Throughout time, children have always teased each other, frequently using playful words or actions and sometimes acting more offensively or negatively. In the past, adults or other children tended to minimize the impact of what is now known as “bullying,” dismissing it as normal, part of childhood, and encouraging those on the receiving end to simply ignore it. More recently, bullying, as it is now known, has been taken more seriously because of the devastating consequences that have been the results for many children, teens and young adults. Bullying in any form–verbal, physical, or virtual– causes a negative effect on the self-esteem of the person being bullied, the impact of which may last a lifetime, and this will be illustrated in this essay.
A common misperception is that the impact of bullying on the self-esteem of a child may only last as long as the bullying behavior persists. In fact, the impact of bullying, even once, may result in effects that are long-lasting (Etolen.) Clearly, those children who have to endure many years of torment and torture are more likely to display even more profound issues regarding self-esteem. Some of the impacts of bullying are overt, and result directly from aggressive behavior. Other results of bullying may have a more subtle effect on a child and be caused by other reactions to torturous words or behaviors or actions. When adults or other children fully understand how the self-esteem of the child is being impacted, there can be a tremendous amount of relief both in the short term and in the long-term. Indeed, when this kind of understanding is provided, long-term damage from being bullied may be avoided.
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"The Damaging Effects of Bullying".
Most parents hope that their children will grow up to be teachers, doctors, or any number of professionals in addition to wanting those children to be happy. People never hope that their child becomes a bully or is victimized by bullies. Nevertheless, most kids experience an incident of being bullied at some point in their lives, and at times, they are the victim of a bully or they end up engaging in bullying behavior. The impact of these actions is generally long-term and frequently catastrophic, in particular because being bullied can substantially lower the self-esteem of the child in in the worst-case scenario, may result in suicide.
The impact of bullying on a child frequently causes mental health disorders including depression. Being depressed can significantly impact the child’s self-esteem because children are unable to maintain any hope that things will get better (Raiford.) When a child is depressed and hopeless, he or she is unable to identify their own positive qualities or the good things in life. They don’t feel comfortable about the future and they don’t usually see themselves as good enough or worthy. There is a great risk of suicidal behavior in these situations, and there have been many such cases in the news during modern times. Many children have killed themselves after being humiliated and/or bullied by their peers. Boys who experience being bullied are much more likely to become suicidal than their female counterparts. According to researchers on the subject, boys who are victimized by bullies experience such a drop in their self-esteem level that they are eight times more likely to contemplate suicide than kids are not bullied (Raiford.)
The American Academy of Pediatrics has taken a strong stand about the definition of bullying and the consequences that it may precipitate. According to that group, when a child is bullied for enough time, that girl or boy may lose any type of self-esteem or confidence that they had ever developed (Raiford.) The more frequently a bully makes fun of a child, the more the sense of self-esteem suffers, and the bigger risk is that the child begins to believe that what the bully is saying is the truth. For instance, if a bully tells a girl that she is stupid or ugly or fat, and this is repeated regularly, her self-esteem will begin to diminish and she will perceive those comments as being the truth. This may result in behaviors such as withdrawing from friends and family, developing eating disorders, isolating herself, and avoiding leaving the house because the child does not believe that anyone would want to spend time in her company.
When children are bullied and their self-esteem diminishes, they tend to begin to feel shameful and fearful of life itself, and they lose confidence in facing any situation that might permit them to be targeted. As a result, many children who are bullied are afraid to attend school and they feel a great sense of shame when bullies are taunting them. The problem of bullying is widespread among children, moreso since the advent of the Internet and the ease with which people can anonymously publish offensive and vindictive language about others. Research has found that 30% of middle school children have been victims of at least one of nine types of cyberbullying at least twice within the prior month; in addition, 22% of middle school children admitted that they themselves have become involved in at least one of five different types of cyberbullying at least twice within the past 30 days.
Victims of these activities as well as the perpetrators have reported substantially lower levels of self-esteem, despite all demographic differences (Hinduja.) As a result, it is vital for teachers to make significant efforts to both prevent and respond to all types of bullying behaviors. Low self-esteem is a substantial predictor of many problems that affect adolescents and young adults, including substandard academic and behavioral performance in school. Bullying may make it difficult for children and adolescents to overcome these negative images and become successful later on in life.
