Bullying: A Growing Problem

Main topic

Social Inequality

When a person is believed to have bullied someone, even if it was only one encounter, many people will treat that person sort of as a villian. The person, whether they are a child or adult, is likely to be pushed out from groups and treated as if they have been a lifelong bully.

Due to the idea that bullies look and act
a certain way many people that "look"
like the ideal bully are shunned simply
because of their appearance.

Many times a person is a victim of bullying because
they are poor, a different race than the bully,
from a different type of household than the bully, or
due to their sexual identity.

Effect on
Existing Social Conditions

Even though bullying has become less of a problem since 1992
it is hard to open a newspaper, watch television, or speak to a colleague without seeing or hearing a reference to the "Bullying Epidemic" (Pascoe).

Bullying has become so much of an "epidemic" that many times when watching television whether it's the news or simply a show you like people will see commercials about anti-bullying.

Due to the way that people talk about bullying now
people are more likely to prepare themselves for an
encounter with a bully by staying in groups, avoiding
people they think may be a bully, or actually asserting
dominance over a person they think could be a bully.

Because bullying is now considered an epidemic, people
are actually less likely to make attempts at befriending a
person outside of their comfort zone in an attempt to avoid being bulied.

Subtopic

Cultural Beliefs
and Biases

In America many people believe
they can spot a bully based off of a person's
appearance.

Many Americans tend to believe that bullying
is only a school aged children's problem.

Many people believe that a bully picks a victim
based solely on the other persons size but in many
cases the victim is chosen because of social or
racial differences.

Social Role(s)

Bully

A bully will often be a person or
group that believes they are better
than the person that they are picking
on or making fun of. Many times this
occurs when the bully does not like that
another person(s) is different from most
people around them. Different due to
race, political affiliations, sexual identity,
etc.

Peers

Many times the peers of a bully
will be their friends that reinforce their
poor behavior and regularly join in.

Victim

The victim of bullying of often the
person or people that tend to keep
to themselves and try to avoid
confrontation. In other instances
the victim will often be the
person(s) that look or act different
from many of the people they are
around.