To this day, bullying is still considered as a child “over reacting”, “being too sensitive” or “exaggerating”. To this day, bullied kids are said they look like a wrong answer that someone tried to erase but couldn’t quite get the job done. To this day, children stay inside for recess because outside is worse, outside they’d have to rehearse running away or learn to stay still like statues giving no clues that they are there, hoping they don’t exist. To this day, there are about 4400 deaths per year and at least 100 suicide attempts in the U.S. Over 14% of high school students have considered suicide, and almost 7% have attempted it. To this day, bullying is far more important than we think.

Bullying can take many different types of forms. You may think calling someone a nasty name is what bullying is all about but there is way more to it.
There is:
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Physical Bullying: this is being hit, kicked, punched or tripped.

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Verbal Bullying: being called names, teased, put down, and insulted.

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Psychological bullying: is being threatened, stalked or manipulated.

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Social bullying: is being ignored, having rumors spread about you, or telling lies about you.

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Cyber bullying: is insulting someone in chat rooms, sending cruel or threatening emails, text messages, or spreading rumors using mobile phones as well.

Because of these, approximately 160,000 teens skip school every day to avoid the bullies. Some of these students drop out of school. Some schools don’t even help the victims. Over two-thirds of students believe that schools respond poorly to bullying, with high percentage of students believing that adult help is uncommon and ineffective.

But the real question is why do bullies bully?

There are a lot of reasons why some people bully. They may see it as a way of being popular, or making themselves look tough and in charge. Some people bully to get attention, or to make other people afraid of them. Others might be jealous of the victim. They may be bullied themselves. Some of them don't understand how damaging their behaviour is and how it makes the person being bullied feel. They like the feeling of being powerful and in control.

Bullies generally go for people who are different in any ways, it could be physically, mentally, the person’s religion or culture; people who are smaller or younger; who do not have many friends or are maybe new in the area.

There can be very severe outcomes to this. Kids who are bullied feel ashamed and useless which is why they don’t often talk about it. A doctor once declared: “They turn into this kind of self-destructing machine and try to empty themselves so they feel nothing.” The targets can easily fall into depression and self-harming. Their low self-esteem becomes numbness throughout the pain that they are feeling and they try to shut themselves out of the reality. They believe everything they are told and are very easy to influence when it comes to their mental stability. Victims are helpless to this without any help; it’s a never ending, agonizing cycle that will continue to be renewed if we do not make a move.

To this day, we might be able to make a change. To this day, we might be able to help victims throughout their problems and the difficulties they have to overcome, but together we can make it work. If we help them, their lives will only ever always continue to be a balancing act that has less to do with pain and more to do with beauty.