Most people know that bullying is wrong. Calling someone names has absolutely no beneficial purpose. Moreover, hitting someone makes a bully feel good in the moment while doing permanent damage to the person being victimized. With the Internet, people now have even more opportunities to bully through cyberbullying. This includes sending crude pictures, posting fake web pages, or tweeting slanderous messages. Cyberbullying has subsequently led to a rise in a completely new kind of bullying.
One of the effects of bullying is that it can change the victim’s personality. It can cause people who are normally confident and happy to become self-conscious, shy, and unsure. Additionally, victims of bullying may also become sad or depressed. Their confidence might completely disappear, keeping them from trying new things or trusting people. Once a person has been bullied, they may hesitate to participate in situations where he or she might be ridiculed, such as in public speaking or in sports. A bullying victim might even begin to possess previously absent anxious
behavior.
Despite all the negative effects of bullying, there are even far more serious consequences. People who have been bullied sometimes become so upset, scared, or depressed that they see no worth in themselves and no way out of their torment. There have been countless reports over the past few years of students committing suicide because they were bullied. Meanwhile, there are times when victims see no recourse but to seek revenge by serious acts of violence against the bully and instigators. As a result of bullying, people can lose their ability to love and trust, denying them the chance to experience a quality relationship later in their life. They might find themselves as a submissive partner or they may want to be completely alone. Compounding all of these problems, victims often develop eating disorders, begin to self-injure, or require extensive counseling. Social bullying can also leave people without a supportive group of friends that they can lean on and spend time with.
Another unfortunate consequence of this is that bullying is often cyclical. People who have been bullied can, in an attempt to gain their power and self-esteem back, become bullies themselves. In relation to this, bullies who are not confronted or stopped may find themselves in future positions where they can bully as adults. This is where manipulative bosses and child abusers come from.
Aside from its long-term effects, some consequences of bullying can be seen and felt immediately. When one child calls another child names, the victim might cry and a bruise might appear after a punch to the arm. However, some effects of bullying are not always obvious to the naked eye. The results of bullying might grow and appear over time, damaging a person in profound ways for the long term. There are so many effects of bullying that they are impossible to count or predict. This is why it is so important to stop bullying.
