Bullying in Middle School

Bullying as we all well know is a worldwide problem that not many people are willing to speak out and get help for. Bullying becomes a type of aggression when there is someone that is going through bullying repeatedly in their life. For example, a study Perkins et al. (2014) indicated that there is 20% American students who are in the grades 9–12 who are bullies or have been bullied in the past. Where as those students who are in the grades 6–12 are a 28% of students that are reporting a similar trend.

Verbal bullying often comes from rumors said by peers that are circulating around. All the negative critiques given are always against/towards people’s race, gender, religion, culture, and sexual orientation. Another type of bullying is sexual harassment. There was a study shown were all students in American schools 85% of boys and 75% of girls have experienced this kind of bullying (Hymel & Swearer, 2015).

Cyberbullying is another common aspect as well as verbal abuse. Social media has become a much more easier way for children to be able to bully their classmates. Children bully their classmates by threats, posting embarrassing pictures, and spreading rumour’s. Causing students to feel insecure of themselves.

Bullying has become one of the main reasons why there is low academic performance. There are studies that have been shown that students who face bullying are at a risk of low achievement and engagement in school. Those students who are bullied tend to skip school and see it as a negative environment. These students begin to have low self-esteem and cause them to make suicidal thoughts. The suicidal thoughts and depression are caused by feelings of loneliness, sadness, and general frustration from isolation they receive from bullies. Lastly, there was a recent case were a young boy attempted suicide because of his classmates were tormenting him. This case caused the attention of the public making it be recognized of what are the effects of bullying.