THE EVOLUTION OF BULLYING: PAST TO PRESENT

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Remember the phrase, "Snitches get stitches" heard on the playground growing up? In the past, bullying was when boys or girls wrote nasty comments on bathroom stalls about a person. A boy pulling a girl's bra in the hallway during a passing period. Or a popular jock spreading rumors that he had sex with a particular girl. There were incidences of violence by students but they were much fewer then it is now. Today, bullying techniques are displayed on a forum which is more visible and shared with a larger number of people. Also, we see more incidences of violence by both victims and bullies. Some examples are when a student's hair is cut by another peer, guns and other weapons are brought to school, and students posting suicide notes or videos on Social Media because they are being bullied.

How can we STOP bullying? There are many things we as STUDENTS, PARENTS, and ADULTS can do to STOP this problem. First we, need to understand the problem.

The Cycle of Bullying

The Victim- An individual or a couple of people who are being victimized by a person, pair, or group of people for a particular reason.
Bystanders- People who witness the bullying and take a stands to stop the incident from taking place.
Passive Bystanders- Individuals who witness the bullying but do nothing to stop it.
Followers- Friends of the bully who help carry out bullying behaviors/acts.
The Bully- This is a person or a number of persons who target victim(s) using bullying behaviors such as exclusion/isolation, harassment, intimidation, gossiping, and spreading rumors to name a few.

The bully will use the tactic of Exclusion/Isolation. This is when the bully exclude a particular person(s) from a group for a number of reasons. For example a clique will make a pack amongst themselves to exclude various girls from hanging out with them. Another example is when a group use a LIST to exclude others based on characteristics such as being "Ugly", "Emo", "Geeks", or "THOTs" (Those Hos over There). Another tactic being used is Harassment and Intimidation. This is where a person or group takes items from another student, and bother them in class such as constantly hitting or touching. Also, they may say mean things deliberately to not be heard by the teacher. There are incidences where harassment occur from previous friends of the victim where these friends send anonymous and threatening texts. Gossiping and Spreading Rumors continues to exist to this day. This technique is discussed at school by traditional word of mouth, texts, and spreading rumors in chat rooms. Social Media has exacerbate bullying to a new level of attacking, belittling, and disrespecting where individuals show a lack of remorse for engaging in bullying behaviors. Social Media that may be used are Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Tumblr, and many more. Also, students use various Apps such as Kirk Messenger, GroupMe, and WhatsApp to name a few. Many of these apps are free, provide unlimited messages, have no restriction on lengths, texts will not show up on individual's phones and these apps are hard to monitor by parents. Lastly, bullies will use Social Media to post videos and pictures of people without their consent.

We all have a role in the cycle of bullying. WE have a choice to make whether or not to ignore, exacerbate the problem, or to stand up. Being knowledgeable of these bullying tactics are detrimental on all those involved......victims.....bullies....bystanders.......passive bystanders...followers, etc., for many reasons. Simply, because we can stop anxiety, social separation, vulnerability, and death of people. We all have a RESPONSIBILITY to help stop bullying. Which Choice will you make?

VISIT THE FOLLOWING LINK TO LEARN MORE ON HOW TO STOP BULLYING.....

*Retrieved form Parentingteenagersacademy.com

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