It is common to see bullying in the high school age group. Many teens often believe they can get away with bullying due to the lack of consequences or unclear consequences. Due to the advancement of technology, kids now have another source of bullying; means of social communication. Children are no longer able to escape harassment as it follows them wherever they go. These issues are not something to ignore. Millions of children are affected every year. The lives of thousands of children are at stake. Society has slowly started to become more aware of this and has already started to take action. Measures have been taken in schools and even government to prevent, assist or completely stop the heinous acts of bullying. To address the issue of bullying in schools, this essay analyzes the main causes, effects and solutions to this problem. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay While not allowed, encouraged, or excused, there are reasons why people decide to play a role in bullying. You don't just decide to hurt someone else unless they have underlying issues themselves. There is no acceptable reason to bully another human being, so when a bully carries out actions that negatively impact another person, most of the time they do so "to escape their own problems." This is the one thing all bullies have in common. They are bringing others down because of something that is not right in their mind. Many bullies have been bullied in the past or have gone through some sort of hate that made them feel less human, so to balance that out, in their minds, the only way is to tear someone else down along with them. This reassures them that they are not the only ones who are out of place or not like everyone else. They are increasing their confidence because they believe that if someone is below them in society, they should not be seen as the worst, the weirdest, or the dumbest. In addition to having to personally face difficulties, there is also the probable reason for them to notice that someone is different and as society has taught us, we distance ourselves from those who are not like us. According to PACERS.org, many victims of bullying say they are bullied based on their skin tone, ethnicity, gender, religion or sexual orientation. All the things they can't control but also all the things that make them who they are. Bullying cases tend to occur against a minority or against someone who was previously seen as less human in society. This, however, also comes from the bullies' personal problems and their battles in the head. They bully to protect themselves. They see something as a threat, so they tear it down, they see something different and change for many is scary, so instead of learning, their ignorance gets the better of them and they tear them down. All in all, the act of bullying is deeply rooted in individuals not knowing what they should know. Additionally, teenage children are more likely to participate in bullying because they don't have anyone to tell them it's wrong or they don't have any consequences. For example, cyberbullying has become a major source of bullying because students do not confront the victim and do not see the effects of what they do. They are also more willing to bully through social media because nothing stops them. The effects of bullying can be catastrophic. Being hurt, being told you're not enough, or experiencing things you don't give permission to are all instances that can tear someone apart, especially a teenager. Fromteenager, you are learning to become yourself, you are still trying to figure out who you want to be, so being treated that way is not enough or right can affect you emotionally. Being a victim of such a careless and discouraging act can result in a child's mental health decline. HelpGuide.org explains it as a feeling of hopelessness and shame, as well as fear and loneliness. These feelings confuse teens and can build up and lead to even more serious emotions and actions. Many children who fall victim to it tend to develop depression which commonly leads to worsening physical health. Children suffering from deep depression may start to take part in other unhealthy actions such as eating too much or too little, giving in to drugs and alcohol, self-harming, skipping school to escape the source of all their pain. Victims often become suicidal. “According to studies from Yale University, victims of bullying are 2 to 9 times more likely to consider suicide than non-victims” (bullyingstatistics.org). This statistic is much more than just numbers. These are children's lives. People who have yet to really live. The fact is that suicide is the third leading cause among teenagers, and the majority of these deaths involve children who are victims of bullying. These numbers are slowly and slightly affected by the solutions to bullying that have been introduced into school systems. As a persistent problem, it has forced school systems and the government to implement solutions to reduce the severity of student health. A variety of solutions have been introduced into the education system and for school staff, students and parents. There have been failed attempts which hardly affect the amount of bullying taking place. The idea of ​​simply informing parents and adults on how to deal with bullies or victims of bullying. It was deemed unproductive and unnecessary to simply say that parents and teachers should pay more attention. A parent can be the most attentive parent and yet miss the signs that their children are being bullied or that their children are bullies. Further resolutions need to be adopted to fully address the issue. One of the most common solutions introduced in almost every high school is an anti-bullying program or policy. An anti-bullying program is about making information clear and accessible. These programs commonly have posters, fact sheets, resources for parents, and provide helpful resources such as the crisis hotline. Anti-bullying policies are simply rules put in place that tell students how they should behave, inform them of what unacceptable behavior consists of, and give possible consequences for certain behaviors. While all of this is a step in the right direction, unfortunately the impact is little known. “Bullying in Schools: The State of Knowledge and Effective Interventions” is a journal that explores the effectiveness of some solutions against bullying in schools. The article explains that these anti-bullying programs and acts have little to no influence on children and, in most cases, are not adequately provided to the student body. “They can decide not to implement the program because it was designed to be implemented.” (Theadvocate.org) So even though there are these established policies, rules and programs, teachers tend to not provide the information correctly. This could happen for many possible reasons, such as teachers not having the qualifications or little training on the topic or the fact that some teachers do not make it as much of a priority as it should be. This does not produce any effect or assistance for youvictims who desperately need it. The effects have been studied by researchers; Evans, Fraser and Cotter. They recorded the smallest effects in schools that had anti-bullying programs and policies, and their data showed that, among all the studies conducted in different high schools, about 45% of them produced little-known effects on bullying in schools and They also found that 30% of programs had no effect on bullying victims. Many variables could have led to these findings but, in any case, almost half of schools that take part in anti-bullying programs actually achieve no positive effects, meaning that most school students continue to play a role in negative and offensive acts or continue to be targets of bullies. Concluding that the programs put in place are ineffective and that further research is needed to find ways to address this problem. It is established that parents cannot simply be expected to be more involved and that schools cannot continue to neglect programs and policies, so it has to be there. So the questions are: what more can be done, what is missing from the curriculum, how can the environment of a school be changed to make it safe enough for all children? The second solution was proposed by the US government. Applying harassment identifiers on social media platforms. One of the most common forms of bullying is cyberbullying. Children, mostly of school age, have found ways to attack and harass their victims even when they are not with them. Insulting, spreading rumors, distributing images are all forms of bullying present online. It's not reasonable to ask every parent of a teen to monitor exactly what happens online and on their phone, but it makes sense to impose rules for social media users. Address the problem of bullying at the source. US House of Representatives documents lay out the five-point action plan that US Congressman Josh Gottheimer has put in place to “improve data and incident reporting” (US House of Representatives Documents). This action step forces social media companies like Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook to add a feature that blocks any negative, bullying, or harassment posts/messages. 15% of school-age children report having been bullied through social media. While there are no numerical statistics on the situation, bullying has been tamed because kids no longer have access or the ability to post negative posts without being reported and removed, and the five-point plan also punishes those who choose to participate in the program. act of bullying. The final solution that has proven unsuccessful is to incorporate healthy activities for the student body. This experiment was observed and recorded in the Health Research Journal, “Evaluating Healthy Schools: Perceptions of Impact Among School Based Respondents.” In theory this should have helped the school environment and for primary schools it positively affected their relationships, but for secondary schools with teenage students they shared that there had been no changes. An experiment was conducted in thirty schools, including secondary and primary schools. Interviews were also conducted to gather information and determine whether the experiment had any effects on the schools. These activities consisted of things like creating a student council or renovating their playground. The goal was to build positive relationships among peers and between students and staff. A student who attended a school where activities took place, 7(1), 27-56.