Bullying is a prevalent issue in most school communities. It is difficult to approach due to its sensitive nature and variety of circumstances. Administrator Bryan Brutto said that cyber bullying is especially hard to address. “It’s really, really challenging for cyber [bullying], I would say, above all else,” he added.
Bullying is when one person or group of people repetitively and intentionally hurts a different person or group of people.
According to the National Library of Medicine and The National Child Traumatic Stress Network, signs that someone may be getting bullied include isolation, anger, health complaints, self harm, eating disorders, skipping school, and poor academic performance.
Regarding the most concerning signs of bullying, School Resource Officer Anthony Garcia said, “I think the ultimate
would be self harm and suicide. But there’s all these different things that can come from bullying, and none of them are good.”
If people are showing these symptoms, it can be helpful to affirm that they are cared for, help them report the bullying, encourage them to seek help for the more severe signs such as disordered eating or self harm, and reach out to a trusted adult.
Multiple categories of bullying exist. Bullying can be verbal, physical, or psychological. These categories include actions such as name-calling, hitting, shoving, derogatory racial or religious marks, and rumours.
Freshman John Smith* shared an example of different types of bullying. “Most of the time it is being mean with their words, but one time I did get punched in the stomach,” Smith* said. “I didn’t really know what to do.”
“Bullying becomes assault if it’s threatening in nature [and/or] physical,” SRO Garcia said. “Rarely does it get to that extreme…but there are times where it rises to that level.”
Sometimes bullying can result in the victim acting aggressively.
“One time someone mentioned jumping my sister, and that freaked me out, and I said something that got me an OSS,” Smith* said.
Smith* adds that bullying tends to be more common and severe in middle school. “It’s still happening but it has died down a tiny bit in the past year. It was probably the biggest in middle school, but people have finally been growing up,” he said.
Administrator Brutto hopes that high schoolers at Blue Valley West try to appreciate their differences rather than bullying each other. “Let’s focus on…unique character traits or skills or personality of your classmates,” Brutto said.
SRO Garcia expresses how to cope when being bullied. “Don’t beat yourself up. Continuing to [practice] self care is important,” he said.
Even when a victim does try to persevere through the bullying, sometimes it can be the tipping point for someone. “People have killed themselves because of bullies,” Smith* said.
Statistics from the National Library of Medicine show that suicidal ideation and attempt rates are highest in people involved with bullying including victims and the bullies themselves.
Smith* addressed the importance of acknowledging the possible outcomes of bullying. “Knowing the long term consequences of what can happen, even if it doesn’t, it still can,” Smith* said.
Consequences for the bully vary between cases. When bullying becomes more severe, the bully can face jail time, be charged with assault, harassment, or other crimes.
“In the extreme case, [if] you bully someone and they kill themselves, you’re probably going to prison. That’s super extreme, but it does happen,” Garcia said.
To help avoid such extremes, Garcia recommends speaking up about bullying. “If you see something, say something,” he said.
