Bullying Prevention Bullying is identified as an aggressive behavior among chi

 
Bullying Prevention
Bullying is identified as an aggressive behavior among children done mostly by their peers, repeatedly and over time has significant consequences. Some of the consequences include the victim committing suicide because bullying is traumatic to the victim, bystanders, parents and everyone affected by the act, either directly or indirectly. Bao et al. (2023) highlight that suicide is the fourth leading cause of adolescent death, and bullying has been closely associated with it. Since approximately 1 in 5 middle and high school children are bullied in the United States, the government, through the stop bullying website, has highlighted various resources that can be used to prevent bullying, thus, reducing suicides. The resources incorporated in this discussion include the use of social media, awareness creation and laws and regulations.
A significant number of middle school and high school students use social media often. Some of these social media platforms have zero tolerance for bullying, especially with the rise of cyberbullying cases. The same platforms manipulated by bullies to write mean comments, body shame others or edit pictures, videos and posts to bully others can be used to stop bullying. This is a resource because it is used by potential victims, bystanders and even the perpetrators; thus, posting and explaining ways a victim can get help, a peer can identify when another is being bullied and what to do as a bystander can bring a change. Nurlia & Suardiman (2020) explain that social media is an effective platform for preventing bullying and associated consequences because parents, teachers and guardians also use it. Thus, messages on identifying a victim or a bully can help prevent bullying.
Awareness creation helps spread the word that bullying in schools has traumatic consequences, and preventing such actions is important. According to the website, bully victims or bystanders may want to talk to their parents or teachers about it but do not know how. On the other hand, parents or teachers may not recognize that their child is being bullied, especially because bullying is of different types, including verbal, where there is no physical evidence. Therefore an essential resource to address this is awareness creation. The website features several videos that talk about the signs of bullying. Secondly, normalizing the talk about bullying will create a safe environment for victims and bystanders to come forward, thus reducing bullying (Gaffney et al., 2021). Consequently, talking about bullying helps spread the word about the available resources to help the victims overcome the associated trauma, thus, reducing suicidal risks among the victims.
Laws and regulations as a resource advocate for deterrence and prevention of bullying. This is evidenced by how most states mandate schools to have bullying prevention programs and strategies to address bullying within the school environment. The policies put in place in most schools include the definition of bullying, the various forms, and specific consequences for the bullies as a form of deterrence. Further, teachers are educated on ways of identifying and addressing bullying behavior and the victims. For example, the Florida school district policies include programs that train adults to identify, prevent and respond to bullying or harassment.