bullying

Bullying:

A Cancer That Must Be Eradicated

A tragic end to an education that had barely begun 13-year-old Kiki

stopped schooling because her classmates used to make fun of her relentlessly.

They had accidentally discovered her humble background, her father being a

street vendor. In another case, 15 year old Dinda could not take it anymore. She

became depressed, left school and stayed at home because she was constantly

teased by her classmates for failing in junior high school.

And in yet another, more recent case, some senior students of a junior

high school took seven junior students, and subjected them to violent beatings.

Sherry, one of the junior students, was rushed to hospital with bruises on his

abdomen. He is extremely scared to go to school. Julie, a 10 year old, fifth grade

student, states that her first two years of elementary school were a traumatic

experience. She sadly remembers being cruelly bullied by her male classmates

because she was overweight. They used to call her Sumatran elephant, baboon,

gentong and many other names.

These are few cases out of hundreds of similar cases and the number is

increasing over the time. In Indonesia bullying exists in every form, from teasing toextreme abuse. Even though incidents of bullying are common, unfortunately it isnot seen as a major problem. A recent survey conducted by National Child

Protection Commission has shown that more than half of bullying incidents go

unreported due to the fact that it is considered normal in some parts of the

society. Also the people who get bullied are either unwilling to report it because

they feel it will “make a big deal”. Or worse, they are so scared that they don't trustanyone and do not want to share their plight with anyone

(http://www.asianewsnet.net/news-34263.html). The issue of bullying has beena problem for years but recently it got limelight from news media when few caseswere reported.

Bullying affects the children both psychologically and physically. It is

estimated that hundreds of children miss school every day due to the fear of beingmistreated by other students and in some extreme cases they choose to homeschool, or in severe circumstances they stop studying altogether

(http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/facts-on-bullying.html).

Children should not be living in constant fear. They shouldn't be afraid. On

the contrary, they should look forward to every day of school and enjoy school life.According to a research bullying has always existed in Indonesian society, but ithas come to surface due to the recent proliferation of media technologies (Craig,2009). Since bullying is prevalent in our society it is important that everyoneshould be made aware of this social evil. There should be campaigns to increaseawareness. Everyone should be working together, against it, to stop it. It isdistressing to see our children being isolated from society because they are

treated badly. I am of opinion that no one has any right to harass or make people

feel inferior. No one should have that kind of power. These children are our futureand we should make every possible effort to stop bullying.

I would like to point out that bullying is everyone's problem and

responsibility. If you condone bullying in any way, shape or form it means you are

taking part in it whether it is directly or indirectly by being silent. Majority of

people agree that we have to work together towards eliminating this problem.

Some people may consider taunting someone as funny, even though it is

anything but funny to the person who is at the receiving end. Minor taunts can

create a lot of pain and suffering. While it may seem innocent but the cumulative

effect could be highly damaging. In addition to that, as the pain increases, each

instance cuts a little deeper which eventually becomes a sore.

It is highly possible that bullying might happen in your school so it is the

liability of every student to protect their classmates and try to stop bullying. If it

doesn't work then you should inform your teachers or parents.

Not many of us think of stopping it. As long as it doesn't happen to us why

should we get involved, why should we bother? But the time has come for us to beactively involved in eradicating bullying (Farrington, 1993).

So next time if you see someone getting bullied, would you try to stop it or

let it happen? Remember, bullying is everyone's problem; therefore everyone has

to be the part of the solution.

000000000000000

Read the questions carefully. Note down your opinions and reactions to thequestions. During the discussion with your teacher and classmates, offer yourpersonal reaction and understanding of the text.

1. Do you think bullying is a serious issue in your school? Give reasons to

support your opinion.

2. Did this opinion article raise/change your awareness about bullying?

Please explain.

3. Do you think it is necessary to educate people on issue of bullying? Why?

Give reasons to support your opinion.

4. Do you think bullying should be declared as punishable crime? Give

reasons to support your answer.

5. Discuss the article on bullying in a group? Does it change your perspective

on bullying or not? Give reasons to support your answers.

6. Are you aware of cyber bullying? Do you think it is worse than physical

bullying? Why? Support your opinion with examples.

7. What can young people like you do to prevent or stop bullying? List at least

three things you and your friends can do to prevent or stop bullying.

PERSONALJOURNAL WRITING

Place yourself in shoes of a person who gets bullied everyday at campus.

How would you feel? Write down your feelings and what would you doabout it.

Opinions

An opinion is the way you feel or think about something. Our opinion about

something or someone is based on our perspective. Whenever we give or express

our opinion it is important to give reasoning or an example to support our opinion.

I like Harry Potter movies because the magic seems

so real.

I don't agree with you. Harry Potter

movies are just overrated.

I like playing tag because it is so

much fun.

I don't like playing tag because people

end up fighting.

In my opinion Government should

provide means of sustenance for

under privileged people instead of

building tall towers.

I agree with what you are saying but

have you ever thought that building

tall towers provides work for

unemployed people?

We can use collocations toexpress opinions,

for examplestrong argument, strongcriticism, strong denial, strongopinion, strong resistance,quite strongly.