Bullying can occur differently throughout life. Bullying involves the use of force, coercion, or threats to assert dominance over others who are perceived to be weaker than the ones doing the bullying (Smith & Thompson, 2017). Bullying aims to assert dominance, to abuse, or to intimidate the people who are seen to be more vulnerable, unaccepted, or different in society and to make them accept the system suggested by the bully or to be subjected to bullying continuously. Bullying occurs in different forms and can happen in all stages of an individual’s life, being motivated by various reasons depending on how and where it is taking place. However, despite the reasons for the occurrence of bullying or the places that it takes place, bullying has serious effects on the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of the people who are subjected to it.
There are different causes of bullying. Bullies may seek to assert dominance over others as a way to mask the helplessness that they feel about their lives. It has been established that while bullies seek to assert dominance over others through intimidating and harming them in the process, they may be doing so out of frustration that they may be experiencing in their lives and therefore take out the frustrations and fears that they have over their inabilities and failures in life (Smith, 2016). Also, bullying may be a result of jealousy or feeling threatened by the people whom the bullies are expressing their actions. It is common for bullying to occur as a result of the bullies seeking attention and validation from society since they feel ignored or overlooked. Finally, bullying may be a result of the bullies being bullied elsewhere, and therefore they seek to ease their pain by bullying others.
There are negative effects of bullying. The victims of bullying may suffer from depression and anxiety during the period that they are bullied and, in some instances, throughout their lives. When bullying occurs, the mental and emotional well-being of the victims is altered. If they do not receive emotional and mental help, the feelings of helplessness and fear may continue to haunt them, with some also reporting the existence of post-traumatic stress disorder if the bullying was extreme (Whitley, 2016). The physical effects may be seen in the health complaints with bruising, scalding, or breaking of body parts from the physical aspects of the bullying. There may be health conditions that arise from the mental and emotional aspects of bullying, for example, ulcers and self-harming from the effects of the mental trauma that the victims may experience. Finally, there is a possibility of decreased performance in the areas that the victims operate in since they will experience reduced concentration and confidence levels.
Bullying can be eradicated from society. Proper education and information on what bullying is and the negative effects that bullying has on its victims and perpetrators may help in preventing the continuous reoccurrence of bullying in the different instances of the society. It is also important that proper communication is established in the different environments that bullying can occur so that the victims can feel free to report the instances of bullying and to seek help whenever they have been bullied (Hickson, 2017). Finally, tough measures should be put in place to discourage the cases of bullying that may be experienced in the society, therefore reducing the possibility of the perpetrators repeating the same behavioral patterns. Leniency encourages the repetition of this vice that continues to affect the society’s well-being.
