Everything Is Very Funny Until Someone Commits Suicide
What makes a 12-year-old girl decided to jump into the void to end her life? What drives a girl of only 14 to hang herself from a tree in front of the bus stop? The reason for these tragic events is the same: bullying.
Rebecca Sedwick, aged 12, and Angel Green, aged 14, were (like the 20% of teenagers during their school time) victims of bullying by their peers. Rebecca was bullied because of a boy with whom she had had a relationship with and Angel because of her appearance. However, this blog is not about the tragic end of these two girls, it is about the lack of empathy that their executioners felt towards them when it was time to push them to their limits.
Bullying is any type of abuse (physical, social and psychological) that a person can suffer from someone who abuses their power and/or position, according to the StopBullying.org website.
Bullying can cause the abused person to develop stress, anxiety, depression, among other mental illnesses either during short or long term periods of their lives. This can cause their performance and lifestyle to deteriorate to alarming points (as in the case of Rebecca and Angel where the bullying broke them enough that made them resort to suicide). In addition to that, bullying can also cause victims to become violent, according to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
However, unlike what many people believe, bullying is not the leading cause of suicide in young adults. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, bullying only influences in the possibilities of self-harm, more than suicide, it is important to take into account other external factors besides bullying.
Unfortunately, although bullying and any of its derivatives is a despicable behavior, this cannot be considered a "crime" even when the victim ends his life because of it. In the case of Angel, none of her executioners were accused or punished for her death.
In Rebecca's case, on the other hand, two students from her school were arrested but none of them were actually convicted of indirectly causing Rebecca's death. In fact, they were only charged with harassment for a post on Facebook that one of the girl’s post. In the end, neither of them were actually punished for the death of Rebecca.
(Picture was taken from the ABC news website)
In fact, the only way in which victims have a way to defend themselves against bullying in schools is through physical evidence of bullying (in addition to evidence that these aggressions have been committed for a considered period of time ), since the verbal aggressions cannot be considered reliable proof of this type of abuse.
In the state of VA, schools are responsible for preventing and managing cases of bullying inside of their facilities without external mediations. According to Amanda Trevino, the coordinator of the Arlington Career Center, depending on the severity of the aggression, bullies are punished through a follow-up, session with the psychologists and/or a suspension from school.
In any case, it is clear that if the victim does not report the harasser, which in many cases occurs out of fear, all these tragic scenes will be repeated again and again (as happened with Rebecca and Angel), where the maximum consolation their parents received was a "sorry" on the part of the executioners.
As if that was going to return their daughters.
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ReplyDeleteThis post kept my interest through to the end. The reality of the growing issue of bullying and the further need for support for victims is well addressed. While legislation to punish those found guilty of playing a part in a youth committing suicide needs to be developed, determining the level of influence makes it hard to decide on how much to charge the bully or bullies with. The article on Rebecca Sedwick discussed the other influences that led to her ultimately killing herself. Sedwick's home life, her mother's issues, and the other motivations that existed in her short life, had brought her to that moment.
ReplyDeleteAnother unfortunate part of this epidemic is that the majority of bullies are themselves being bullied. There is an article by Dan Bloom on The Guardian website published back in 2008, that gives some statistics that explain more about bullies being bullied. The site is, "www.theguardian.com /education/2008/aug/29/bullying.schools". The article reports that out of 6500 eight to eleven-year-olds, 5 percent were bullies, but 4.5 percent of them were bullied themselves. It seems to be a vicious cycle that may fall back to the lack of parental involvement or abusive behaviors toward the child.
It is impossible to bring back the children who have taken their own life, but their death can potentially inspire actions to prevent it from happening in the future.
First, I would like to say great title; it really grabbed my attention. Also, the very first sentence grabbed my attention as well. I like how you started off with a question on why children killing themselves at such a young age. In paragraph six, you mention that "This cannot considered a "crime" even when the victim ends his life because of it", Why don't you believe bullying is a crime? especially if the bully goes around harassing that person until they take their life away? Wouldn't that be considered a crime since the bully caused the person to commit suicide?
ReplyDeleteOverall, great hyperlinks. They all work and were very helpful information.
Great post! You addressed how bullying can destroy people’s life and as a result the victims might end up being violent I found that interesting. I was surprised when I read the part where you said bullying and any of its derivatives is a despicable behavior, this cannot be considered a "crime" even when the victim ends his life because of it, as I thought bullying is a crime and people can go to jail for it if a person die from their action but as you mention on your post students were arrested because of the harassment but not for death of the victim. I also like you title.
ReplyDelete