October is National Bullying Prevention Awareness month, so it is pertinent that we do not put this lifelong problem on the backburner. No matter the age, bullying is still prevalent in everyday life.
I was always told that you do not have to be friends with everyone, but you should be friendly. There are always going to be people who you don’t get along with, for whatever reason it may be, however that does not give anyone the right to make fun of or diminish another person in any way. By definition, bullying is using superior strength or influence to intimidate, typically to force someone to do what one wants. From the inside, bullying is taking one’s own insecurities out on someone else with no distinct provocation. Bullying is about control and bullying does not disappear at the collegette level.
It is thought that when you graduate from grade school the bullying and immaturity leave as well. However, that is not always the case. Bullying continues to take place in college and often moves into the workplace. A dorm is a breeding ground for bullying and that is something that I experienced first hand. At one point the bullying from my floormates was so bad that I considered moving out, but someone stood up for me. It only takes one person to change your perspective.
In a 2011 study at the University of Indiana, 15 percent of the college students that were studied reported being bullied and 22% reported being the victims of cyber bullying. In grade school, kids can go home at the end of the day but, in college it is harder to escape the bullies and the bullying because they could be living right down the hall.
Cyber bullying is on the rise as new social medias are introduced. From the same study, 25 percent reported they were being harassed through a social networking site, 21 percent said they received harmful text messages, 16 percent were bullied through e-mail and 13 percent were through instant messages.
Bullying of any kind can affect the victim physically, mentally and psychologically. College is already extremely stressful and 32 percent of students experienced an increase in stress due to bullying, reported a study done by SAGE Journals.
No matter how old you are, there will always be bullies and there will always be people who are not your biggest fans. It is your job to try to defeat the label. Just keep in mind that these people clearly have nothing better to do than to talk poorly of you while you are working to be successful and rid your world of their negativity. Surround yourself with those who make you happy and those who would stick up for you. More than half (57 percent) of bullying situations stop when a peer intervenes on behalf of the student being bullied. It is highly likely that they have been put in a similar situation.
It is natural to talk about people. People are everywhere and life would be very boring if we only talked about the weather. Talking about people is a necessity in many career fields, such as fashion; where a designer’s new look is discussed and often criticized and medicine; where a patient’s condition and health need to be discussed. However, there is a distinct difference between talking about someone in a constructive way and bullying them. No matter how discrete you are about gossiping behind someone’s back, chances are they will find out what you said, just like I did. The answer is simple: say no to bullying and stop it when you see it.
Stand up against bullying. You never know how much of an impact one simple action can make in someone’s life.