Bullying: The Source of Disquietude- Ali Al-Rida Moussa 9B

        “Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave.” This quote highlights the importance of education in building people’s intellectual abilities and making them rather civilized but not oppressed, abused, marginalized, or enslaved. Bullying, the way to gain attention for bullies, has its own causes and effects that are obvious in our societies, schools and maybe our homes. In fact, there are various physical and social causes for bullying that lead to drastic psychological and academic drawbacks on the student.

        To begin with, physical differences, if pointed out in a disdainful manner, can lead to an increase in the feelings of sadness and loneliness. Bullying is the act of mocking and humiliating others in a scornful way. Being obese is one of the causes of being bullied. There is a complex relationship between obesity and bullying. Overweight kids are frequently targeted for abuse at school. Even if an obese kid has all of the traits that typically discourage bullying such as good social skills or a strong academic standing, he or she may still remain at risk. This is due, in part, to the fact that bullies can "sense" vulnerabilities in others and are more than willing to exploit those things... Moreover, the amount of abuse a child receives is often directly related to his or her weight. A 2015 study in Italy involving 147 elementary school kids concluded that normal-weight and overweight children were far less likely to be bullied than their obese or severely obese counterparts. Among the finding, 21 percent of severely obese children experienced physical victimization compared to only 5.4 percent of normal weight children and 8.7 percent of overweight kids. Added to that, being disabled is one of the causes of bullying that leads to isolation. People with disabilities have a higher risk of being bullied, harassed and discriminated at, and a few may also bully others. Verbal abuse, name-calling, slurs, graphic or written comments, threats and anything that is physically threatening, harmful and humiliating are all considered as harassment. The mere fact that a person uses a wheelchair, or has a learning disability, or any other disability, can make others pick on them to bully. They can make fun of them, call them names and make them feel miserable, just for the fun of those who perpetrate that. But for the victims, it is very serious and many people have isolated themselves as a result. Recently, a researching team found that 159 ten-year-old Canadian children at risk for DCD(a movement disorder) reported experiencing more verbal and relational bullying than a comparison group of 159 same-age peers. We also found that being at risk for DCD, and being bullied, predicted children's reports of being depressed and isolating themselves from everything.

            Moreover, social distinctions can form an instigator for bullying which leads in turn to a deterioration in the scholar results. Many factors place students at risk for being bullied. Research published in the American Journal of Public Health finds that kids and teens from poor families are more likely to be bullied than others. The study, which surveyed over 160,000 students from nearly 6,000 schools in Europe and North America, also concluded that schools with the largest economic inequality (or a big difference between how wealthy some families are and how poor other families are) had the highest rates of bullying.  These victims encountered there bad destiny to have a drop in their achievements and grades.  Furthermore, (X) is a school counselor who proved the link between bullying because of gender discrimination and the drop in the scholar results. He indicated that 80% of students will experience some kind of gender-based bullying during their primary and high school studies, regardless of their sexuality or gender identity. This type of bullying includes any kind of threatening or harassing behaviors that are based on gender role expectations. As such, it encompasses sexual harassment, coercion and assault; insults, intimidation, and assaults based on perceived or actual sexual orientation; and verbal or physical harassment. In addition to what mentioned, (X) declared that half those students are subjected to the danger of being academically affected through gradual drops in grades month after the other.

        To wrap up, bullying is a viral current issue, results from various physical and social factors that lead to a myriad of psychological and academic drawbacks. When do governments wake up and put solutions for these ridiculous behaviors?