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      Why do we bully?  Why do we bring such intense discouragement to each other just to feel better about ourselves?  So many people argue about these questions, but nobody knows how to properly define the correct answer for it.  Bullying causes so much damage in the world and is one of the leading causes of mental health issues that can eventually lead to suicidal thoughts, especially in adolescents.  Of course there “is no one-size-fits-all solution to the problem” (Whitson 50), but bullying can be controlled through identification, psychological help, and adult intervention.

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      Bullying has been going on for centuries not only in the United States, but furthermore in several cultures throughout human history.  These cultures have all shown different bullying tactics molded by their society's social standards and have developed as time continues to rapidly change.  According to author Koo, “The first significant journal article which addressed bullying among young people was written by Burk [in 1897]” (107).  This one simple statement is quite mind blowing because of the fact that bullying has been recurring in history even before the 20th century.  In the early history of Scandinavia, people would describe bullying as a type of mobbing where groups would gather to inflict harm or judgment upon a single individual that the group disliked. Other types of bullying in the 18th and 19th centuries of Japan, Korea, and the U.K. had been recorded to often “take forms of isolation and physical harassment” (Koo 109), causing bullies to inflict these forms upon the unique features and qualities of their victim so they could achieve their desire to inflict harm.  Although bullying has been known to be physical and verbal in the early parts of the world, bullying has changed periodically throughout our history and has taken many new forms.  One of today’s structures of bullying is widely known as cyberbullying and transpires through technological socialization, also formerly known as social media.  Cyberbullying has caused a large shift in the bullying tactics well-known throughout history.  This “shift” is causing people who view bullying as something physical to believe that bullying is fading away, when it is actually secretly growing within the boundaries of our new technological communication system.

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      Even though bullying is a major problem among many individuals, some lawmakers, school administrators, and certain bullying experts like to state that bullying is no longer a serious issue and that it could not possibly still be harming anyone in any way.  These certain groups of people often say that bullying does not exist anymore, which can eventually promote the belief that bullying has been extinguished and that it is not an important social issue worthy of discussion any longer.  Teachers who are overloaded with what their job requires often look at interfering with bullying issues as an extra chore or as something that could not get the point across to a bully.  Author Whitson quotes what certain teachers often say about this pressing matter: ““ But I don’t have time to deal with bullying in my classroom,” [Whitson often hears] teachers say. “I’ve got standardized testing to worry about and math to teach!”” (50).  This is one of the many arguments that adults deal with when discussing bullying.  People in the 20th century have frequently denied the fact that this issue even exists, but that denial they are experiencing is not going to bring the side effects of bullying to an end.  It instead is giving bullying time to grow stronger.

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      Bullying needs to come to a stop, but current laws, rules, and regulations are not going to fill the empty hole bullying of all types creates.  We need more consistent actions made by peers/friends of bullies and victims of bullying to help bring it to a reasonable resolution.  In the book on bullying by Rosenthal, it states “More than 5.7 million teens (almost 30 percent) in the United States are estimated to be a bully, a target of bullying, or both.” (44).  This statistic indicates that kids tend to not know just how to deal with bullies.

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      The harmful tactics of bullying does not always look like child's play; it has been known to become extremely aggressive.  People may possibly be bruised, injured, or even die from its side effects.   Bullying victims, under its bad influence, have the potential to turn violent from its influence and become bullies themselves.  Victims who take the path to becoming a bully believe it will help them feel stronger “instead of feeling powerless and scared” (Mattern 13).  Bullies can make everyday things such as recess and walking with friends to the bus stop feel like the true depths of hell.  In other circumstances, it may involve harmful threats, damage to property, or someone being brutally mutilated.

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      The most beneficial things educators, administrators, parents, religious leaders, and other adults working with youth can do are often the least time-consuming.  “The key components of the bullying intervention program... are increased adult supervision in all areas of the school, increased consequences for bullying behavior, and a clear message that bullying will not be tolerated.” (Rosenthal 85).  Training peer mediators, designing attention-getting bulletin boards, and keeping up with complex reward systems are no match for the one-minute check-in or the 15 seconds it takes for a knowledgeable teacher to let an entire class know that put-downs will not be tolerated.  The positive news about the problem of bullying is that there are all kinds of effective techniques adults can utilize to truly make a difference in the lives of adolescents and youth.  There is abundant evidence that having good social skills results in positive outcomes for younger generations during their school years and throughout their adult lives. Integrating social and emotional skills training into standard school curriculum, from a child's earliest years through high school graduation, fortifies students with the skills they need to cope with bullying and to thrive in all their interpersonal interactions.

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      Despite the negative impact bullying has, there are even  higher consequences it presents. People who have sometimes been bullied may become so upset, scared, or depressed that they begin to experience self-doubt and feel like there is no way out of their torment.  It has been scientifically proven, according to Knopf, that “Bullying has been linked to health problems in teens, including anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, self-harm, and disruptive behaviors.” (4).  There have been hundreds of reports over the past couple of years of adolescents and kids committing suicide due to the torment bullying presents.  There are also times when victims see no other option but to retaliate, causing grave acts of violence to occur against the bully at fault.  Because of the deep wounds bullying creates, innocent lives can lose their ability to love and trust, denying them the chance to genuinely experience a valuable relationship later in life.  They might find themselves as a submissive partner or they may want to be isolated in a lonely world.  Considering all of these bullying problems, victims can often develop eating disorders, start inflicting self harm, or develop a need for counseling.  Bullying can leave victims without a caring, strong, supportive group of friends causing them to fall deeper into the black hole of problems that bullying creates. This problem with teens and kids today is happening because people are not taking enough action and are not considering closer looks into cases that involve bully harassment.

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      Another unfortunate result of the exposure to bullying, is that bullying can become cyclical.  People who have been bullied can, in an attempt to gain their power and self-esteem back, become bullies themselves.  Even “Adult bullies were often either bullies as children, or bullied as children.” (Bullying Statistics).  Concerning this, bullies who are not confronted or stopped may find themselves in future positions where they can bully as adults.  Individuals who have been bullies in their youth can become manipulative abusers in adulthood.

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      How can the identification of bullying behaviors be improved?  Members of our society need to be trained to identify indicators of bullying more quickly.  Physical signs, such as, bruising and cuts, unusual red marks, limping, unexplained injuries, headaches, stomach problems, and difficulty sleeping are some of the most commonly identifiable side effects that are obvious to the naked eye.  Verbal, non verbal, cyberbullying, exclusion, and emotional bullying are much harder to recognize, but with stronger support from educational programs, the learning concern would not be an issue.

Even though people can be paralyzed, physically disabled, or mentally impaired as a result of bullying, bullying can be wiped out with the help of supportive adults, medical assistance, and friends who are willing to intervene.  With proper identification, education of the public, implementation of appropriate techniques, and provision of medical/psychological services to victims of bullying, it is possible that bullying can be eliminated and will no longer be permitted to harm the members of our society.