they will experience harassment.  Regular training sessions can help employees and management recognize, prevent, and respond to harassment.  Another way to prevent harassment is creating policies for whenever anyone thinks a customer is harassing them or one of their coworkers.  Employers should create and enforce comprehensive anti-harassment policies that define unacceptable behaviors and outline reporting procedures.  There are many ways to prevent this from happening, but many just don't put the time or effort in to do it.  The easiest way is to be just as kind as you can to the customer, and if this doesn’t work just walk away and have someone else deal with the rude customer. 

If any harassment of any kind is ever happening to you, there is always someone or multiple people willing to talk it out with you and stop whatever is happening.  I found a website called synthro that helps identify and respond to harassment issues.  Even if you don’t know if it’s harassment, reach out just to verify.  You never know what you may be dealing with, and it’s better safe than sorry. 

Save our Veterans!

Tens of thousands of American soldiers get injured every year. A great deal of injuries include major limb damage, and even amputation. In world war II, at least 15,000 veterans had to undergo these rigorous surgeries. In recent years, with the Iraq war, even more soldiers have had to go through battlefield amputations. Without prosthetics, many of these veterans would be left dealing with America’s lack of care towards accessible spaces. Both older and younger veterans. At your local grocery store, aisles could be too tight to fit a wheelchair. Restaurants would have automatic doors that barely open, if there’s any at all! Even ramps aren’t safe from neglect. These patriots who gave their legs and arms to help our country are left with barely anything, as our government is too busy pouring our hard earned money towards indoctrinating children with woke nonsense.

NATIONAL COUNCIL ON DISABILITY BUDGET 2023 – 2024

What you’re looking at is the budget proposal for the Council of Disability. The money spent here goes towards enacting policies and regulations towards disabled people. What does this have to do with accessibility you ask? These policies and regulations help keep public spaces accessible, and for them to only spend a meager 4 million dollars across the whole country is pathetic. The same amount of money used was to help fund a 3 week “culturally-responsive” computer coding program towards gender confused children, whatever the hell that means.

The point I’m trying to make is that the government simply doesn’t care about these disabled individuals. If they did, they’d be wiser with their spending habits. Too many officials are getting bonuses while leaving disabled veterans without care.

The main issue here? The ADA is just a law. You can make buildings “ADA compliant” but what does that exactly mean? We’re putting all of our goodwill towards these architects and contractors, and they spit in our faces cutting corners just to save money. This is discrimination. If we simply had a program that could, y’know, help fund these necessary features, then everyone would be happy. This is where the dreaded DEI argument arises. DOGE is destroying a program that benefits many of our American patriots. While the term “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion” may sound nice, recently it’s become an excuse for the left to sneak in their absurd LGBTQ policies, and now everyone is suffering. Disabled people very much fit into DEI. Instead of gutting the entire program, our president could divert funding to actually helping people that need it. But alas, that’s not what the government thinks is useful. They think that pouring even MORE money into the military and space and flying cars is going to fix every problem in society.

 

 

What the hell are we going to do once inevitably more soldiers come home from deployment, stuck in a wheelchair, and have to deal with the hellscape that is the Department of Veteran Affairs? Disability claims go unanswered, walkways go unfixed, programs that help fund accessibility get cut and now they’re left having to deal with the aftermath. They are punished for serving our country.

 

There’s another argument that could be made here, why should we make places more accessible when we could just give everybody prosthetics? No more wheelchair ramps, and no more having to change everything. We simply cant. Hard stop there. Sure, it would be an easy solution. But think about our demographic for a second. Older folk may not like prosthetics, it’s a painful thing. They could also be at risk or be paralyzed below the waist. Keeping prosthetics clean is a whole other ballpark, it’s just a whole lot of upkeep. Younger veterans could wear prosthetics, they are in good shape, but the idea that simply fitting everybody into the same mold to work around an issue instead of just fixing it is a pipe dream.

 

I think it’s time that Trump takes a long hard look at what DOGE is really doing. Sure, DOGE will get rid of the woke left policies, families will be deported, money will start flowing in. But what about the people that are already here? In the long term, nothing is going to be changed until the elephant in the room is addressed. If DOGE really has cut over 60 billion in federal costs, then there’s no problem in giving a little money to help such a large demographic of his supporters. It’s clear that there’s no easy solution to implementing accessibility. You can’t just throw money at a problem and expect it to be fixed, you can’t fix a problem by firing and stamping out an entire group of people. The issue of disabled veterans being left in the dust has been stated time and time again across decades, and it’s time we do something about it.