Searcy (LP) Bullying and rumors are a big problem across the globe. There are so many types of bullying, some are known as verbal, social, physical, cyberbullying, and sexual harassment. Verbal consist of teasing, name-calling, inappropriate sexual comments, taunting, and threatening to cause harm. Social bullying is maybe leaving someone out on purpose, telling others not to be friends with someone, or embarrassing someone in public. Physical bullying is stealing, shoving, fighting and destroying personal property. Cyberbullying is the use of technology to harass, threaten, embarrass, or target. In some situations, cyberbullying is considered harassment. That means the police can get involved, and bullies may face serious penalties. Sexual harassment is another form of bullying. It can be verbal, sending unwanted inappropriate text, pictures, and videos.
Some interesting facts about bullying is 3.2 million students are bullied each year. Around 160,000 teens skip school just to avoid conflict with bullies. 17% report two or three times a month or more within a semester and one out of four of teachers do not see nothing wrong. 71% report bullying problems at school and one out of ten students drop out of school because of repeated bullying. Also there is no federal anti-bullying law. 49 states have an anti-bullying legislation, but bullying is not illegal.
Another problem for kids are rumors. A rumor is is “a tall tale of explanations of events circulating from person to person and pertaining to an object, event, or issue in public concern.” Pretty much the “telephone game” is a great example of what a rumor is. Someone will see, or hear something about someone and it is told over and over again. Most of the time the rumor is not true, people like to add some twist to rumors to make it sound better. The best thing to do with a rumor is to keep it to yourself. But some tips on how to end rumors are do not play dumb, and do not act like you have no idea about them. Do not let anyone see how much you care, because you should not care about what people have to say about you. They do not pay your bills or sign your check, what they have to say is irrelevant. Do not fight fire with fire, talk to an adult or authority figure if you have too. Stand up for yourself, and determine what lends credibility to the rumors, and stop them, prove that it is not true if you can. Broadcast the rumor, confront the source, and make sure to always take care of yourself.
Do not be the person to break others down. Rumors can create bad images and reputations for the person. Rumors and bullying can really hurt people, some may even end their own lives because of these situations. And nobody wants to live the rest of their lives thinking that they made someone push themself to death. Bully is never a good way to get through to people, but normally a bully needs help themselves. They may have something at home causing them to act this way, maybe instead of trying to hurt them back, ask someone to help them. It may help.
