Abbie Stillman
The Paw Print
Cyber bullying is the most popular version of bullying these days. Tina Meier spoke to the public on Tuesday night at Alamosa High School about cyber bullying, how to approach it, and the consequences it has on people. She started the presentation with a personal story about her own daughter; Megan Meier, who experienced bullying starting in third grade, which continued till she was fourteen at which time she had received messages on a social website from a boy whom she had been flirting with. His last messages to her said that she was not a good person and that the world would be better off without her and he hoped she had a shitty rest of her life. Megan was found dead by her mother shortly after. They later discovered that the boys profile was fake; it was created by a neighbor and her daughters.
Bullying comes in different forms, starting as early as kindergarten and elementary school, such as physical abuse, spitting, tripping and pushing, taking or breaking someone else’s property, and the list goes on. Boys and girls have similar but also different ways of bullying. Boys tend to bully by intimidation, harassment, verbal assaults, and humiliation. Girls can be physical as well but they tend to lean towards rumors, whispers and name calling.
Kids can be targeted for bullying for race, sexual orientation, learning differences, the way they dress, how they talk, where they’re from, body type, their hobbies, and list goes and on. Kids are quite evil and many of them do not grow out of it and continue into their adulthood. Adults can be bullies to other adults, to kids, mostly their own; most bullies bully because of something going on in their own lives and want someone else to feel the pain they feel. Sixty-seven percent of kids will not report being bullied due to fear of bully retaliation or being known as a snitch or tattler, which can provoke bullies to hit even harder.
Unfortunately, bullying sticks to the bullied for years. The victim’s self-esteem gets destroyed and some never recover. People will become fearful of making friends, they will isolate themselves, and they will not confide in people. Our brains react to peer exclusion; it looks like children who have been sexually or severely abused. They deal with stress like combat soldiers with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD. Life-long problems can originate from bullying especially when it is not seen or dealt with. That is when suicide comes into the picture. Bullying is the third leading cause to teen and preteen death.
Meier showed a graph of Joiners Theory of Suicide. Three circles connected with one saying ‘I’m alone’, one saying ‘I’m a burden’, and the third saying ‘I’m not afraid to die’. Kids are feeling like they are a burden to their families, feeling so alone they cannot imagine that anyone could understand. If you are looking for more information go to this website: meganmeierfoundation.org. Contact information can be found on the website.
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