Willow Gelin – Year 6

What Matters 2018 writing competition

Bullying matters

It was the 1^st day back at school. She was scared. Scared to go to school because of what happened the previous year. She was scared of being hurt, scared of being teased, scared of being blackmailed. She hadn’t told anyone, of course. She couldn’t do that. If she did then she knew that she would be completely humiliated, embarrassed and she might even get thrown in a locker. Not like that hadn’t happened before. She walked into school that day looking down, making sure to stay away from the mean boys that had hurt her multiple times. Today they did it again. They noticed her. They started pushing her, kicking her and punching her. They then walked away laughing. Almost every day she went home and cried. Whenever her mother asked why she was crying, she said: “It’s fine. It’s just a school thing.” Her mother understood and thought it was only homework, but she was wrong. Very, very wrong. Her daughter was being bullied at school. But it was not just that one girl that was being bullied.

Bullying is repeatedly harassing someone on purpose either physically, verbally or using the internet, sometimes relating to discrimination. Bullying can be done by a group or an individual and it can be done in person, online, overtly or covertly. Bullying matters because it happens to many people and it has harmful effects on the victim, the bully and even the bystanders. Bystanders are people who watch bullying happen but don’t do anything about it or sometimes even encourage the bully. Upstanders are people who see bullying and do something about it, such as telling an adult or directly telling the bully to stop.

Bullying matters because it happens to many people. In a survey done by ReachOut, of the 1000 14-25 year olds that were surveyed, 23% had been bullied in the past year, 52% of them had been bullied at school, 25.3% had been bullied at work and 25.3% had been bullied online. Out of the 229 people who were victims of bullying, 50.2% sought help from a parent, friend, doctor, GP or teacher although 49.8% did not seek help from anyone because of fear, being seen as ‘weak’ or feeling that there was no need for help. One in 4 Australians report being bullied every few weeks. Bullying is a crucial issue in Australia and must be stopped.

Furthermore, bullying of any type can have a long-term negative impact on anyone involved, even bystanders. Examples of the impacts that bullying can have on the victim are reduced participation, reduced enjoyment of school and reduced learning. Bystanders feel anxiety and distress after seeing someone doing something that they feel is wrong or feelings of concern towards their own safety. Impacts that bullying can have on the bully are later mental health or educational issues. Criminal or anti-social behaviour is also shown to be an outcome of bullying on the bully. Bullying of any form or for any reason is incorrect and should not be a problem in Australia or anywhere.

Bullying matters because there are many victims all over the world. In my school, there is 1 day designated to stopping bullying but it should not happen because there should be no bullying anywhere. We have motivation, but it is not enough. We must be fully conscious of what bullying is doing to people every day.