How is bullying society's responsibility?

Only 20.2 per cent of students in high school report being bullied. Now think of all the other terrified children that suffer every day in school; a place that people call a second home. Think of the physical abuse, rumours and threats that these poor teens have to endure just because society isn’t willing to listen or change. How have we turned in to such monsters? How have we turned into a divided community, a community that won’t even come together for the sake of our children? Although it may be hard to admit, the fact that we (society) are responsible for children being victims of bullying is true.

Over 40 per cent of children bully others because they want to fit in or because of peer pressure. In recent surveys conducted in the state of Los Angeles, it was found that most teenagers who bullied others did so to fit in and didn’t even enjoy or find a thrill in it. Over 57 per cent of bullying that takes place because of peer pressure happens amongst teenage girls. When interviewed, most of the girls mentioned that, in the past, they were continuously criticised for the way they looked by people in their neighbourhood or even by family members. This resulted in them feeling insecure and nearly starving to lose weight. These older teenage girls then went on to explain that they thought it was unfair that society refused to criticise and degrade the younger generation and proceeded to build up a lot of frustration because of how harsh society treated them. As annoyance and anger continued to build up, the older teen girls eventually took their anger out on the freshmen girls. Throughout the years, more and more studies were conducted and most of them found similar results. There is no single solution to this problem; however, society can try to cut down its high standards. We need to start accepting children for who they are regardless of the colour of their skin, the way their bodies are shaped and their different personalities. We need to start apologising for the entire trauma that we’ve caused older generations. This way, we will finally be able to move and progress as one.

Harassment by teachers is an extremely common form of bullying, especially in countries like the UK. Children and teenagers often fall victim to this type of bullying. In the UK alone, over 4.3 million children and teenagers reported being bullied or having to deal with some kind of harassment from teachers. This came in forms of exclusion, unreasonable punishments, scolding and even mild physical abuse like hitting or spitting, and all because of a child’s race, belief, ethnicity and mental and/or physical differences (children with disabilities). When interrogated by police, the teachers had no justifiable reason. So how is this society’s responsibility? Well, first of all, the very existence of teachers is based on educating society’s children and contributing to the rise of a successful generation. Harassment and bullying is not education! It ultimately leads to traumatized children and teenagers that end up being afraid to work or even continue their studies. A recent and popular example would be the experience of a Syrian teenage refugee. Bystanders, classmates and other teachers constantly called social workers in child support services after noticing several bruises and the teacher publicly humiliating the boy because of his background, however, they never found the time to investigate the case. It was later found that this was a result of un-organisation. Society’s role is to encourage each other, bring each other and most importantly, protect each other. So, what can we do? We need to come together, demand new laws and bills that will reform and improve education systems. We need laws that will immediately eradicate such behaviour towards our children. No child, whether privileged or not, deserves to witness or be a victim to such diabolical acts.

If you still feel that bullying isn’t the fault of society, then you are either in a state of denial or you are a monster in the making. I believe that we can change for the better. I believe that we can build a more secure environment for all children. I believe that we can finally put an end bullying. I believe in us; you should too.

- Zarshan Shah Khan and Sithumdi Jayawardhana