Five Reasons Why People Bully
Kelly E. Guerrero
Ms. Hirsch
Eng 101
29 March 2011
Five Reasons Why People Bully
To understand bullying, we must look at causes that create bullies. These elemental reasons can act as catalysts upon the right person and create a problematic member of society. Bullies, as we have come to know the term, are capable of inflicting the same elements of damage on their victims that leads to a continuance of the problem. According to Jan Faull of the Seattle Times, it is an aggressive act where one student or a group of students physically or verbally harasses another. Bullying does not have one distinct face, there are five root causes: emotional, environmental, psychological, physical and social, when unaddressed are certain to cause a bully. Emotions are powerful. Emotions are capable of overpowering even the most stable mind and bring about patterns of behavior that would not be the norm for that person. One emotional state that can cause such overwhelming behavior is a sense of insecurity. Many bullies act out due to feelings of insecurity that they do not know how to handle, or have not been taught how to cope with. Insecure feelings can stem from a variety of sources including but not limited to physical appearance, family life, and level of intelligence. Rosalind Wiseman explains in her book Queen Bees & Wannabes:
Everyone knows that girls are under tremendous pressure to fit in; this is one of the reasons why they suffer from a decrease in self-esteem as they enter adolescence. This decrease is usually attributed to teen magazines, MTV, and other aspects of popular culture that give negative and conflicting messages to girls. While there 's some truth in this, it doesn 't explain the whole story. Girls have strict social hierarchies based on what our culture tells us about what constitutes ideal femininity. At no time in your daughter 's life is it more important to her to fit these elusive girl standards than adolescence. But who is the
Ms. Hirsch
Eng 101
29 March 2011
Five Reasons Why People Bully
To understand bullying, we must look at causes that create bullies. These elemental reasons can act as catalysts upon the right person and create a problematic member of society. Bullies, as we have come to know the term, are capable of inflicting the same elements of damage on their victims that leads to a continuance of the problem. According to Jan Faull of the Seattle Times, it is an aggressive act where one student or a group of students physically or verbally harasses another. Bullying does not have one distinct face, there are five root causes: emotional, environmental, psychological, physical and social, when unaddressed are certain to cause a bully. Emotions are powerful. Emotions are capable of overpowering even the most stable mind and bring about patterns of behavior that would not be the norm for that person. One emotional state that can cause such overwhelming behavior is a sense of insecurity. Many bullies act out due to feelings of insecurity that they do not know how to handle, or have not been taught how to cope with. Insecure feelings can stem from a variety of sources including but not limited to physical appearance, family life, and level of intelligence. Rosalind Wiseman explains in her book Queen Bees & Wannabes:
Everyone knows that girls are under tremendous pressure to fit in; this is one of the reasons why they suffer from a decrease in self-esteem as they enter adolescence. This decrease is usually attributed to teen magazines, MTV, and other aspects of popular culture that give negative and conflicting messages to girls. While there 's some truth in this, it doesn 't explain the whole story. Girls have strict social hierarchies based on what our culture tells us about what constitutes ideal femininity. At no time in your daughter 's life is it more important to her to fit these elusive girl standards than adolescence. But who is the
Cited: Cillessen, Antonius. “Why is Bullying Difficult to Change?” Education.com. Education.com. Inc, n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2011 . Faull, Jan. “Bullying starts at home, but it doesn’t stop then and there.” Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company. 12 March 2001. Web. 29 Mar. 2011 . Pfeiffer, Kelly. “Do Child Bullies Lack Empathy?” suite101.com Kelly Pfeiffer.12 June 2009. 6 April 2009. Web. 29 Mar. 2011 < http://www.suite101.com/content/do-child-bullies-lack-empathy-a124621>. Wiseman, Rosalind. Queen Bees & Wannabes.2002. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2009. Print