Bullying is an important and growing concern amongst children today. Some don’t seem to take bullying seriously and let it pass as a one time thing. However, bullying can, and is a very serious problem that can have dangerous outcomes. It needs to be dealt with now.

Bullying can be categorized as abusive words towards someone but it is actually an early form of aggressive, violent behavior. More attention from parents, educators and even children needs to be put forth in order to detect these acts that can range from teasing to stealing someone’s lunch money. Bullying, in its worse form can involve abuse to others physically or verbally in a purposeful manner. Acts of bullying can happen up to once a week for a long period of time or can be a one time event, and unbelievably, it occurs more often in elementary school then in junior high and high school Statistics show that 1 in 4 children who bully have a criminal record by the age of 30. So, by finding the source of the problem and by eliminating these acts quickly, more can be done to prevent them.

Sadly, the effects of bullying can go by unnoticed and undetected. People don’t seem to realize it can hurt a child deeply and that it can have long term effects. It can cause children to avoid school, and when the problem gets worse, some children resort to bringing a weapon to ensure their own safety. It can also lead to the victim committing his or her own violent act. Not only can it scar a child physically but also emotionally. Bullying can cause a great amount of stress, depression and physical illnesses. It also creates a high level of low self-esteem and constant teasing and abuse piles up inside the child and to cause these effects.

Although many ‘bullies’ bully for basically the same reasons, Bullies come in many different types although the one thing that seems to be constant is that bullies are outgoing and active. They are usually very expressive, seem to reject rules and rebel to achieve a level of superiority. They usually bully moreso over psychological traits than physical traits. Other bullies, especially girls, can be more reserved and manipulative. They use a sense of cunning, deception and manipulating to gain power over their victims. Though many may dispute and debate the definition and the typecasting of bullies, one fact is indisputable, about 20% of Canadian children are bullied and about 20% of Canadian children have taken place in a bullying act.

There are different signs you can detect in a victim or bully. Characteristically, victims usually show signs of withdrawal and a drop in grades caused by their growing lack in interest towards school. There may be signs that their clothes are torn and they will often be needing extra money or pocket change.

Most bullies follow along certain characteristics as well. Bullies seem to be concerned for their own pleasure or gratification and above all, they like to have power over others. Strangely though, many bullies are insecure about their appearance and life. Within themselves there is an anger which plays a role when they abuse a victim to get what they want. Most bullies feel pain inside and usually have difficulty seeing stuff from others perspectives. They feel a fear and a sense of loneliness so they enjoy the respect and admiration of the popularity and peer status that bullying brings them.

As a society, we need to do more than just being informed about bullying. Once you find a problem or hear of one we need to solve it, and quickly. As a parent, if you hear of a complaint about bullying take it seriously. Here are a few suggestions for parents