Effects of Being Bullied and Hate Crimes

Effects of Being Bullied and Hate Crimes

According to the Centers for Disease Control, bullying is a serious threat to our youth today due to the fact that bullying affects 20% of high school students and cyberbullying affects 16% of high school students. Bullying can have both short-term and long-term effects and consequences for the victim and the bully. All teens are affected by bullying in different ways, during and after being bullied and so they have different behaviors and reactions to being bullied. Keep in mind that with relational aggression and cyberbullying on the rise, bullying can last for long periods of time before it is reported to a teacher, parent or any adult by the victim to seek help. The bullied victim can start to reflect anyone or all of the following effects. Social isolation, feelings of shame, sleep disturbance, change in eating habits, low self-esteem, school avoidance, symptoms of anxiety, bedwetting, higher risk of illness, psychosomatic symptoms (physical complaints with no known medical cause), poor school performance and symptoms of depression. With all of these potential effects, it is important that parents and school officials pay attention to what is going on around them and their students because the effects can sometimes be very dangerous to the students' health, both physical and mental. Contrary to one's belief, the bully can also suffer from the effects of their own bullying. Some examples of possible short-term effects of bullies are poor school performance, due to missed days because of suspensions; increased truancy risks, due to getting into multiple bad habits after bullying; difficulty maintaining social relationships, when classmates do not want to associate with a bully; and increased risk of substance abuse, to help forget or feel less bad about bullying others. Some of the long term effects of bullying for the bully that are usually the continuation into adulthood, are risk of spousal or child abuse, risk of anitsocial behavior, substance abuse and less likely to be education of employed.

People victimized by violent hate crimes are more likely to experience more psychological distress than victims of other violent crimes. These victims are more likely to also experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), safety concerns, depression, general sense of fear, hopelessness, anxiety and anger than victims of crimes that are not motivated by bias. Hate crimes can make people of the victim’s community feel as though they are not welcome or fear that they will be treated the same. Due to this many people of the same group start to feel unsafe in their own community. Hate crimes overall can victimize an entire group and decrease feelings of safety and security. Furhtermore, witnessing discrimination towards others of ones own group can lead to psychological distress and lower self-esteem. It is important that people know that over the years, hate crimes have increased so the number of people experiencing these effects are increasing