Bullying Report

Bullying is a big issue when talking about human development. Adolescences are affected by bullying on a day-to-day basis. “Bullying is intentional negative behavior that is repeated and involves an imbalance of social or physical power”(Goldbaum, 2006). Bullying can start at any age and continue if not handled correctly. The three types of bullying behavior are direct, indirect and cyber-bullying. All three differ in approach but all have the same affect on an adolescent that is trying to get through each day. Adolescences who bully are more likely to get into serious problems. Which could result in alcohol or drug abuse, problems in school and getting into unnecessary fights. These problems could last them into adulthood. Adolescences that get bullied are more likely to have health problems as well as going down the wrong path by starting to smoke and drink. Being bullied could also decrease the willingness to go to class. As well as having issues later in adulthood that result in depression, anxiety and sadness.
Direct bullying is when the bully confronts the victim face to face. Examples of direct bullying would include open attacks on the victim. An adolescent that is punched, kicked, slapped, called nasty names, refused a seat on the bus, or threatened (Beane, 2008).
Indirect would be the 2nd type of bullying. Indirect is not face-to-face, and ruins the victim’s reputation by spreading rumors and making sure that the social standing of the victim is questioned. Girls normally use indirect bullying because it’s not confrontational and most times the culprit of the bullying is never identified.
The last type of bullying is cyber bullying. There are many ways to cyber bully; email, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, digital photos, cell phones, and chat rooms. There is little to no supervision in the cyber world. This gives bullies the free rain to attack anyone they choose. Bullies do this by posting insults and rumors on the Internet to bring their victims

References: Beane, Allan L., PhD. Protect Your Child from Bullying. (San Francisco, CA: Willey, 2008) Goldbaum, S., Craig, W. M., Pepler, D., & Connolly, J. (2006). Developmental trajectories of victimization: Identifying risk and protective factors. In J.E. Zins, M.J. Elias, & C.A. Maher (Eds.), Bullying, victimization, and peer harassment. (pp. 143-160). New York: Haworth Press.