Opinion: Are we doing enough to stop bullying at Carter High School?

Bullying has been an issue for far too long at Carter High School, and something needs to be done to stop, or at least alleviate, the problem. Students have been harassed, both verbally and physically, many times with no help from the administrators. Ignoring the problems another person receives due to bullying when the evidence is in plain sight is never okay. We really need to start paying more attention to bullying, because it can affect the victim’s psychology through adulthood, the consequences of bullying could be dire if a situation is left untouched, and the victim/victims aren’t always able to help themselves. Before we talk about anything else, let’s look into the psychological problems that bullying causes. Bullying is described as wanting to seek to harm, intimidate, or coerce (someone perceived as vulnerable). According to David McNamee, the author of an article titled, “What are the adult health consequences of childhood bullying?” on medicalnewstoday.com, childhood bullying can lead to some complex problems for that person as an adult. “A 2014 study from researchers at King’s College London in the UK found that the negative social, physical and mental health effects of childhood bullying are still evident up to 40 years later,” McNamee states. Aside from long-term problems, if an individual gets bullied bad enough, it could possibly lead to the suicide of that particular person. In a CDC presentation titled, “The Relationship Between Bullying and Suicide: What We Know and What it Means for Schools,” the author states, “Youth who report being frequently bullied by others are at increased risk of suicide-related behaviors, and negative physical and mental outcomes.” The value of a person’s life is precious, and if a person reports bullying, or if an administrator witnesses it, and the people in charge don’t take action against it, then that person could possibly be at risk of attempting suicide. Seattle Galloway, a CHS freshman, has seen bullying first hand over a long course of time; the administrators did nothing. “There was this kid three years ago. His name was Bryant, and people came up with this thing called the ‘Bryan touch,’ and if you touched Bryant it was, really, really bad,” she says. When asked if she thought the admins were good at helping the bullied, she said, “They could suspend them, but half of the time they don’t really do anything. My sister is currently being bullied, and I don’t think they’ll do anything about it.” That being said, this brings us to our last point: students aren’t always able to stop bullying themselves. Some people will tell you to just “ignore” the bullies or try to resolve the problem by talking it out. However, the bullies are not always willing to negotiate and will continue their actions; this can happen when ignoring the bullies, too. Since students cannot possibly get away from this at school, they might need a third party involved to stop it. This could include talking to the bullies’ parents, taking protective measures to guard victimized students, or even talking to the bullies themselves. Administrators need to look at bullying situations as more than a small problem, and look deep into the situations to find the best solution.