Bullying is “unwanted aggressive behavior,” and kids all across the nation are bullied every day. It is very common in schools and is often a repeated behavior. Sometimes kids even skip school to avoid bullies. There are three types of bullying. The first, and the one that people often think of most, is physical. This can be anything from hitting and spitting to breaking other people’s things. The next type of bullying is verbal. This is namecalling, teasing and threats. The last type is social bullying. Social bullying is leaving someone out on purpose, spreading rumors or embarrassing someone in public. All of these actions are incredibly hurtful, and no one deserves to be treated that way.
Being bullied or seeing someone bullied can be difficult, but it doesn’t have to happen. There are steps to take to stop bullying in your school and across the nation. The first step is making a personal promise never to bully someone else and to make sure to include others. The next step is to help other students that are being bullied by either telling an adult about it or, if you are comfortable and it is safe, intervening and telling the bully to stop. Finally, if you are being bullied, you can take charge of the situation by telling an adult about the problem.
• There are between 2.7 million and 3.2 million bullying victims in America.
• There are 2.1 million bullies in America.
• 71 percent of students report bullying in their schools.
• 56 percent of students have witnessed bullying at school.
• Everyone can be bullied; there is no one kind of person who is bullied.
