After immigrating to the United States from Bangladesh, my first fear was speaking English. When I started school, my fears became real: Students made fun of the way I pronounced words. I often confused the word “angry” with “ugly,” so kids started calling me “ugly.” Only I thought they were callng me “angry.” And so, for the most part, I stopped talking in school.
Looking back, I now realize that students bullied me because of my different religion and language. And unfortuntaly, I’m not alone.
Too many students face bullying each day. Students get bullied because of their religion, language and cultural differences. The National Center of Education System says that about 20 percent of teens have experienced some form of bullying in their high school lives.
Bullying can take on many forms:
Verbal bullying: when people use offensive words to make someone feel bad about themselves or their personal interest. (For example: ugly, fat, stupid)
Social harassment: when someone discriminates against people. ( For example: sending negative message, trolling them in social media)
Physical bullying: when people use physical contact to hurt you. ( For example: shoving, kicking,punching)
Cyberbullying: when people use technology to harass people (For example: posting bad things about people, threatening them in a phone call)
What happens if students get bullied?
Bullying can affect students’ mental health. It can cause them to have mental health problems like depression and anxiety. It also can create self-doubt, low self-esteem and lack of confidence.
“It made me distance myself from people and also my friends,” said Anayali Fontanez, a student at Brouch college campus high school. ” I also distanced myself so it would stop me from getting bullied. I also got very insecure because of bullying.”
Sometimes this can lead to insecurities among students and can lead to bad decisions like attempts of suicide. More than one-third of students (36 percent) had been diagnosed with anxiety, 28 percent had been diagnosed with depression, eight percent had been diagnosed with a trauma or stressor-related disorder, such as PTSD, said Jessica Bryant and Lyss Welding, the senior reporter and research analyst for Best Colleges.
Why do students bully?
Teen-agers nowadays normalize making fun of each other as being friendly or cool but don’t realize that their words can seriously affect the person they are making fun of. “It was a joke. I didn’t mean to hurt her feelings,” said Nusrat Tasnim, a student of P.S. 106 Elementary school, who got a strike in school for bullying her friend for fun.
Students who once got bullied tend to bully others later in life to make them feel better about themselves and to improve their social status among their peers. Bullying can also happen if the person has personal problems or might be jealous of you. Students get bullied if they have better scores in class or have certain things that the bully doesn’t possess.
What can the school do to prevent bullying?
Schools should educate the students to be more respectful, kind and empathetic and also implement activities where students can connect with each other. Schools should also put a policy that outlines how students should treat each other and make rules if someone violates the policy and tries to bully others. The teachers should educate the students about the cause and effect of bullying and be open to students so they feel comfortable sharing their feelings. The school can have a class once a week or biweekly that teaches the students about bullying and how bullying can be prevented among teens.
What can I do as a student who gets bullied?
If a student gets bullied in school the first thing they should do is find an adult to talk to and discuss their emotions and feelings. “If someone were to share their experience about bullying first, I would want to know if they feel comfortable sharing with anyone else and then call the dean’s office to report” said Jovani Almonte, counselor to 12th grade. “If the bullying is too extreme we would suspend the student and if it’s too much we will report it to the law enforcement.”
The best way to deal with bullying is to stand up for yourself. Learn to be proud and confident of yourself no matter what others might tell you.
Bullying is a big issue when it comes to teen life. Bullying can cause many problems but it can be solved if we all work together.
This story was originally published on Bronx River News on October 12, 2024.
