Dylan Juen
5/3/23
Bullying in Schools
Approximately one out of every five high school students admitted to experiencing some form of bullying in the past year (Affairs (ASPA)). The bullying epidemic is something that almost everyone has encountered in their lives. Whether it be first hand bullying or a loved one's suffering, bullying has affected many lives in one way or another. After years of effort made to prevent bullying, the attempts aren’t making much of an impact on the current problem in our world. It is undeniable that bullying has already sunk its ugly teeth into our culture, but what can we do to actually help solve the problem? Bullying is unfortunately a major issue in our society today, but luckily there are many different approaches and possible solutions to help decrease the amount of people affected by this issue in our world.
Bullying is defined by the CDC as “any unwanted aggressive behavior(s) by another youth or group of youths, who are not siblings or current dating partners, that involves an observed or perceived power imbalance, and is repeated multiple times or is highly likely to be repeated” (“Fast Fact: Preventing Bullying”). Bullying can take many different forms such as cyberbullying, physical abuse, social mocking, spreading rumors, verbal abuse, etc. All of these forms can look very different, but each can be just as harmful and abusive as the other. Now that we have identified what exactly bullying is and how it can take form, how do we start to fight against it?
Bullying can dramatically impact the lives of those it affects with severe consequences. The effects of physical bullying can be both immediate or long term. The book “Preventing Bullying: Through Science, Policy, and Practice” states that “Internalizing symptoms include problems directed within the individual, such as depression, anxiety, fear, and withdrawal from social contacts” (Rivara et al). A person's mental health can be drastically impacted through bullying and can cause a multitude of mental health disorders such as the ones listed above. Physical effects could be any injury sustained from an attack while long term effects can include digestive issues, headaches, and weight changes (Rivara et al). The bullying epidemic is one that can cause serious health issues to those affected which only further stresses the need for a solution.
One of the most important things we can do to help fight against bullying is educating faculty, parents, students, and most importantly, ourselves. Many students and even adults in our society are not aware that they are being bullied or bullying someone else. As previously stated, bullying can affect people of all sizes, races, genders, ages, etc. StopBullying.org claims that “Bullying affects all youth, including those who are bullied, those who bully others, and those who witness bullying” (Affairs (ASPA)). Victims might be unaware or deny being bullied by saying “oh they're just joking around” or “they don't actually mean it” when in reality, they are victims of bullying. By educating both parents and students we can help people recognize the signs and behaviors children tend to exhibit when being bullied. This will help parents and staff recognize bullying in their own children and students, then allowing them to help the child deal with their bully.
Creating a safe space for students and children where they can comfortably share their feelings is detrimental in the fight against bullying. Without a trusted adult the victim feels comfortable confiding in, they may feel like they are unable to tell anyone about their bully or the abuse they have endured due to fear of embarrassment or thoughts of guilt. A common tactic bullies use is when the bully makes the victim feel helpless and like they have nobody to turn to. StopBullying.Org writes that “Parents create trust with children by initiating open, honest discussions. These dialogues provide opportunities to communicate values and learn about your child’s experience. They make it easier for your children to turn to you if they witness or experience bullying” (Affairs (ASPA), “How To Talk About Bullying”). Having frequent, healthy dialogue with your child is one of the most important parts of not only preventing bullying, but also creating a healthy relationship with your child or student where they feel safe sharing things that may be going on under the surface. This can be done by frequently checking in with your child and reassuring them they can tell you anything that they may be going through with questions like “how was your day?” or “how are your friends treating you?”. These types of questions show your child that you care about them and let them know that you can be trusted when talking about sensitive topics such as bullying.
Another important aspect of minimizing bullying is what to do when a child is actively being bullied. The article “Respond to Bullying” written by StopBullying.org states that “When adults respond quickly and consistently to bullying behavior they send the message that it is not acceptable”. If a student or child is actively being bullied, the most important thing that person can do is to safely and respectfully stop the bully from actively physically or verbally assaulting the victim. Separating the children and responding in a quick and timely manner is important to prevent any further harm to any victims involved. If a child confesses to an adult that they are being bullied at school, the first thing the adult should do is contact the child's teacher. From there, the teacher can take the necessary action to prevent the bully from inflicting more pain on the victim while at school.
While it is important to create a safe space for your children to share their thoughts at home, it's also imperative to create a healthy and positive learning space at school as well. Jamie Kreps of the Tessa International School states in her article “Do Anti-Bullying Programs Really Work? ”,“Anti-bullying programs range in tactics from informative assemblies and visual reminders (posters and signs, for example), to more hands-on approaches that utilize hall monitors and effectively trained staff to watch for signs of bullying throughout the school grounds”. Some school officials argue that an anti-bullying campaign may be too costly or time consuming to instate. However, a price can never truly be put on the safety and wellbeing of the students the school is in charge of looking after. Getting the anti-bullying message spread around school from both students and administrators, reinstates the idea that bullying is not accepted and will not be tolerated under any circumstances. This can be done through anti-bullying campaigns throughout the school that condemn bullying and encourage an atmosphere of kindness and tolerance. Anti-bullying campaigns can improve the overall environment and atmosphere of the school and discourage bullying throughout the community.
Bullying is an epidemic that unfortunately affects far too many people in our society. Luckily, there are many ideas and solutions to help prevent this plague from spreading any further. More important than the solutions themselves, there are people who are willing to put the effort in to make a change in the world for the better and hopefully decrease bullying in our society.
Work Cited
Affairs (ASPA), Assistant Secretary for Public. “Facts About Bullying.” StopBullying.Gov, 24 Sept. 2019, https://www.stopbullying.gov/resources/facts.
Affairs (ASPA), Assistant Secretary for Public. “How to Talk About Bullying.” StopBullying.Gov, 10 Nov. 2021, https://www.stopbullying.gov/resources/how-to-talk-about-bullying.
Affairs (ASPA), Assistant Secretary for Public. “Respond to Bullying.” StopBullying.Gov, 24 Sept. 2019, https://www.stopbullying.gov/prevention/on-the-spot.
Fast Fact: Preventing Bullying |Violence Prevention|Injury Center|CDC. 14 Apr. 2022,https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/youthviolence/bullyingresearch/fastfact.html
Kreps, Jamie. “Do Anti-Bullying Programs Really Work?” Tessa International School, 15 Nov. 2019, https://tessais.org/do-anti-bullying-programs-really-work/.
Rivara, Frederick P., et al., editors. Preventing Bullying: Through Science, Policy, and Practice. National Academies Press, 2016.
Kurt Vonnegut and Mental Health
Kurt Vonnegut was a science-fiction novelist of renowned fame who wrote some of the most famous works of his generation, such as Slaughterhouse-Five and Cat’s Cradle. Vonnegut was often theorized to have suffered from a variety of mental illnesses such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and bipolar disorder due to his traumatic upbringing as a young adult as found in an article titled “The Tragic Life of Kurt Vonnegut’ by S. Flannagan. In Charles Shields’s biography on Vonnegut titled And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut a Life, Shields quotes Vonnegut who expresses “Legacy… an air of defeat has always been a companion of mine” (Shields). Vonnegut exhibited many symptoms of mental illness and would have agreed that depression is a social epidemic that needs to be taken seriously.
To better understand Vonnegut's mindset, we first need to examine his background and upbringing as a young adult. Vonnegut's mother Edith suffered from a very deep depression that she would often take out on her family in the forms of physical, verbal, and mental abuse (S.Flannagan). Vonnegut declared, “When my mother went off her rocker late at night, the hatred and contempt she sprayed on my father, as gentle and innocent a man as ever lived, was without limit and pure, untainted by ideas or information," implying that she would often abuse Vonnegut's father in fits of rage leaving a lasting impact on his life. Depression is often hereditary meaning Vonnegut would have a higher likelihood of becoming depressed due to his family’s history with the disorder. Edith Vonnegut took her own life on Mothers Day in 1944 while Vonnegut was training in the US Army (S. Flannagan). He was taken as a Prisoner of War during the Battle of the Bulge and then taken to a work camp in Dresden, Germany. The city of Dresden was firebombed and destroyed by the Allied forces in 1945 leaving very few survivors, one of which was Vonnegut. After the bombing, Vonnegut was forced to recover the bodies of the victims, scaring his psyche forever. This event would become the inspiration for his groundbreaking novel Slaughterhouse-Five.
Vonnegut also likely suffered from PTSD which can have many different mood-altering symptoms. Common symptoms of PTSD include angry outbursts, irritability, and aggressive behavior that can be caused by experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - Symptoms and Causes). After Vonnegut's time as a prisoner of war witnessing the firebombing of Dresden, it is very possible he suffered from some form of PTSD which could have caused the angry temperament he was known to have.
Unfortunately, Vonnegut had a very difficult upbringing and was subjected to multiple traumatic events. These traumatic events left him with multiple mental disorders he struggled with until the day he died. After years and years of struggling with mental disease, Vonnegut attempted suicide in 1984. He was luckily found and rushed to a hospital where he was able to fully recover (S. Flannagan).
Despite his history, Vonnegut was often not very vocal about his mental illness due to the stigmatization of mental illness during his lifetime. Those who spoke out about mental illness in the early 60’s and 70’s were often ostracized and considered “crazy” (Rössler). It was very unusual for people of that time, especially men, to speak up about their own struggles with mental health which made it very difficult for Vonnegut to speak about his own mental health difficulties due to the social norms of the time.
Although Vonnegut never spoke much about his own mental health, he would still agree that the mental health crisis is a social epidemic. He revealed during the Playboy interview that he regularly spoke with a therapist and was prescribed antidepressants to help treat his depression. Vonnegut stated “I’ve been going to a doctor once a week. It isn’t psychoanalysis: It’s a more superficial sort of thing. I’m talking to her about depression, trying to understand its nature” (Kurt Vonnegut: Playboy Interview). Even while facing society's prejudice, Vonnegut was still seeking help for a problem that most people would have written off as a “bad day”. This acknowledgment of his issue suggests that Vonnegut would have agreed that in today's day and age that mental illness is a serious social epidemic. Many people who suffer from mental illness are afraid to ask for help or receive treatment due to fear of judgment from those around them, yet Vonnegut recognizes that he is suffering from some form of depression and was brave enough to seek help in a time when such a thing would have been looked down upon.
Kurt Vonnegut would agree that the mental health crisis is a social epidemic that needs to be taken seriously. Vonnegut often spoke about many different symptoms he dealt with that often lined up with common symptoms of depression, and when we take into account his traumatic childhood it is very likely he suffered from mental illness. If Vonnegut was alive today, he would have agreed that something needs to be done to help solve the social epidemic that is the mental health crisis of our generation.
Work Cited
“Depression (Major Depressive Disorder) - Symptoms and Causes.” Mayo Clinic, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/symptoms-causes/syc-20356007. Accessed 21 Apr. 2023.
Flannagan, S. “The Tragic Life Of Kurt Vonnegut.” Grunge, 15 Aug. 2021, https://www.grunge.com/488207/the-tragic-life-of-kurt-vonnegut/.
“KURT VONNEGUT: PLAYBOY INTERVIEW (1973).” Scraps from the Loft, 4 Oct. 2016, https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/books/kurt-vonnegut-playboy-interview/.
“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - Symptoms and Causes.” Mayo Clinic, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20355967. Accessed 21 Apr. 2023.
Rössler, Wulf. “The Stigma of Mental Disorders.” EMBO Reports, vol. 17, no. 9, Sept. 2016, pp. 1250–53. PubMed Central, https://doi.org/10.15252/embr.201643041.
Shields, Charles J. And so It Goes : Kurt Vonnegut, a Life. First St. Martin's Griffin ed., St. Martin's Griffin, 2012.
Reflection Essay
This composition class has taught me how to improve my writing and work ethic throughout the course of the semester. I began this class not knowing much about composition or how to write a structurally sound essay, but by the end my writing had dramatically improved due to the techniques and skills I learned. One of the most helpful techniques I learned in this class was the use of PEE formatting. In my past writing I had struggled with the structure of my argument and often wrote without much form or structure. PEE formatting has helped strengthen my writing by giving me a loose structure to follow instead of just letting my thoughts explode onto the page.
Another part of my writing that has improved dramatically over the course of the semester has been my overuse of certain words. Through the peer review sections of PR 1 and 2 I was shown that I often use words such as “likely” and “stated” far too many times in my essays. I was pushed and encouraged to find synonyms and stronger words to replace the ones that were overused to add more variety and excitement to my writing.
One of my favorite aspects of this composition class was the freedom to write and study a topic that I was genuinely passionate about. In past English classes we were often forced to only write about a topic the instructor had already assigned for us. Mental health has always been something I've been passionate about and I was given multiple chances to write about it which made the course significantly more enjoyable. I was very grateful for the opportunity to learn more about topics I personally cared about instead of a topic I had no interest in that was just assigned to me without much thought or care.
Learning how to find reliable sources to use for a research essay was also a valuable skill I gained from this course. I learned how to differentiate between credible sources and unreliable sources. More importantly, I gained a deeper understanding on how to properly integrate the information found in a source seamlessly into my essay. Knowing the difference between what information is reliable and what is not is a skill I will carry with me even outside of this course.
Due to the way the class has been formatted, my time management skills have also significantly improved. We were given multiple work weeks to work on larger projects instead of having smaller assignments due weekly. At the beginning of the semester I always waited until the last minute to write most of my essays and did not properly utilize the time given to us during the work week portions of the class. I found out very quickly that I would have to take advantage of the work time we were given to succeed in the class instead of just waiting to write an essay until it was too late. For Project 2 and this reflection essay I began writing weeks before the actual due date which overall improved the quality of my essays.
Overall, I gained many valuable skills over the course of this semester. The formatting and structure of my essays has significantly improved along with many grammatical errors I had been making in the past. It was pointed out to me through peer reviews that I had been using specific words far too often and was offered many different substitutes for the aforementioned words. Learning the difference between reliable and unreliable sources was another valuable skill I learned during this course. Time management wasn't something I was very good at but something I learned to use to my advantage throughout the course. I was extremely grateful for the opportunity to take this class and write about things I was truly passionate about.
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