academic essay about bullying

154 Bullying Topics & Bullying Essay Examples

Looking for an exciting research topic about bullying? This problem is very controversial, sensitive, and definitely worth studying

🏆 Top 10 Bullying Topics for Research Papers

📃 bullying essay: writing tips, 🏆 best bullying topics to write about, ⚡ most shocking bullying topics to write about, ✅ simple & easy shocking bullying essay titles, ✍️ bullying essay topics for college, ❓ research questions about bullying.

Examples of bullying can be found everywhere: in schools, workplaces, and even on the Internet (in the form of cyberbullying).

In this article, we’ve collected top bullying research paper topics and questions, as well as bullying essay samples and writing tips. Get inspired with us!

• Direct and indirect bullying: compare & contrast
• The causes of bullying
• Classroom bullying and its effects
• Social isolation as a form of bullying
• Bullying and academic performance
• Passive and active victims of bullying: compare and contrast
• The role of social agencies in bullying prevention
• Public policy for bullying and aggression
• Bullying behavior and psychological health
• Aggressive children and their family background

A bullying essay is a popular assignment in various subjects, including psychology, sociology, and education. Writing an excellent paper on the matter requires more than just in-depth research and planning. Don’t worry; there are some tips that will make writing an essay on bullying much easier:

• Choose a topic that allows analyzing and interpreting the problem. Instead of merely describing what bullying is, try to dig deeper into its causes, consequences, and solutions. If your professor didn’t suggest any topics, you may research bullying essay topics online and select one that would be exciting for you to explore.
• Read sample articles and papers online to see how other students approached the subject. Notice the bits that work and don’t work, and write them out to make the process of creating your essay easier. If you’re struggling with finding enough examples online, you may want to expand your search to discrimination essay topics and materials.
• Research what scholars say about bullying. Articles in scholarly journals are an excellent source of information because they are usually trustworthy. If you’re still in school, your ability to navigate the library or online databases will also impress your tutor. As you start researching, you will find that there is a great variety of studies, and it’s challenging to find the relevant ones. Narrowing down your search would help you to do that. For instance, if you are writing a cyber bullying essay, try searching for social media bullying or online anti-bullying services.
• Include real-life experiences where relevant. Unfortunately, bullying is a common problem in many institutions, and if you haven’t experienced it, your friends or family members probably have. If your tutor allows personal input, explore real-life experiences with bullying. Note the effects, preventive measures that worked or didn’t work, and what a person used to cope with bullying. If personal input is not allowed, you could ask your friends or relatives for ideas and then find high-quality sources that discuss similar problems.
• If you can, be creative about it! A powerful bullying essay example draws from a variety of sources to present material in a creative way and engage readers. Hence, this might be an excellent opportunity for you to include images or graphs in your paper. For example, anti-bullying posters could complement the sections of your work that talks about solutions to the problem. Quotes about bullying coming from famous persons would also be influential, especially if you include them at the beginning of your piece. If you like drawing or painting, you could try to put some of your ideas in graphic form – this will definitely earn you some extra marks! Just make sure to check with your tutor to see whether or not creative input is allowed.
• Structure your paper well to avoid gaps or inconsistencies. It would be beneficial to create a detailed bullying essay outline before you start working. A typical essay should include an introduction, two to three main paragraphs, and a conclusion. The first paragraph of your work should consist of some background information, whereas the last one should restate the points and close up the paper. A good bullying essay introduction should also feature a thesis statement that shows what the piece is about.

These tips will help you to write top-notch essays on bullying, as well as on related subjects. Don’t forget to browse our blog some more to find other helpful materials, including essay titles!

• The Problem of Bullying and Possible Solutions In general, bullying is a critical and complex issue prevailing among children; thus, it is essential to adopt different solutions to tackle it.
• Bullying and Its Effects in Society Secondary research is critical in the development of a background to the research, which helps in determining the validity of the problem and suggested research methodologies.
• Cyber Bullying Issue Therefore, the goal of this paper is to analyse who the victims of cyber bullying are and the influence it has on them.
• School Bullying and Moral Development The middle childhood is marked by the development of basic literacy skills and understanding of other people’s behavior that would be crucial in creating effective later social cognitions. Therefore, addressing bullying in schools requires strategies […]
• Is Cyber Bullying Against Teenagers More Detrimental Than Face-To-Face Bullying? Social networking has also contributed greatly to the issue of cyber bullying especially in making it more harmful as compared to face-to-face bullying.
• The Effects of Cyber-Bullying and Cyber-Stalking on the Society In particular, one should focus on such issues as the disrespect for a person’s autonomy, the growing intensity of domestic violence and deteriorating mental health in the country.
• Bullying and Child Development Bullying is one of the common vices in schools that influences a lot of growth and development of children. Bullying also affects the ability of children to concentrate in school because they are always on […]
• Verbal Bullying at School: How It Should Be Stopped This paper highlights some of the best practices that can be used by teachers in order to address this problem. So, this information can be of great benefit to them.
• Nature of Bullying In this paper, central focus is going to be on the nature of bullying of children in my hometown, Orlando Florida, how it can be solved, and most importantly; establishing the importance of having knowledge […]
• Bullying and Suicide Among Teenagers Specific objectives Analyze the causes of bullying among teenagers in the country Analyze the effects of bullying among victims, perpetrators and by-standers Analyze the relationship between bullying in school and suicide among teenagers in the […]
• Bullying Through Social Media: Research Proposal The hypothesis of the study is as follows: the role of adolescents in a cyberbullying situation is interconnected with their psychological characteristics.
• Bullying and Cyberbullying in Modern Society Cyberbullying among adolescents and teenagers is defined as the purposeful and repetitive harm done by one or more peers in cyberspace as a result of using digital devices and social media platforms.
• The Impact of Workplace Bullying The negative impacts of bullying in the workplace develop as a result of ignorance among employees regarding the vice, unreported cases, as well as the negligence of organizational leaders.
• Workplace Bullying and Its Impact on Performance Workplace bullying refers to a deliberate, repeated, and continuous mistreatment of a worker or a group of workers by one or more colleagues in the workplace.
• Bullying on Social Media Platforms It is consistent and repeating, taking advantage of the Internet’s anonymity with the main goal to anger, scare, or shame a victim.
• Bullying in the Nursing Workplace Bullying in the nursing workplace, in this case, causes the one bullied to have a feeling of defenselessness and takes away the nurses’ right to dignity at his or her workplace.
• Social Psychological Concepts of Bullying and Its Types Some of the factors that contribute to bullying include poor parenting, economic challenges, lack of mentorship, and jealousy among others. One of the main concepts used to explain bullying is that of parenting roles and […]
• Bullying in the Workplace Organizational leaders have an ethical obligation to ensure that they deal with cases of bullying within the workplace in a professional manner that demonstrates equality, honesty, and high sensitivity to the needs of others.
• Social Influence on Bullying in Schools The theory helps us to understand why the stronger members of the school population are likely to “rule” over the weaker members of the school as described in the social hierarchy concept in the theory.
• Character Traits of Bullying Despite the fact that such characteristics may differ from child to child, it is the common feature of difference that makes the target children get noticed by the bullies.
• The ABC Model of Crisis: Bullying at School The next step is the identification of the nature of the crisis, and thus questions are as follows: Who is bullying you?
• Bullying: Violence in Children and Adolescents Bullying is one of the most common manifestations of peer violence in children and adolescents. Prevention of bullying, cyberbullying included, has to occur in accordance with the IBSE Standards of social and emotional learning.
• Bullying, Its Forms, and Counteractions In addition, it is necessary to support those at the center of this bullying, as this can protect them from harmful effects and consequences.
• Incivility, Violence, and Bullying in the Healthcare Workplace The following step is to gather the team and communicate the necessity of change, assigning some individuals for the positions related to the change, in other terms, a support team.
• Effective Ways to Deal With Bullying in US Schools Teachers should ensure the bully is aware of the improper behavior, why it is improper, and the repercussions of the behavior.
• Network Bullying: School Policy Framework The first step is to have a careful conversation with the student and an assessment by the school psychologist to ensure that there is a fright.
• How to Reduce Bullying in Senior Facilities One of the main reasons an individual may commit suicide due to bullying is because it may make an individual develop a negative self-image after the bullying incident. Some of the major bullying incidences that […]
• Active Shooter and Nursing Bullying Nurses should lock all doors and use tables and other objects to reinforce them to prevent any possibility of the active shooter getting to the patients’ room.
• Racist Bullying Among Black Students in US Universities This research focuses on the impact of bullying and racism among African American students in the country. What are the impacts of bullying and racism among Black students in U.S.universities?
• Bullying and Autism Spectrum Disorder In fact, bullying as a social phenomenon can be characterized as a social and interaction issue; therefore, it is possible to analyze the connection between autism and acts of bullying and inappropriate behavior.
• Eliminating the Problem of Online Bullying Eliminating the problem of online bullying is vital for improving the mental health of adolescents and young adults and allowing them to build their lives free of adverse external influences. It is possible to see […]
• Sexual Bullying in Schools and Its Influence The author states the difference in the mental and physical maturation of girls and boys as one of the core roots of the issue.
• Bullying and Harassment in the Healthcare Workplace This paper is written to explore the origins of discrimination and harassment in the healthcare workplace. Bullying begins early in medical college and residencies; it has been referred to as an element of the learning […]
• Queer (LGBT) Teenage Bullying at School The importance of this source to the research is associated with the significant role that youth organizations have to play towards minimizing bullying among LGBT students.
• Bullying of Children: Misconceptions and Preventive Measures As a result, the density of shows and articles devoted to bullying creates an illusion that this event appears more often than it does in reality.
• Bullying Behavior and Impact of Hegemonic Masculinity Rosen and Nofziger applied a quantitative research design to explore the relationships between students’ bullying experiences and race, age, and socioeconomic status and identify the frequency of bullying.
• Bullying and Incivility in Clinical Setting The problem of bullying and incivility in a clinical setting can negatively affect the quality of care provided, so it needs to be managed.
• Bullying and Its Influences on a Person It is common for victims of bullying to develop mental health issues, as they were placed in stressful situations and had a constant fear along with depression in some cases. Making friends is one of […]
• “Bullying in Schools”: The Aspects of Bullying In their article, Menesini and Salmivalli examine the current state of knowledge on the topic and thoroughly discuss all of the aspects of bullying.
• Moral Development and Bullying in Children The understanding of moral development following the theories of Kohlberg and Gilligan can provide useful solutions to eliminating bullying in American schools.
• Analysis of Bullying and Parenting Style Since the given topic usually refers to children and adolescents, it is evident that their parents hold a portion of responsibility because the adults affect the growth and development of young individuals.
• Hate Crimes – Bullying More than two-thirds of children and adolescents experience bullying and more than one-fourth of them report extreme forms of coercion.
• Bullying Management: Mass Awareness Program Bulletin.”Teachers, trained to help to rebuild trust, confidence, growth, and commitment through mass awareness to arrest bullying in high schools”. The proposed mass action program is meant to promote awareness on the need to stop […]
• An Anti-Bullying Program Integrated With PRAISE by Ackerman I chose to describe bullying because of the importance of the topic and due to my personal interest in it. Education will eliminate most of the reasons for bullying and provide students with the E […]
• Bullying Through Social Media: Methods An Informed Consent Document will be provided to participants prior to the research, explaining the purpose of the study and promising to protect their identity.
• Bullying Through Social Media In particular, inequality in the position of the persecutor and the victim is evident – the aggressor can be anonymous, and there can be many of them.
• Bullying of Nurses During the COVID-19 Pandemic Then, the principles of adult learning will be used to develop and implement an information product to improve the nursing workforce’s bullying awareness and the knowledge of healthy conflict resolution in the workplace.
• Bullying in Healthcare Organizations: Impact on Nursing Practice Bullying in business entities is a common phenomenon, but the extent of its influence on the “production process” in healthcare and medicine institutions is only beginning to be recognized.
• Workplace Bullying Among Nurses in the Acute Setting Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the frequency of conflicts between nurses and their colleagues and managers has increased significantly in my workplace.
• Bullying Perpetration Among School-Aged Children Mucherah et al.examined how the school climate and teachers’ sanctions against bullying relate to the risk of becoming a victim or perpetrator of bullying.
• Programming for a Year 5 Class on Bullying As a result, in Lesson 6, they will offer their project addressing bullying behaviour and present it to their class, which is the main aim of the Unit Plan.
• Injury and Violence Prevention: – Bullying The aim of preventing injury and violence from bullying is to enable the student to have a healthy social and physical life that will enable them to perform well in their studies and live healthily.
• Cyber-Bullying vs. Traditional Bullying: Its Psychological Effects The researchers presented the recent statistics in order to illustrate the negative social and psychological effects of cyber-bullying in contrast to the traditional bullying in schools.
• Bullying in the Workplace Old Nurse to New Nurse This unvoiced scourge in nursing is characteristically encouraged by the need of bullies to have a total control of a person. Resignation of nurses due to bullying can lead to shortage of nurses in hospitals.
• Bullying and Peer Abuse Especially at work, targets fear coming to work and this will have an adverse result in the efficiency of the staff in the hospital.
• Cyber Bullying and Positivist Theory of Crime Learning theory approaches to the explanation of criminal behavior have been associated with one of the major sociological theories of crime, the differential association theory.
• Cyberbullying and Bullying: Similarities While deciding on fitting and balanced sanctions, it is vital to reflect on the ways in which cyberbullying events differ in effect in comparison to other forms of bullying.
• Protection From Bullying: Methods That Work Because of this, it is vital that parents, teachers, and guardians educate themselves on the nature of bullying and work together to develop effective methods and strategies that would help to overcome the problem.
• Psychology: Social Media and Bullying The purpose of this paper is to discuss the issue of social media and bullying and express the author’s opinion on the matter.
• Workplace Bullying and Its Impact on People and Society The paper follows a traditional structure with the introduction and body paragraphs that provide essential information devoted to the problem, and improve the understanding of the concept of bullying.
• “Bullying Behavior Among Radiation Therapists” by Johnson and Trad The literature review encompassed a considerable number of sources pertinent to the study and recent enough to be relevant; all the publications were dated within the last fifteen years.
• Human Rights Issues in Australia: Bullying Among School-Going Age and Young People The focus of the topic of the day is on bullying. It is used to prevent or avoid the occurrence of a bullying experience.
• Bullying and Worker’s Harassment in Western Australia In most of the armed services in Australia, new recruits and women are commonly the victims of bullying and harassment despite the fact that it is unacceptable.
• Behaviour Management: Bullying The typical behaviors which I saw in the child who got bullied are: The victim of this bullying is physically weak and a soft-natured one.
• Cyber-Bullying Is a Crime: Discussion It is easy to see the effects of cyber-bullying but it is hard to find out who is the bully making it hard for authorities to pin the blame on the perpetrator of a crime […]
• Conflict Resolution Tactics and Bullying This study is interesting to the extent that it shows how the social environment impacts the development of a child and how it shapes his or her conflict resolution techniques.
• School Bullying: Case Analysis Even today there is no generally accepted definition of bullying but it is thought that when an individual is for a long period of time is exposed to repeat negative actions and behavior by one […]
• Bullying in the Workplace as a Psychological Harassment Another form of bullying in the workplace is physical assault in the sense that if the workers are not at ease with each other and when the rules and regulations are not at all observed, […]
• “Adolescents’ Perception of Bullying” by Frisen et al. The second and the third aims of the study were “to describe how adolescents perceive bullies” and “to describe what adolescents believe to be important in order to stop bullying”, respectively.
• The Long Term Effects of Bullying in Elementary School Wolke and Lereya argue that the problem is that the majority of studies on bullying are cross-sectional and only use follow-ups after a short period of time.
• Workplace Bullying, Salivary Cortisol and Long-Term Sickness Absence The purpose of this cohort-based study was to investigate the extent to which cortisol levels were associated with sickness absence and the relationships between workplace bullying and sickness absence through the prism of cortisol use.
• Workplace Bullying in Australia It is possible to offer several recommendations that can reduce the risk of bullying in organisations. In this case, more attention should be paid to the absence of mechanisms that can protect the victims of […]
• Domestic Violence and Bullying in Schools It also states the major variables related to bullying in schools. They will confirm that social-economic status, gender, and race can contribute to bullying in schools.
• The “Bully-Free” Initiative: Bullying in Education The students need to have a clear idea that bullying goes against the rules of the school and which actions may be considered bullying.
• Gender and Bullying Issues in Nursing A lack of tolerance for workplace harassment and bullying is likely to lead to the deterioration of the situation and further misunderstanding and tension in an organization.
• Bullying and Cyberbullying Among Peers They are facing the dilemma of how to react, whether they have to fight a superior force of the enemy or to complain to teachers and parents, undermining their reputation.
• Bullying in Schools and Its Major Reasons As of now, the most important goal in research studies covering the topic of bullying in schools is to understand the mechanisms behind bullying promotion and prevention.
• Bullying Prevention Programs Some teachers and professors claim that their students cannot show their potential in their hobbies due to the limitations they experience because of bullies around them. As it is mentioned above, educators do not control […]
• Bullying and Its Impact Thus, the current paper is dedicated to the issue of bullying and its effects as well as anti-bullying practices as related to peer victimization.
• Fights and Bullying Among Middle School Learners Alongside the positivist philosophy, the research adopted the survey strategy that involved the use of self-administered questionnaires to collect from the participants.
• Dealing With Workplace Bullying According to the report presented by the University of Louisville, workplace bullying is a repeated action of one employee or a group of employees towards another individual or group. Dealing with bullying in the workplace […]
• Bullying Policies in Walton School District and Georgia University The sample bullying policy language in Walton School District is very similar to the language in the policy of the University of Georgia.
• Amanda Todd’s Bullying and Suicide Story She was fifteen years old, and her story created a major uproar in the press, as it showed the true nature of bullying and the effects it has on the person.
• Bullying in America: Causes and Prevention That is why it is important to pay attention to the reasons why bullying occurs and ways in which it can be reduced.
• Bullying, Facts and Countermeasures Whether it is the bully or the bullied, the parents will need to do a lot to see to it that their children are brought up in the best of the behaviors.
• Bullying as Social and Criminal Deviance The most important step in the student’s guide to research that I would need to analyze bullying is defining the topic.
• Bullying and Legislation in Australian Workplace According to the authors of the article, workplace bullying can be characterized as internal violence. According to the authors of the article, bullying is a widespread phenomenon and is a common attribute of many organizations.
• Bullying at Australian School: Causes and Solution The technological breakthrough that was witnessed in the late 90s and the early 2000s also contributed to the development of the phenomenon, sparking the concepts such as cyberbullying and online bullying.
• Workplace Bullying in The Playground Never Ends The primary reason for becoming a bully is primarily seen in fear to lose authority or formal positions in an organization and have more institutional power than that of the targets.
• College Students: Suicide and Bullying-Methods The analysts used this tool to report the mood of the participants by posting quizzes, which the students answered while filling the questionnaire.
• Girl-To-Girl Bullying and Mean Stinks Program The positive results can be achieved by the implementation of the multiple educational programs, the increase in public awareness, and promotion of the values of the healthy relationships.”Mean Stinks” is exactly the program with the […]
• Association of Parenting Factors With Bullying The lack of the parental support is the main cause of students’ deviant behaviors at school, including the cases of bullying, and those parents who pay much attention to developing their career cannot provide the […]
• The Problem of Workplace Bullying In particular, this paper will include the discussion of the research articles, reports and case studies that describe the causes of workplace bullying and the strategies used by companies in an effort to overcome it.
• College Students: Suicide and Bullying The misconception that bullying is a minor issue among college students has contributed to the high number of students who suffer because of bullying.
• Homosexual Students and Bullying Specifically, the section addresses the prevalence of bullying in schools and the level of bullying in bisexuals, gay males, and lesbians.
• Social Psychology of Violence and Bullying in Schools Bullying is a common phenomenon in schools and it is reported that it results in violence in learning institutions in the end.
• Bullying and Suicide: The Correlation Between Bullying and Suicide Nonetheless, the extensive research shows that the correlation exists and bullying is one of the risk factors for development of suicidal ideas in adolescents.
• Cyber Bullying Reduction Program Table of Activities Activity Significance Assembling parents/guardians, students and teachers to announce and explain the program in the institution To enlighten parents/guardians, students and teachers about the rules and regulation enacted due to the threat […]
• Cyber Bullying Prevention in Learning Institutions: Systematic Approach To start with, the students are provided with ways of reporting their concern to the educational institution, and when the staff members of the institution receive the report, they evaluate the information together with the […]
• Discouraging and Eliminating Cyber Bullying Resources Role of the resource/input Statement forms To facilitate information transfer to the staff Counseling Personnel To arm students against the problem Bullying report system To create efficient internet enhance report system Regulation implementation documents […]
• School Bullying: Methods for Managing the Problem The investigation of relevant studies on the methods for stopping school bullying reveals that the most effective ways of eliminating this type of behavior include providing training for teachers, encouraging students to participate in the […]
• High School Bullying Effective Responses Emphasis will also be made on the kind of audience to read this article because the contents of this study need to be at par with other similar articles in the journal to be selected.
• Bullying as a Relational Aggression This resistance has been one of the obstacles to eliminating the cyber bullying in the schools. Schools and districts have been involved in the Challenge Day activities where children are advised on how to handle […]
• Social Bullying in Jeff Cohen’s “Monster Culture” It is clear that his part of character is mostly dominant in the childhood stages, as children are not able to develop a sense of morality and predict the consequences of their actions.
• Cyber Bullying and Its Forms The difference between the conventional way of bullying and cyber bullying is that in conventional bullying, there is contact between the bully and the victim.
• Problem of Workplace Bullying Authority intervention should occur when the employees fail to respond to awareness intervention, and thus decide to continue with their behaviors.
• Problem of Childhood Bullying in Modern Society To begin with, the family which is the basic and the most important unit in the society as well as the primary socializing agent plays a major role in shaping behavior of children include bullying.
• Problem of the Managing Bullying and Harassment in the Workplace Employees in an organization have a specific role that they are supposed to play and this means that there might be shortcomings which should not lead to bullying.
• School Bullying: Causes and Police Prevention It is for this reason that there has been need for the intervention of the community and the government to address the issue of bullying schools lest the school environment becomes the worst place to […]
• Cyber Bullying as a Virtual Menace The use of information and communication technologies to support a deliberate and most of the time repeated hostile behavior by an individual or groups of people with the sole intention of harming others, one is […]
• Does Bullying Cause Emotional Problems? However, the current study was relevant because of this design, for the scope of the study covered as well as the results were accurate, and the conclusions drawn were correct.
• Ban High School Bullying A number of stakeholders contribute to the high prevalence of bullying in American schools. Schools that ignore bullying are a big part of the problem and they need to be held accountable.
• The Problem of Bullying While most states in the United States of America have laws to protect people from bullying, the federal government is yet to enact an anti-bullying law.
• Ethical Case: Facebook Gossip or Cyberbullying? The best option to Paige is to apologize publicly and withdraw her comments. The final stage is to act and reflect the outcome of the choice made.
• Bullying on the Rise: Should Federal Government Enact Federal-Bullying Laws? This paper will thus use both primary and secondary data to discuss the prevalence of bullying in schools and whether the federal govern should enact federal laws to curb the social vice at school.
• Bullying in School Face-to-face bullying is an interesting area of study because it clearly demonstrates bullying in school. Students consider bullying as a school culture even though it is contrary to the school rules and regulations of schools.
• Bullying in the Schools Furthermore, the law states that training should be done to the teachers as well as the other members of staff on how to deal with bullying and the law also needs the schools to report […]
• The Issue of Bullying in the Schools It gives me joy to know that the issue of bullying is now a pubic affair since bullying stories were unheard of when I was growing up.
• Troubled Adolescent due to Bullying His lowered self-esteem would make him to observe the common behaviours of the older boys quietly and accept the situation as a cultural practice.
• Workplace bullying: does it exist?
• What are the three key elements of bullying?
• How does bullying affect those who observe it?
• Direct and indirect bullying: what is the difference?
• What families do bullies typically come from?
• Aggressive children: what is their future?
• How to prevent bullying in schools?
• School bullying and domestic violence: is there a connection?
• Cyberbullying: how to prevent it?
• What can parents do to prevent their children from bullying?
• Children’s Rights Research Ideas
• Equality Topics
• Homophobia Topics
• School Violence Ideas
• Respect Essay Topics
• Social Inequality Paper Topics
• Suicide Topics
• Youth Violence Research Topics
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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• Research article
• Open access
• Published: 14 December 2021

Bullying at school and mental health problems among adolescents: a repeated cross-sectional study

• Håkan Källmén 1 &
• Mats Hallgren   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0599-2403 2  

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health volume  15 , Article number:  74 ( 2021 ) Cite this article

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To examine recent trends in bullying and mental health problems among adolescents and the association between them.

A questionnaire measuring mental health problems, bullying at school, socio-economic status, and the school environment was distributed to all secondary school students aged 15 (school-year 9) and 18 (school-year 11) in Stockholm during 2014, 2018, and 2020 (n = 32,722). Associations between bullying and mental health problems were assessed using logistic regression analyses adjusting for relevant demographic, socio-economic, and school-related factors.

The prevalence of bullying remained stable and was highest among girls in year 9; range = 4.9% to 16.9%. Mental health problems increased; range = + 1.2% (year 9 boys) to + 4.6% (year 11 girls) and were consistently higher among girls (17.2% in year 11, 2020). In adjusted models, having been bullied was detrimentally associated with mental health (OR = 2.57 [2.24–2.96]). Reports of mental health problems were four times higher among boys who had been bullied compared to those not bullied. The corresponding figure for girls was 2.4 times higher.

Conclusions

Exposure to bullying at school was associated with higher odds of mental health problems. Boys appear to be more vulnerable to the deleterious effects of bullying than girls.

Introduction

Bullying involves repeated hurtful actions between peers where an imbalance of power exists [ 1 ]. Arseneault et al. [ 2 ] conducted a review of the mental health consequences of bullying for children and adolescents and found that bullying is associated with severe symptoms of mental health problems, including self-harm and suicidality. Bullying was shown to have detrimental effects that persist into late adolescence and contribute independently to mental health problems. Updated reviews have presented evidence indicating that bullying is causative of mental illness in many adolescents [ 3 , 4 ].

There are indications that mental health problems are increasing among adolescents in some Nordic countries. Hagquist et al. [ 5 ] examined trends in mental health among Scandinavian adolescents (n = 116, 531) aged 11–15 years between 1993 and 2014. Mental health problems were operationalized as difficulty concentrating, sleep disorders, headache, stomach pain, feeling tense, sad and/or dizzy. The study revealed increasing rates of adolescent mental health problems in all four counties (Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark), with Sweden experiencing the sharpest increase among older adolescents, particularly girls. Worsening adolescent mental health has also been reported in the United Kingdom. A study of 28,100 school-aged adolescents in England found that two out of five young people scored above thresholds for emotional problems, conduct problems or hyperactivity [ 6 ]. Female gender, deprivation, high needs status (educational/social), ethnic background, and older age were all associated with higher odds of experiencing mental health difficulties.

Bullying is shown to increase the risk of poor mental health and may partly explain these detrimental changes. Le et al. [ 7 ] reported an inverse association between bullying and mental health among 11–16-year-olds in Vietnam. They also found that poor mental health can make some children and adolescents more vulnerable to bullying at school. Bayer et al. [ 8 ] examined links between bullying at school and mental health among 8–9-year-old children in Australia. Those who experienced bullying more than once a week had poorer mental health than children who experienced bullying less frequently. Friendships moderated this association, such that children with more friends experienced fewer mental health problems (protective effect). Hysing et al. [ 9 ] investigated the association between experiences of bullying (as a victim or perpetrator) and mental health, sleep disorders, and school performance among 16–19 year olds from Norway (n = 10,200). Participants were categorized as victims, bullies, or bully-victims (that is, victims who also bullied others). All three categories were associated with worse mental health, school performance, and sleeping difficulties. Those who had been bullied also reported more emotional problems, while those who bullied others reported more conduct disorders [ 9 ].

As most adolescents spend a considerable amount of time at school, the school environment has been a major focus of mental health research [ 10 , 11 ]. In a recent review, Saminathen et al. [ 12 ] concluded that school is a potential protective factor against mental health problems, as it provides a socially supportive context and prepares students for higher education and employment. However, it may also be the primary setting for protracted bullying and stress [ 13 ]. Another factor associated with adolescent mental health is parental socio-economic status (SES) [ 14 ]. A systematic review indicated that lower parental SES is associated with poorer adolescent mental health [ 15 ]. However, no previous studies have examined whether SES modifies or attenuates the association between bullying and mental health. Similarly, it remains unclear whether school related factors, such as school grades and the school environment, influence the relationship between bullying and mental health. This information could help to identify those adolescents most at risk of harm from bullying.

To address these issues, we investigated the prevalence of bullying at school and mental health problems among Swedish adolescents aged 15–18 years between 2014 and 2020 using a population-based school survey. We also examined associations between bullying at school and mental health problems adjusting for relevant demographic, socioeconomic, and school-related factors. We hypothesized that: (1) bullying and adolescent mental health problems have increased over time; (2) There is an association between bullying victimization and mental health, so that mental health problems are more prevalent among those who have been victims of bullying; and (3) that school-related factors would attenuate the association between bullying and mental health.

Participants

The Stockholm school survey is completed every other year by students in lower secondary school (year 9—compulsory) and upper secondary school (year 11). The survey is mandatory for public schools, but voluntary for private schools. The purpose of the survey is to help inform decision making by local authorities that will ultimately improve students’ wellbeing. The questions relate to life circumstances, including SES, schoolwork, bullying, drug use, health, and crime. Non-completers are those who were absent from school when the survey was completed (< 5%). Response rates vary from year to year but are typically around 75%. For the current study data were available for 2014, 2018 and 2020. In 2014; 5235 boys and 5761 girls responded, in 2018; 5017 boys and 5211 girls responded, and in 2020; 5633 boys and 5865 girls responded (total n = 32,722). Data for the exposure variable, bullied at school, were missing for 4159 students, leaving 28,563 participants in the crude model. The fully adjusted model (described below) included 15,985 participants. The mean age in grade 9 was 15.3 years (SD = 0.51) and in grade 11, 17.3 years (SD = 0.61). As the data are completely anonymous, the study was exempt from ethical approval according to an earlier decision from the Ethical Review Board in Stockholm (2010-241 31-5). Details of the survey are available via a website [ 16 ], and are described in a previous paper [ 17 ].

Students completed the questionnaire during a school lesson, placed it in a sealed envelope and handed it to their teacher. Student were permitted the entire lesson (about 40 min) to complete the questionnaire and were informed that participation was voluntary (and that they were free to cancel their participation at any time without consequences). Students were also informed that the Origo Group was responsible for collection of the data on behalf of the City of Stockholm.

Study outcome

Mental health problems were assessed by using a modified version of the Psychosomatic Problem Scale [ 18 ] shown to be appropriate for children and adolescents and invariant across gender and years. The scale was later modified [ 19 ]. In the modified version, items about difficulty concentrating and feeling giddy were deleted and an item about ‘life being great to live’ was added. Seven different symptoms or problems, such as headaches, depression, feeling fear, stomach problems, difficulty sleeping, believing it’s great to live (coded negatively as seldom or rarely) and poor appetite were used. Students who responded (on a 5-point scale) that any of these problems typically occurs ‘at least once a week’ were considered as having indicators of a mental health problem. Cronbach alpha was 0.69 across the whole sample. Adding these problem areas, a total index was created from 0 to 7 mental health symptoms. Those who scored between 0 and 4 points on the total symptoms index were considered to have a low indication of mental health problems (coded as 0); those who scored between 5 and 7 symptoms were considered as likely having mental health problems (coded as 1).

Primary exposure

Experiences of bullying were measured by the following two questions: Have you felt bullied or harassed during the past school year? Have you been involved in bullying or harassing other students during this school year? Alternatives for the first question were: yes or no with several options describing how the bullying had taken place (if yes). Alternatives indicating emotional bullying were feelings of being mocked, ridiculed, socially excluded, or teased. Alternatives indicating physical bullying were being beaten, kicked, forced to do something against their will, robbed, or locked away somewhere. The response alternatives for the second question gave an estimation of how often the respondent had participated in bullying others (from once to several times a week). Combining the answers to these two questions, five different categories of bullying were identified: (1) never been bullied and never bully others; (2) victims of emotional (verbal) bullying who have never bullied others; (3) victims of physical bullying who have never bullied others; (4) victims of bullying who have also bullied others; and (5) perpetrators of bullying, but not victims. As the number of positive cases in the last three categories was low (range = 3–15 cases) bully categories 2–4 were combined into one primary exposure variable: ‘bullied at school’.

Assessment year was operationalized as the year when data was collected: 2014, 2018, and 2020. Age was operationalized as school grade 9 (15–16 years) or 11 (17–18 years). Gender was self-reported (boy or girl). The school situation To assess experiences of the school situation, students responded to 18 statements about well-being in school, participation in important school matters, perceptions of their teachers, and teaching quality. Responses were given on a four-point Likert scale ranging from ‘do not agree at all’ to ‘fully agree’. To reduce the 18-items down to their essential factors, we performed a principal axis factor analysis. Results showed that the 18 statements formed five factors which, according to the Kaiser criterion (eigen values > 1) explained 56% of the covariance in the student’s experience of the school situation. The five factors identified were: (1) Participation in school; (2) Interesting and meaningful work; (3) Feeling well at school; (4) Structured school lessons; and (5) Praise for achievements. For each factor, an index was created that was dichotomised (poor versus good circumstance) using the median-split and dummy coded with ‘good circumstance’ as reference. A description of the items included in each factor is available as Additional file 1 . Socio-economic status (SES) was assessed with three questions about the education level of the student’s mother and father (dichotomized as university degree versus not), and the amount of spending money the student typically received for entertainment each month (> SEK 1000 [approximately $120] versus less). Higher parental education and more spending money were used as reference categories. School grades in Swedish, English, and mathematics were measured separately on a 7-point scale and dichotomized as high (grades A, B, and C) versus low (grades D, E, and F). High school grades were used as the reference category.

Statistical analyses

The prevalence of mental health problems and bullying at school are presented using descriptive statistics, stratified by survey year (2014, 2018, 2020), gender, and school year (9 versus 11). As noted, we reduced the 18-item questionnaire assessing school function down to five essential factors by conducting a principal axis factor analysis (see Additional file 1 ). We then calculated the association between bullying at school (defined above) and mental health problems using multivariable logistic regression. Results are presented as odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (Cis). To assess the contribution of SES and school-related factors to this association, three models are presented: Crude, Model 1 adjusted for demographic factors: age, gender, and assessment year; Model 2 adjusted for Model 1 plus SES (parental education and student spending money), and Model 3 adjusted for Model 2 plus school-related factors (school grades and the five factors identified in the principal factor analysis). These covariates were entered into the regression models in three blocks, where the final model represents the fully adjusted analyses. In all models, the category ‘not bullied at school’ was used as the reference. Pseudo R-square was calculated to estimate what proportion of the variance in mental health problems was explained by each model. Unlike the R-square statistic derived from linear regression, the Pseudo R-square statistic derived from logistic regression gives an indicator of the explained variance, as opposed to an exact estimate, and is considered informative in identifying the relative contribution of each model to the outcome [ 20 ]. All analyses were performed using SPSS v. 26.0.

Prevalence of bullying at school and mental health problems

Estimates of the prevalence of bullying at school and mental health problems across the 12 strata of data (3 years × 2 school grades × 2 genders) are shown in Table 1 . The prevalence of bullying at school increased minimally (< 1%) between 2014 and 2020, except among girls in grade 11 (2.5% increase). Mental health problems increased between 2014 and 2020 (range = 1.2% [boys in year 11] to 4.6% [girls in year 11]); were three to four times more prevalent among girls (range = 11.6% to 17.2%) compared to boys (range = 2.6% to 4.9%); and were more prevalent among older adolescents compared to younger adolescents (range = 1% to 3.1% higher). Pooling all data, reports of mental health problems were four times more prevalent among boys who had been victims of bullying compared to those who reported no experiences with bullying. The corresponding figure for girls was two and a half times as prevalent.

Associations between bullying at school and mental health problems

Table 2 shows the association between bullying at school and mental health problems after adjustment for relevant covariates. Demographic factors, including female gender (OR = 3.87; CI 3.48–4.29), older age (OR = 1.38, CI 1.26–1.50), and more recent assessment year (OR = 1.18, CI 1.13–1.25) were associated with higher odds of mental health problems. In Model 2, none of the included SES variables (parental education and student spending money) were associated with mental health problems. In Model 3 (fully adjusted), the following school-related factors were associated with higher odds of mental health problems: lower grades in Swedish (OR = 1.42, CI 1.22–1.67); uninteresting or meaningless schoolwork (OR = 2.44, CI 2.13–2.78); feeling unwell at school (OR = 1.64, CI 1.34–1.85); unstructured school lessons (OR = 1.31, CI = 1.16–1.47); and no praise for achievements (OR = 1.19, CI 1.06–1.34). After adjustment for all covariates, being bullied at school remained associated with higher odds of mental health problems (OR = 2.57; CI 2.24–2.96). Demographic and school-related factors explained 12% and 6% of the variance in mental health problems, respectively (Pseudo R-Square). The inclusion of socioeconomic factors did not alter the variance explained.

Our findings indicate that mental health problems increased among Swedish adolescents between 2014 and 2020, while the prevalence of bullying at school remained stable (< 1% increase), except among girls in year 11, where the prevalence increased by 2.5%. As previously reported [ 5 , 6 ], mental health problems were more common among girls and older adolescents. These findings align with previous studies showing that adolescents who are bullied at school are more likely to experience mental health problems compared to those who are not bullied [ 3 , 4 , 9 ]. This detrimental relationship was observed after adjustment for school-related factors shown to be associated with adolescent mental health [ 10 ].

A novel finding was that boys who had been bullied at school reported a four-times higher prevalence of mental health problems compared to non-bullied boys. The corresponding figure for girls was 2.5 times higher for those who were bullied compared to non-bullied girls, which could indicate that boys are more vulnerable to the deleterious effects of bullying than girls. Alternatively, it may indicate that boys are (on average) bullied more frequently or more intensely than girls, leading to worse mental health. Social support could also play a role; adolescent girls often have stronger social networks than boys and could be more inclined to voice concerns about bullying to significant others, who in turn may offer supports which are protective [ 21 ]. Related studies partly confirm this speculative explanation. An Estonian study involving 2048 children and adolescents aged 10–16 years found that, compared to girls, boys who had been bullied were more likely to report severe distress, measured by poor mental health and feelings of hopelessness [ 22 ].

Other studies suggest that heritable traits, such as the tendency to internalize problems and having low self-esteem are associated with being a bully-victim [ 23 ]. Genetics are understood to explain a large proportion of bullying-related behaviors among adolescents. A study from the Netherlands involving 8215 primary school children found that genetics explained approximately 65% of the risk of being a bully-victim [ 24 ]. This proportion was similar for boys and girls. Higher than average body mass index (BMI) is another recognized risk factor [ 25 ]. A recent Australian trial involving 13 schools and 1087 students (mean age = 13 years) targeted adolescents with high-risk personality traits (hopelessness, anxiety sensitivity, impulsivity, sensation seeking) to reduce bullying at school; both as victims and perpetrators [ 26 ]. There was no significant intervention effect for bullying victimization or perpetration in the total sample. In a secondary analysis, compared to the control schools, intervention school students showed greater reductions in victimization, suicidal ideation, and emotional symptoms. These findings potentially support targeting high-risk personality traits in bullying prevention [ 26 ].

The relative stability of bullying at school between 2014 and 2020 suggests that other factors may better explain the increase in mental health problems seen here. Many factors could be contributing to these changes, including the increasingly competitive labour market, higher demands for education, and the rapid expansion of social media [ 19 , 27 , 28 ]. A recent Swedish study involving 29,199 students aged between 11 and 16 years found that the effects of school stress on psychosomatic symptoms have become stronger over time (1993–2017) and have increased more among girls than among boys [ 10 ]. Research is needed examining possible gender differences in perceived school stress and how these differences moderate associations between bullying and mental health.

Strengths and limitations

Strengths of the current study include the large participant sample from diverse schools; public and private, theoretical and practical orientations. The survey included items measuring diverse aspects of the school environment; factors previously linked to adolescent mental health but rarely included as covariates in studies of bullying and mental health. Some limitations are also acknowledged. These data are cross-sectional which means that the direction of the associations cannot be determined. Moreover, all the variables measured were self-reported. Previous studies indicate that students tend to under-report bullying and mental health problems [ 29 ]; thus, our results may underestimate the prevalence of these behaviors.

In conclusion, consistent with our stated hypotheses, we observed an increase in self-reported mental health problems among Swedish adolescents, and a detrimental association between bullying at school and mental health problems. Although bullying at school does not appear to be the primary explanation for these changes, bullying was detrimentally associated with mental health after adjustment for relevant demographic, socio-economic, and school-related factors, confirming our third hypothesis. The finding that boys are potentially more vulnerable than girls to the deleterious effects of bullying should be replicated in future studies, and the mechanisms investigated. Future studies should examine the longitudinal association between bullying and mental health, including which factors mediate/moderate this relationship. Epigenetic studies are also required to better understand the complex interaction between environmental and biological risk factors for adolescent mental health [ 24 ].

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Acknowledgements

Authors are grateful to the Department for Social Affairs, Stockholm, for permission to use data from the Stockholm School Survey.

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Håkan Källmén

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HK conceived the study and analyzed the data (with input from MH). HK and MH interpreted the data and jointly wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Källmén, H., Hallgren, M. Bullying at school and mental health problems among adolescents: a repeated cross-sectional study. Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health 15 , 74 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-021-00425-y

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Home ➔ Free Essay Examples ➔ Bullying Essay

Bullying Essay – Writing Guide

A bullying essay is a piece of writing that explores the issue of bullying, its causes, effects, and possible solutions. Bullying is a widespread problem that affects people of all ages, genders, and backgrounds. It is a form of aggressive behavior that can be physical, verbal, or psychological, and is often repeated over time. Bullying can significantly impact the mental and emotional well-being of those affected, leading to anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and even suicide.

A bullying essay is an assignment that students can be required to write at all education levels. The problem of bullying is pervasive in schools and has many facets that must be addressed with equal consideration. That’s why there are many things you can write about in your essay on bullying. Read on to see a short essay example on this topic with a few comments and some topics you can use as examples for this assignment.

The bullying paper example below is divided into three core elements: introduction, body, and conclusion. Each part is followed by a short analysis of that part.

Bullying Essay Example (with commentaries)

Topic: The Three Major Effects of Bullying in Schools

Type: Informative Essay

Introduction

Bullying in schools has remained constant from decade to decade. Bullying is terrible for children in schools and can have various detrimental effects. According to the Centers for Disease Control and the Department of Education, bullying comprises three core elements: unwanted aggressive behavior, observed or perceived power imbalance, and repetition or high likelihood of repetition. It is alarming that almost 20% of students aged 12 to 18 experience bullying nationwide. School bullying can adversely affect kids, including health conditions, learning problems, low self-esteem, and mental health issues.

Introduction analysis:

The introduction oof this essay provides background information on bullying. Then, the writer uses statistics from credible sources as an attention hook, which is one of the good ways to start an essay. And it ends with a thesis statement that states the three main aspects that will be discussed in the essay. However, it lacks a proper transition between the hook and the thesis statement.

Body paragraphs

The first and one of the major negative effects of bullying in school is its ability to wreak havoc on a child’s health and well-being. Aside from physical injuries which may result from physical shoving or pushing, bullying can cause headaches, trouble sleeping, and stomach aches. The mind and body are connected; hence, any stressor to a child’s well-being can manifest as physical symptoms. Bullying may also aggravate pre-existing health conditions like skin, heart, and gastrointestinal diseases. The negative impact on a child’s health is one of the more obvious adverse effects of school bullying.

In addition to affecting the child’s physical health, bullying can cause learning struggles and delays in development. The academic impact on the child experiencing bullying can be overwhelming. Often, one of the first indicators that a child may be experiencing bullying is a sudden decline in grades or poor academic performance. Sometimes, kids are so caught up with how bullying makes them feel that they forget to study, don’t do their homework, or have difficulty paying attention in class and digesting the study material. Bullied children often make excuses to skip school, pretend to be sick, or lie to their parents about attending classes. Overall, the academic impact of bullying is one of the worst ones that must be considered when tackling the problem.

To make matters worse, besides negative physical health outcomes and unsatisfactory grades or a decline in academic achievement, kids who experience bullying in schools also suffer from poor self-esteem and mental health effects. For example, bullied kids tend to experience negative emotions such as social isolation, anger, loneliness, and more. In some cases with high school students, these negative emotions can lead to the misuse of drugs or alcohol. Bullying causes kids to feel poorly about themselves, increasing their risk for depression, anxiety, self-harm, or suicide. These effects can be short-term or long-lasting, even when bullying has ended.

Body analysis:

The body of the essay discusses the three main negative consequences of bullying mentioned in the thesis statement of this bullying essay. Each of these points is elaborated on with specific examples. The language used is clear and easy to understand. However, the essay does not flow smoothly from one point to the next and feels somewhat choppy as a result.

School bullying can have significant and detrimental negative effects on kids, including adverse health outcomes, inadequate academic performance, and mental struggles. Kids who are bullied are more likely to experience a manifestation of health conditions, which may become chronic. Bullying causes kids to be less likely to perform well academically and may cause them to skip class, thereby impacting their learning. Lastly, bullying causes kids to experience unhealthy emotions and poor self-esteem. Bullying is a chronic problem that we must continue to address in schools everywhere.

Conclusion analysis:

The essay’s conclusion restates the three main points of the body and reaffirms that bullying is a serious problem with far-reaching consequences. But, it feels somewhat abrupt and could be further developed at the very end, even though it is an informative piece.

97 Bullying Essay Examples – Here’s a PDF file with more examples of papers about bullying (by various authors). They vary in size and quality, so make sure to analyze them thoroughly.

What to Write About (Topics)

Below, you will find various ideas you can use to write an essay on bullying. The topics are divided by essay type as it will affect how you write and what you write about.

Expository essay : You can educate or inform your audience about bullying or define bullying from your unique perspective. Here are a few topic examples:

• Bullying in Primary and Secondary Schools
• How to Stand up to a Bully Effectively
• What Role Bystanders Play in Bullying Situations
• How to Support Someone Who is Being Bullied
• The Legal Repercussions of Bullying
• Existing Policies and Laws That Fight Bullying
• Best Ways to Handle Bullying for Educators
• How to Overcome the Consequences of Bullying
• Examples of Effective and Ineffective Anti-bullying Programs in Educational Institutions

Classification essay : You can explore and describe the types and subtypes of bullying. For example:

• Bullying in schools
• Workplace bullying
• Cyberbullying
• Bullying of children
• Bullying of teenagers
• Bullying of adults
• Verbal bullying
• Physical bullying
• Emotional bullying
• Racial bullying
• Religious bullying
• Cultural bullying
• Fat shaming

Problem-solution essay : You can explore and describe the possible solutions to bullying. Here are some topic examples for this bullying essay type:

• How schools can effectively address bullying
• The role of parents in preventing bullying
• How we can change the culture of bullying
• How we can support a bullying victim
• How to create a more positive school climate to prevent bullying

Cause and effect essay : You can explore and describe the effects of bullying or the causes that lead to bullying. Below are several topic samples:

• How bullying leads to school violence
• How bullying can lead students to suicidal thoughts
• The long-term effects of being bullied
• How bullying affects the academic performance of students
• The psychological consequences of bullying

Persuasive essay : You can try to take a stance on bullying and persuade the readers to take action. Such a bullying essay could be written on the following topics:

• School shootings: why do school shootings happen, and how can we prevent them?
• Repeated verbal abuse: how does repeated verbal abuse affect bullying victims, and what can be done to stop it?
• Family members: should family members be held responsible for bullying?
• Bystanders: what role do bystanders play in bullying, and how can we encourage them to take action?
• Social media: how does social media contribute to bullying, and what can be done to stop it?

Argumentative essay : You can argue your point of view on bullying or any of its aspects in an argumentative paper. Topic examples:

• What causes people to bully others?
• Can we end school bullying for sure?
• Should people who bully others be punished?
• Is there a difference between boys and girls who bully?
• Is there a link between bullying and poor mental health?

Narrative essay : You can tell your personal story related to bullying (if you have one) or a story of someone you know. Topic examples might include the following:

• How I studied bullying behavior for my project
• How spreading rumors ruined my middle-school life
• How other countries I have been to deal with school bullying
• Why I changed schools five times and don’t have many friends
• How it can get to you even through text messages

Bullying is a serious and growing problem affecting individuals, their families, and communities. It is a complex subject to broach and talk about because it provides little comfort to parents, but it should be discussed to implement strategies to mitigate bullying and its effects. And while it is true that some young people will likely “grow out of” being bullied, it’s also true that some never stop being bullied.

In conclusion, this essay guide on bullying has provided a comprehensive overview of the issue and its impact on individuals. It is a problem that affects individuals of all ages, backgrounds, and walks of life. By working together and taking action, we can help create a world where everyone feels safe, valued, and respected, and where bullying has no place. If you are writing an essay on this topic, this guide can serve as a valuable resource to help you better understand the issue and develop practical solutions to address it. Remember, if you or someone you know is being bullied, speaking out and seeking help is important.

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• NATURE CAREERS PODCAST
• 28 June 2023

Bullying in academia: why it happens and how to stop it

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Morteza Mahmoudi and Chris Jackson talk about how to address bullying in academia.

Morteza Mahmoudi witnessed bullying behaviours during a series of lab visits following his PhD in 2009. He now studies the topic alongside his role as a nanoscience and regenerative medicine researcher at Michigan State University in East Lansing. In 2019 he co-founded the Academic Parity Movement, a non-profit which aims to end academic discrimination, violence and bullying across the sector.

In the seventh episode of this podcast series about freedom and safety in science, Mahmoudi tells Adam Levy that bullying is triggered by workplace power imbalances and is particularly prevalent in academia with its hierarchical structure, often causing targets to stay silent.

Bullying can cause a range of physical and mental health problems, he says. Perpetrators damage individuals, institutions’ reputations and wider society. He outlines steps to take if you find yourself bullied, and how academic institutions can tackle the problem.

Mahmoudi is joined by geoscientist Chris Jackson, who left academia in 2022 for a role at engineering consultancy Jacobs, based in Manchester, UK. Jackson welcomes the fact that bullying harassment and discrimination in academia is now more talked about, but says its root cause is an individual’s inability to put themselves in someone else’s position and identify with their personality and experience.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-02172-w

Adam Levy: 00:03

Hello, I’m Adam Levy and this is Working Scientist , a Nature Careers podcast. In this episode: bullying in science.

Throughout this series we’ve looked at the threats to scientists and to science itself, threats to freedom and safety that can end careers and block avenues of research.

As we’ve discussed, many such threats come from outside of science. External factors like war, an economic situation, or political interference. But today, in our seventh episode of the series, we’re taking a look at a problem that comes from within the research world, a problem whose severity can derail lives, and yet can be found in labs the world over.

Today we’re talking about bullying and harassment in academic research.

Harassment and bullying can take many forms, and no two experiences are the same. Earlier in this series, we spoke about the impact that online harassment can have on researchers. And in that episode we spoke with Chris Jackson, a geoscientist at the engineering company Jacobs, in the UK.

Chris also shared his thoughts on why, despite evidence of widespread harassment in the sciences, there’s so little awareness of the problem.

Chris Jackson: 01:35

There seems to be this amazing bus between how common it is and the awareness of it. And I think that, in itself, explains why, that it’s so common bullying and harassment, is because I think some people are just ignorant to it.

Either they don’t know what bullying harassment means or by them not being subjected to it, they can't almost imagine it happens to other people.

And I really think, you know, whether it’s bullying, harassment, such as racial discrimination, or its anti-queer sentiments and discrimination, I think a lot of these things arise because people are unable to put themselves in somebody else’s position and identify with the axes of that other person’s personality, which might mean that discrimination is more likely to occur to them than it is to them themselves.

So I do think just that awareness, and continually talking about things, and then showing a bunch of data which kind of explain numerically what the problem is and how it affects people, it’s really, really important, because sometimes it’s just ignorance, and sometimes it’s just, you know, an unwillingness to believe that happens. But we need to keep on banging the drum about these things.

Adam Levy: 02:46

It can seem like a lot of institutions are taking more and more measures to actually fight bullying and harassment. Do you think this is actually taking place in institutions you’ve been aware of? Or is it more about paying lip service to the idea of taking action?

Chris Jackson: 03:03

I think there’s some good people trying to do some good things, is probably the first bit of my answer, I think.

The second bit of my answer is there’s some people who want to be seen to be doing the right thing and doing good things, and they want to be seen to be good.

I can honestly say 20 years into my academic career, although I’m not you know, I’ve kind of recently moved away from the centre of it, these things are being talked about more.

We are, we are talking more about bullying and harassment. You know, there are podcast series and op-eds about about the importance of this, and we’re trying to recognize the importance of good academic conduct and positive academic environments as an integral part of the academic process.

And that wasn’t happening 20 years ago. I think we have moved positively in that sense, which I think is good. Now we still need to have the tenacity and the processes and the, you know - whether they’re disciplinary or supporting victims of abuse - we need to have resources, financial and otherwise, being put into those things to make sure that we’re not just talking about these things more, we are actually seeing people having a better experience within academia or within science more generally, as a function of these things we’re trying to implement.

And that’s all that matters really. It doesn’t matter if you talk about things. All that matters is that people have a better time of it. That’s where we want to get to. How we get there is kind of secondary in a way.

Adam Levy: 04:27

Chris Jackson there. Some researchers have made it their mission to find a way to make the situation better, and to uncover why so many individuals and institutions resist the changes needed to stamp out bullying and harassment in science.

For example, nanomedicine and regenerative medicine researcher Morteza Mahmoudi, who’s at Michigan State University. Besides his official academic research, Morteza is also the co-founder and director of the Academic Parity movement.

Since 2019 the organization has aimed to provide external resources for targets of academic bullying.

We began our conversation discussing what inspired Morteza to found the movement.

Morteza Mahmoudi: 05:15

When I basically got my PhD back in 2009, I had to basically get training in different aspects of science, like in medicine.

So I started visiting different labs and get additional training. So no matter where I basically work, I always basically saw people suffering from the issues of academic bullying and harassment.

So I wrote a short piece to Nature about the issues of the reporting system in the field of academic bullying and harassment.

And it was interesting that between two weeks after publication of these pieces, the number of feedback that I’ve got was like hugely higher than all of the feedbacks that I’ve got for over 200 papers that I had in the field of nanomedicine and regenerative medicine.

So I thought with myself that, okay, our role as a scientist is to make the world a better place to live. So what is better than studying academic bullying? It seems that it’s a real problem, but yet no one talks about it. So I basically, I started studying academic bullying seriously, from that time.

Adam Levy: 06:37

Now, when we talk about bullying, and specifically academic bullying, how do we define those terms?

Morteza Mahmoudi: 06:45

In general terms academic bullying is a violation of human rights in an academic setting.

But it has a wide range of actions. It starts from, like, verbal abuse, all the way to stealing intellectual properties, or authorship credit. Advanced version, I would say, it’s a false allegation of academic misconduct in an attempt to basically remove star scientists from competition.

Adam Levy: 07:19

What are the effects on academics who are being bullied, both in terms of their careers, but also in terms of the actual wellbeing?

Morteza Mahmoudi: 07:30

It has huge effects. It starts from mental health issues in short term, like anxiety or stress.

But in long term, it can also develop serious cardiovascular issues, PTSD, and other mental and even physical health issues.

I always encourage people to also consider the fact that this is not a problem that only affect targets. It also affect like other people. For example, if a target is in like a medical setting or in healthcare, academic bullying, or other types of bullying and harassment, can increase wrong decision-making in medical procedures. So it even affects patients.

Adam Levy: 08:20

Given all these incredibly negative effects on the person on the receiving end, as well as the wider discipline, why does this kind of behaviour happen in the first place?

Morteza Mahmoudi: 08:32

So there are many reasons for that. I mean, the bullying happens actually, when we have power differences. And unfortunately, in academia, they have a unique power difference structures.

If you look at the universities, when an international student basically comes to a lab, many of the major decisions about the careers and also their residency in the lab, gets limited to one person, which is a PI.

So people at higher level of power feel less accountable about their actions and behaviours. If, like a bullying cases get kind of escalated at the lab level, and the target basically complains to department chair or other authorities at the universities, the outcomes that at least we see from scandals that comes to the news are very disappointing, and encourage basically perpetrators to do what they do. And also encourage targets to use the code of silence.

For example, in many cases of academic bullying that comes to the news, specifically like a couple of cases that basically they witnessed last year, the situation is that the perpetrator does bullying behaviour for even a couple of decades.

There were like hundreds of targets, who a portion of them complained to the university and nothing happened. Basically perpetrators got protected for a variety of reasons. For example, one reason is that their interest is intertwined with university’s interest. They bring huge amount of money and funding to the university. Universities gets overhead. So they basically sweep the case under the carpet,

It sends a clear signal to perpetrators that they are protected. They can do whatever they want to do, and another negative signals to target that it's better to use the code of silence

Adam Levy: 10:47

Given all of that. it might seem almost a bit helpless to someone who does find themselves on the receiving end of bullying. What actions can someone actually take if they are in this situation, being bullied by someone in the academic workplace, especially when that might be a superior, someone with power over them?

Morteza Mahmoudi: 11:08

So the first thing is that they should detect and identify academic bullying at the first place. The second part is to document everything. Academic bullies are clever. They barely leave trace of their actions.

So every single chance that basically a target can get to document, they need to document that. If someone is witness, they basically need to also collect their names, their ideas. The third important thing is collective actions.

So it would be great that they basically find allies and look for others that are in the, in the same situation. So this helps a lot.

The other thing is to inform themselves, or basically educate themselves, about the internal and external resources that are available to them to get help.

For example, one of the trusted resources is ombudsofficers, getting consultation from legal bodies, for example. They can consult with a lawyer about the situation.

Be aware of retaliation of any kind, which is unfortunately very common in the case of, like, academic bullying. Try to see what happened to other people at the same cases, and have Plan B in mind.

Adam Levy: 12:38

Now, how is all of this limited when there are serious risks to the career of the academic when they would speak out? For example, I’m speaking about maybe foreign students whose visa depends on them continuing their degree with their supervisor.

Morteza Mahmoudi: 12:56

Yeah, that’s unfortunately the sad reality.

The outcomes of our global survey, which we have done in 2019, and we received over 2000 responses to that, reveal that one of the main reasons that targets try to use code of silence instead of speaking up, is the fear of retaliation.

The examples like I mentioned, that came to the news shows that when a person basically complain, they receive serious direct or indirect mobbing which is basically ganging up against targets.

But at the same time, the recent awareness about the issue of academic polling basically forced other stakeholders to come in and take some actions.

For example, funding agencies now have a direct line for targets to basically report any abuse they receive, if the PIs are funded by that particular agency. One thing I always emphasize for international students is to be proactive about the lab that they want to do the research.

So if they try to reach out to the former lab members, they can get useful feedback.

So by being proactive, they can actually evaluate the lab health prior to joining a lab.

Adam Levy: 14:30

That note of doing research before moving a lab is actually something we touched on in a previous series of this podcast when we were discussing moving labs.

But a lot of what we’ve been talking about just now has been about what the victim of bullying can do if they find themselves in that situation.

What about third parties, people who perhaps witnessed this kind of behaviour taking place?

Morteza Mahmoudi: 14:55

Yeah, so first of all, I would like to change the word of victim to target.

It’s important because victim has kind of a negative feeling to the, to the basically target. Anyway, a witness can basically do a lot of things.

They can interfere with the situation to basically change the direction of the discussion. They can report what they witness, at least to the trusted internal resources, like to the ombudsperson. They can basically back up the claims of the targets, if they decide to speak up. There’s a kind of risk. But if they take the risk and want to report they can have a great effect.

Adam Levy: 15:44

As you’ve shared, a big part of why bullying and harassment are so commonplace is because there are all these structures in place which which effectively protect the bullier. What should institutions change in how they handle these kinds of cases?

Morteza Mahmoudi: 16:01

So institutions and universities by its own basically, have limited intention to fairly consider the cases of academic bullying and harassment. What we are basically advocating for is making a platform that all of the involved, the stakeholders, can be responsible and response able for those cases.

For example, if funding agencies gets involved in the cases, and they basically ban universities that have higher rate of bullying cases from funding they provide, then universities are forced to take more fair actions about, like those issues.

The other thing is to better understand the long-term effects of academic bullying and harassment on institutions and also on science.

The long-term side effect is far beyond the target. It causes many talented scientists to leave academia. It can cause data fabrication, because in many cases that the basically witness and reach to the reports, bowling was the initial force, to targets to fabricate data. And the other important stakeholders that needs to be involved, I think, are taxpayers.

All of the costs of the perpetrators are being covered by the university’s lawyer, which are basically taxpayers’ money and funding.

The other thing I think is very important that needs to be carefully considered in the field of academic bullying and harassment, is the accountability of the investigation, internal investigation committees, who basically made those decisions and what responsibilities they have over the decisions.

Adam Levy: 18:07

What does it mean to you purely on a personal level, to be able to carry out this work to try and address academic bullying and harassment?

Morteza Mahmoudi: 18:17

As a scientist and as a building block of the scientific community, we want to basically do something that matters. If the universities can’t handle the bullying and harassment, because it’s very unfortunate, but again, it’s a reality, that if targets of academic bullying and harassment remains unhealed, there’s a great risk that they would be a future bullies when they basically get to the power position.

So honestly, I get paid, like, for my works in nanomedicine, and regenerative medicine. But I value the work I do volunteering on, like, academic bullying and harassment, because I see in real time that it helps targets of academic bullying, and it may help the field to kind of move forward in creating a platform that finally all of their stakeholders and decision-makers and gatekeepers basically, can feel responsible and response able to finally put an end on this age-old issue.

Adam Levy: 19:32

Morteza Mahmoudi there. We mentioned in previous episodes that this series would be in seven parts, and this is indeed the seventh episode.

But in producing the series, in particular this episode, we’ve realized there’s just too much to say to fit it all in.

And so we'll be returning to the topic of harassment and misconduct in science in an episode coming soon, where we'll look specifically at the devastation that sexual harassment and assault can have on researchers, and on research.

That episode should be out in a couple of weeks. So make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss it. Until then, thanks for listening. I’m Adam Levy.

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The Broad Impact of School Bullying, and What Must Be Done

Major interventions are required to make schools safe learning environments..

Posted May 2, 2021 | Reviewed by Hara Estroff Marano

• How to Handle Bullying
• Take our Anger Management Test
• Find a therapist to support kids or teens
• At least one in five kids is bullied, and a significant percentage are bullies. Both are negatively affected, as are bystanders.
• Bullying is an epidemic that is not showing signs of improvement.
• Evidence-based bullying prevention programs can be effective, but school adoption is inconsistent.

According to the U.S. federal government website StopBullying.gov :

There is no federal law that specifically applies to bullying . In some cases, when bullying is based on race or ethnicity , color, national origin, sex, disability, or religion, bullying overlaps with harassment and schools are legally obligated to address it.

The National Bullying Prevention Center reports data suggesting that one in five children have been bullied. There are many risk factors for being targeted, including being seen as weak, being different from peers including being LGBT or having learning differences or visible disabilities, being depressed or anxious, and having few friends. It's hard to measure how many engage in bullying, but estimates range from one in twenty, to much higher .

The American Association of University Women reports that in grades 7-12, 48 percent of students (56 percent of girls and 40 percent of boys) are sexually harassed. In college, rates of sexual harassment rise to 66 percent. Eleven percent are raped or sexually assaulted.

Silence facilitates traumatization

Only 20 percent of attacked young women report sexual assault . And 89 percent of undergraduate schools report zero sexual harassment. This means that children, adolescents, young adults and their friends are at high risk for being victimized. It means that many kids know what is happening, and don't do anything.

This may be from fear of retaliation and socialization into a trauma-permissive culture, and it may be from lack of proper education and training. Institutional betrayal , when organizations fail to uphold their promises and responsibilities, adds to the problem.

In some states such as New York, laws like “ the Dignity for All Students Act ” (DASA) apply only to public schools. Private, religious, and denominational schools are not included, leaving 20 percent of students in NYC and 10 percent throughout the state unprotected. Research shows that over the last decade, bullying in U.S. high schools has held steady around 20 percent, and 15 percent for cyberbullying.

The impact of bullying

While there is much research on how bullying affects mental health, social function, and academics, the results are scattered across dozens of papers. A recent paper in the Journal of School Violence (Halliday et al., 2021) presents a needed systematic literature review on bullying’s impact in children aged 10-18.

1. Psychological: Being a victim of bullying was associated with increased depression , anxiety , and psychosis . Victims of bullying reported more suicidal thinking and engaged in greater self-harming behaviors. They were more likely to experience social anxiety , body-image issues, and negative conduct. Simultaneous cyberbullying and conventional bullying were associated with more severe depression.

2. Social: Bullying victims reported greater problems in relationships with family, friends and in day-to-day social interactions. They reported they enjoyed time with family and friends less, felt they were being treated unfairly more easily, and liked less where they lived. Victimized children were less popular and likeable, and experienced more social rejection. They tended to be friends with other victims, potentially heightening problems while also providing social support.

3. Academic achievement: Victimized kids on average had lower grades. Over time, they did worse especially in math. They tended to be more proficient readers, perhaps as a result of turning to books for comfort in isolation (something people with a history of being bullied commonly report in therapy ).

4. School attitudes: Bullied children and adolescents were less engaged in education, had poorer attendance, felt less belonging, and felt more negatively about school.

5. What happens with age? Researchers studied adult psychiatric outcomes of bullying, looking at both victims and bullies, reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Psychiatry (Copeland et al., 2013). After controlling for other childhood hardships, researchers found that young adults experience increased rates of agoraphobia (fear of leaving the house), generalized anxiety, panic disorder, and increased depression risk. Men had higher suicide risk.

The impact of bullying does not stop in early adulthood. Research in the Journals of Gerontology (Hu, 2021) found that people over the age of 60 who were bullied as children had more severe depression and had lower life satisfaction.

6. Bullying and the brain: Work reported in Frontiers in Psychiatry (Muetzel et al., 2019) found that victims of bullying had thickening of the fusiform gyrus, an area of the cerebral cortex involved with facial recognition, and sensing emotions from facial expressions. 1 For those with posttraumatic stress disorder, brain changes may be extensive.

7. Bystanders are affected: Research also shows that bystanders have higher rates of anxiety and depression (Midgett et al., 2019). The problem is magnified for bystanders who are also victims. It is likely that taking appropriate action is protective.

Given that victims of bullying are at risk for posttraumatic stress disorder ( PTSD ; Idsoe et al., 2012), it’s important to understand that many of the reported psychiatric findings may be better explained by PTSD than as a handful of overlapping but separate diagnoses. Trauma often goes unrecognized.

What can be done?

The psychosocial and academic costs of unmitigated bullying are astronomical, to say nothing of the considerable economic cost. Change is needed, but resistance to change, as with racism, gender bias, and other forms of discrimination , is built into how we see things.

Legislation: There is no federal antibullying legislation, and state laws may be weak and inconsistently applied. Given that bullying rates are no longer falling, it’s important for lawmakers and advocates to seek immediate changes.

Bullying prevention: Schools can adopt antibullying programs, though they are not universally effective and sometimes may backfire. Overall, however, research in JAMA Pediatrics (Fraguas et al., 2021) shows that antibullying programs reduce bullying, improve mental health outcomes, and stay effective over time. 2

Trauma-informed education creates an environment in which all participants are aware of the impact of childhood trauma and the need for specific modifications given how trauma is common among children and how it affects development.

According to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN):

"The primary mission of schools is to support students in educational achievement. To reach this goal, children must feel safe, supported, and ready to learn. Children exposed to violence and trauma may not feel safe or ready to learn. Not only are individual children affected by traumatic experiences, but other students, the adults on campus, and the school community can be impacted by interacting or working with a child who has experienced trauma. Thus, as schools maintain their critical focus on education and achievement, they must also acknowledge that mental health and wellness are innately connected to students’ success in the classroom and to a thriving school environment."

Parenting makes a difference. Certain parenting styles may set kids up for emotional abuse in relationships , while others may be protective. A 2019 study reported in Frontiers in Public Health (Plexousakis et al.) found that children with anxious, overprotective mothers were more likely to be victims.

Those with cold or detached mothers were more likely to become bullies. Overprotective fathering was associated with worse PTSD symptoms, likely by getting in the way of socialization. The children of overprotective fathers were also more likely to be aggressive.

Quality parental bonding, however, appeared to help protect children from PTSD symptoms. A healthy home environment is essential both for helping victims of bullying and preventing bullying in at-risk children.

Parents who recognize the need to learn more positive approaches can help buffer again the all-too-common cycle of passing trauma from generation to generation, building resilience and nurturing secure attachment to enjoy better family experiences and equip children to thrive.

State-by-state legislation

Bullying prevention programs (the KiVA program is also notable)

Measuring Bullying Victimization, Perpetration and Bystander Experiences , Centers for Disease Control

Trauma-informed teaching

US Government Stop Bullying

1. Such differences could both result from being bullied (e.g. needing to scan faces for threat) and could also make being bullied more likely (e.g. misreading social cues leading to increased risk of being targeted).

2. Such programs focus on reducing negative messaging in order to keep stakeholders engaged, monitor and respond quickly to bullying, involve students in bullying prevention and detection in positive ways (e.g. being an “upstander” instead of a bystander), monitor more closely for bullying when the risk is higher (e.g. after anti-bullying trainings), respond fairly with the understanding that bullies often have problems of their own and need help, involved parents and teachers in anti-bullying education, and devote specific resources for anti-bullying.

Sarah Halliday, Tess Gregory, Amanda Taylor, Christianna Digenis & Deborah Turnbull (2021): The Impact of Bullying Victimization in Early Adolescence on Subsequent Psychosocial and Academic Outcomes across the Adolescent Period: A Systematic Review, Journal of School Violence, DOI: 10.1080/15388220.2021.1913598

Copeland WE, Wolke D, Angold A, Costello EJ. Adult Psychiatric Outcomes of Bullying and Being Bullied by Peers in Childhood and Adolescence. JAMA Psychiatry. 2013;70(4):419–426. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2013.504

Bo Hu, PhD, Is Bullying Victimization in Childhood Associated With Mental Health in Old Age, The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, Volume 76, Issue 1, January 2021, Pages 161–172, https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbz115

Muetzel RL, Mulder RH, Lamballais S, Cortes Hidalgo AP, Jansen P, Güroğlu B, Vernooiji MW, Hillegers M, White T, El Marroun H and Tiemeier H (2019) Frequent Bullying Involvement and Brain Morphology in Children. Front. Psychiatry 10:696. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00696

Midgett, A., Doumas, D.M. Witnessing Bullying at School: The Association Between Being a Bystander and Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms. School Mental Health 11, 454–463 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-019-09312-6

Idsoe, T., Dyregrov, A. & Idsoe, E.C. Bullying and PTSD Symptoms. J Abnorm Child Psychol 40, 901–911 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-012-9620-0

Fraguas D, Díaz-Caneja CM, Ayora M, Durán-Cutilla M, Abregú-Crespo R, Ezquiaga-Bravo I, Martín-Babarro J, Arango C. Assessment of School Anti-Bullying Interventions: A Meta-analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials. JAMA Pediatr. 2021 Jan 1;175(1):44-55. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.3541. PMID: 33136156; PMCID: PMC7607493.

Plexousakis SS, Kourkoutas E, Giovazolias T, Chatira K and Nikolopoulos D (2019) School Bullying and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms: The Role of Parental Bonding. Front. Public Health 7:75. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2019.00075

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Bullying Essay Writing Prompts & Examples for Students

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Bullying is a repeated, physical, social, or psychological behavior that refers to the misuse of power by a person or group towards another individual or people. It is unacceptable in the United States! However, the acts of bullying are typical for the educational institutions, especially high schools. The teachers assign corresponding essays and research papers hoping to prove the harmfulness of this phenomenon to the students. Do not confuse bullying essay and bully essay! We will explain the difference between these two, share some good topics, provide useful writing tips, and present free examples of such papers. There are times when students can do nothing about the homework. It does not mean they know nothing about the offered topic or have no talent - the lack of time is the most common reason. What our academic writing company offers is quality help with writing an essay available online 24/7. Do not miss your chance to improve your grade!  

What Is Bullying Essay?

One may ask, “ What is bullying essay? ” Okay, not all students know the definition of this word because some of them are lucky never to witness school bullying. A bullying essay is an academic paper on the humiliation, inequality, and unfair treatment of a person by another person or a group of people. It is a common phenomenon in the US schools. Bullying is one of the main reasons for the massive school murders. Because this activity may lead to the fatal, dramatic consequences, a bullying essay is one of the most popular assignments.

Working on Bullying Essay Outline

The primary thing to get ready with before writing a bully essay is the bullying essay outline. It is a must in any type of writing. An outline won’t let you get lost during the writing process. It looks like a detailed plan of action, and here is an example:

• The negative aspects & adverse consequences of bullying.
• The victims of bullying: common features they share, reasons to be involved in bullying, and mistakes the victims do.
• Conditions under which bullying takes place.
• The outcomes of bullying.
• Possible solutions against bullying: from the things students should do on their own to the involvement of parents and teachers.
• Conclusion Relate bullying as a story and rewrite the thesis statement from the introduction.

Preparing an Unforgettable Bullying Essay Introduction

In the bullying essay introduction, introduce the topic you are going to discuss. Define the term “bullying” using a dictionary and own words. Show the importance of discussing this issue by starting with an interesting fact or official statistics. The examples of the opening sentences are:

“Between 1 in 4 US students say they have been bullied at school.” “There is no general profile of a person involved in bullying. Young adolescents who bully can be either well-connected socially or marginalized.” 

The rationale for writing an interesting bullying essay introduction is to make it possible to let the reader appreciate the topic and understand its significance.

Tips on Writing a Bullying Essay Conclusion Paragraph

A bullying essay conclusion paragraph should leave the greatest impression on the reader and motivate them to contribute something to the war against bullying. A writer can start with the essay hook or rewritten thesis. Both versions are good to make the reader interested. A student has to develop a conclusion to guarantee a closure for the bullying essay that defines his or her final claim concerning the problem of bullying in schools or an entire community. It is time to stop the anti-social behaviour!

• Offer a final statement that talks about the abusive practices against the person or group of people.
• Provide learning insight to stress the important role of bullying in the life of modern kids. Show the importance of further research. Think about what makes a significant lesson for personal perception.
• Share feedback relevant to the implementation of governmental regulations created to stop the bullying.
• Come up with the recommendations about bullying to let others think about the most effective way of handling the problem.
• List the negative implications of bullying (victim’s physical & mental problems).

Post-Writing Steps

No matter whether you work on a short essay about bullying or a long one, the post-writing recommendations are the same. Do not ignore their importance!

• Look at the format and structure of the paper and fix it if needed.
• Proofread to detect & fix any grammar, spelling, or punctuation mistakes.
• Seek for the tutor’s feedback before revising.
• Apply grammar and plagiarism checking software to get rid of the errors.
• Let your peers or family members read the bullying essay to make sure it is polished.

20 Anti Bullying Essay Topics

An essay on bullying is not limited to defining the term. It has many options when it comes to choosing a specific topic. An essay on bullying may have several categories. One of the examples is cyber bullying essay - the threat of bullying with the help of social profiles and Internet, in general, is high.

• Reasons why teasing may end up bullying.
• Accepting people for who they are - preventing bullying.
• The ways to support people who were bullied in the past.
• The consequences of school bullying.
• Turning for help to the adults.
• Stopping the culture of bullying in the US schools.
• Ways to make students feel comfortable when talking about bullying.
• The problem of standing around and doing nothing to help the victim.
• How other kids may prevent their peers from bullying each other.
• Bullying in person vs. bullying in a group.
• What are the mental consequences of bullying?
• How can students prevent cyberbullying?
• Reasons why some people bully others.
• The way a bully feels once he or she put someone down.
• Family essay : The role of family members in the life of the bullied person.
• Risks for standing up for the one who is being bullied.
• New ways to increase the community’s awareness about bullying
• Describing the episode of bullying from your life.
• Things you would do if someone tried to bully you.
• Different types of bullying.

Each of these bullying essay titles is a good example of the ways to reduce bullying in schools essay. If you still lack ideas, rely on our Topic Generator for Essay . 

Read our free bullying essay examples. They will help to understand the goals of such paper better!

5 Awesome Bullying Essay Examples

Argumentative essay on bullying.

An argumentative essay on bullying is a challenge. A writer has to take one of the positions in the existing debate. Unlike in persuasive paper, there is no need to convince the target audience of your truth, and it makes the mission a bit easier. Here is an extract from such essay:

"Bullying is unacceptable, and many movements exist trying to stop this act of violence and inequality among teenagers. I will formulate an argument towards the problem at hand. Being a student of the high school, I see bullying among students of my age every day. That is why I will express my support in the fight against this phenomenon. Some things change for better thanks to the efforts of our parents and teachers, but the signs of bullying are present in most of the US education institutions. It is inhuman and has to end. Do you think the measures contemporary society takes are effective? I am a former victim of bullying: it happened several times when I was studying in the high school because of my family’s social status. The rest of the students came from wealthy families, and they believed there is no place for “burglars” like me. What they did to me was morally unacceptable. I think the government along with the legal bodies should make school bullying illegal and punish those who commit this crime according to the constitutional law. Such type of crime can have a long-term impact on everybody involved in the act. The experts define several types of this crime. Those are face-to-face like direct name calling; at a distance like spreading rumors; and cyberbullying. To me, the worst one is face-to-face even though experts name cyberbullying as the most dangerous one.”  

Persuasive Essay on Bullying

In a persuasive essay on bullying, a student has to explain his or her position towards the existing problem AND prove it to the reader. It requires more efforts than an argumentative paper. See the example below.

"School bullying is one of the basic issues in many educational institutions. Students may injure or even murder others. It happens in many regions of the world, but it looks like the United States suffer from this problem more than other countries. This type of crime is never acceptable. I have witnessed several acts of severe school bullying in my city, and I do not understand why teachers, parents, and government do nothing special to prevent such cases. Even if the act of bullying has nothing to do with physical injuries or rape, it may lead to the victim’s suicide. That is the purpose of the school bullies. I insist on forcing all shareholders in the education sector to cooperate to decide on the ways of handling and preventing this problem until it gets worse. The shareholders and working personnel are responsible for bullying. They should guarantee the safety of every student. One of the solutions I recommend implementing to fight against school bullying effectively is through special education explaining why this type of activity is to be discouraged and measures to take if bullying takes place on the eyes of other students. The students should understand the problem. Writing a persuasive essay on this topic might be a clue to the solution.”  

Cyber Bullying Cause and Effect Essay

A cyberbullying cause and effect essay should explain the reasons for bullying and the possible consequences. Most of the outcomes are dramatic and even fatal.

"Hitting someone makes a bully feel good. The strongest ones tend to express their significance through humiliating the weak. It is a natural instinct of many people. The primary reason to blame people who are weaker than you is the inferiority complex - the bully is a non-confident teen who feels better when making others look beneath himself or herself. The psychologists name one more reason. One of the main problems that lead to school bullying is the inability of parents to control their children. Those who come from wealthy families believe they will stay untouched. This feeling of permissiveness results in many different crimes and bullying is one of them. The major effect of the school bullying is the dramatic change in victim’s personality. Bullying can make initially happy and mentally healthy people self-conscious, shy, non-confident, or insane. Some of them end up in asylums. The results of bullying are obvious: the person becomes anti-social and keeps away from trying new things. The victims avoid speaking in public or participating in team games. In some situations, a bullying victim can start to have previously absent anxious signs.”  

5 Paragraph Essay About Bullying

Do you need an example of 5 paragraph essay about bullying? Find the solution below - discover more statistics & facts about bullying in the US schools.

"Bullying is one of the most common problems in the US schools. More than seven percent of kids in the 8th grade prefer staying at home once per month because of the school bullying (Banks, 1997). 15% of students are regularly bullied. Some of them are initiated into the bullying practice by the older students. The paper will talk about the definition of bullying, causes, effects, and the ways people can prevent this phenomenon. Bullying exists for ages. In most situations, it involves the School Bus Park, school hallways, and bathrooms, sometimes during recess (Banks, 1997). A bully never attacks alone. Such person prefers being surrounded by some type of minions that follow him/her everywhere. These people, minions, tend to have no personal opinion, and that makes them a treasure for the leader.”  

How to Prevent Bullying Essay

One of the most popular topics is how to prevent bullying essay. People should not close their eyes to the problems of teenagers ! Your essay may sound this way:

“A victor of bullying can do a lot to stop this phenomenon. It is necessary to take measures to protect yourself by evaluating personal strengths and weaknesses. This way, you will know how to resists the bullies. It is critical to develop and implement psychological, defensive tactics to keep away from getting in touch with the bullies. To stay away from bullying, one has to avoid any contacts with the bullies. A potential victim should not show anger in case of the attack - a good sense of humor may prevent the conflict. If bullying happens, the victim must report it immediately.”

So, writing a teenage bullying essay is useful. It helps to study one of the most serious school problems. Bullying essay should unite people in a battle against inequality and unfair treatment in educational institutions. What do you think? 

If you need to share your thoughts on a piece of paper and get the highest grade, contact our professional team of writers. We offer academic solutions for democratic prices!  

Daniel Howard is an Essay Writing guru. He helps students create essays that will strike a chord with the readers.

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Essay on Bullying

Here we have shared the Essay on Bullying in detail so you can use it in your exam or assignment of 150, 300, 500, or 1000 words.

You can use this Essay on Bullying in any assignment or project whether you are in school (class 10th or 12th), college, or answer writing for competitive exams. 

Topics covered in this article.

Essay on Bullying in 150 words

Essay on bullying in 250-300 words, essay on bullying in 500-1000 words.

Bullying is a serious issue that affects individuals of all ages, particularly in schools and online platforms. It involves repeated aggressive behavior aimed at causing harm, imbalance of power, and psychological distress to the victim. Bullying can take various forms, such as physical, verbal, or relational aggression.

The consequences of bullying are significant and long-lasting. Victims often experience emotional and psychological trauma, leading to decreased self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and even suicidal ideation. Bullying also creates an unhealthy and hostile environment, impacting the overall well-being of individuals and hindering their ability to thrive and learn.

To combat bullying, it is crucial to raise awareness, promote empathy, and foster a culture of respect and inclusivity. Schools and communities should implement anti-bullying policies and provide support systems for both victims and perpetrators. Education on the effects of bullying and the importance of kindness and empathy can help prevent and address this issue effectively. It is everyone’s responsibility to stand up against bullying and create a safe and nurturing environment for all individuals.

Bullying is a harmful and pervasive issue that involves repeated aggressive behavior aimed at causing harm, distress, and power imbalance. It manifests in various forms such as physical, verbal, or relational aggression, primarily affecting individuals in schools.

The consequences of bullying are significant and far-reaching. Victims often experience emotional and psychological trauma, leading to decreased self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and, in extreme cases, suicidal ideation. Bullying not only impacts individual victims but also creates an unhealthy environment that hampers overall well-being and learning.

To combat bullying effectively, awareness and prevention strategies are essential. Raising awareness about the nature and consequences of bullying among students, teachers, parents, and communities is crucial. Implementing comprehensive anti-bullying policies in schools, defining bullying, establishing reporting mechanisms, and imposing appropriate consequences for perpetrators is necessary. Fostering a culture of respect, empathy, and inclusivity can prevent bullying and create a safer environment.

Support systems should be in place for both victims and bullies. Victims need access to counseling and resources to cope with the effects of bullying. Intervention programs and counseling can help bullies develop empathy, address underlying issues, and learn alternative behaviors.

Collaboration between schools, parents, and communities is vital. Open communication, encouraging reporting, and proactive measures are necessary to create a positive and safe environment.

In conclusion, bullying is a harmful issue with severe consequences for individuals and communities. By raising awareness, implementing policies, fostering a culture of respect and empathy, and providing support, we can combat bullying effectively. Together, we can create a society where bullying is not tolerated, and individuals can thrive in safe and inclusive environments.

Title: Bullying – The Menace That Demands Immediate Attention

Introduction :

Bullying is a persistent and alarming issue that plagues individuals across various environments, with schools being a common breeding ground for such behavior. This essay aims to explore the definition and types of bullying, its detrimental effects on victims, the underlying causes, the role of bystanders, and the strategies required to effectively address and prevent bullying.

I. Definition and Types of Bullying

Bullying is a form of repeated and intentional aggression characterized by a power imbalance, where the bully seeks to cause harm, distress, and domination over the victim. It can take various forms, including physical aggression, verbal abuse, relational manipulation, and cyberbullying.

II. Detrimental Effects of Bullying

Bullying has severe consequences for the mental, emotional, and social well-being of victims. It can lead to decreased self-esteem, anxiety, depression, academic decline, school avoidance, and in extreme cases, suicidal ideation or attempts. The long-lasting effects of bullying extend beyond the immediate victim, creating a hostile and unhealthy environment for all individuals involved.

III. Underlying Causes of Bullying

Several factors contribute to the development of bullying behavior. These may include family dynamics, exposure to aggression or violence, a desire for power and control, low empathy levels, and a lack of appropriate social skills. Additionally, societal factors such as media influence and cultural norms may indirectly support or perpetuate bullying behavior.

IV. The Role of Bystanders

Bystanders play a significant role in the bullying dynamic. They can either reinforce the bully’s behavior by passively observing or actively participating, or they can intervene and support the victim. Creating a culture where bystanders feel empowered to speak up against bullying and report incidents is crucial in addressing this issue.

V. Strategies to Address and Prevent Bullying

A. awareness and education, b. establishing clear policies and consequences, c. encouraging reporting and support, d. empathy and social-emotional learning, e. involving the community.

Raising awareness about the detrimental effects of bullying and its various forms is essential. Educational institutions should implement comprehensive anti-bullying programs that educate students, teachers, and parents about the signs of bullying, its impact, and the importance of intervention.

Schools should have well-defined anti-bullying policies that outline the definition of bullying, reporting procedures, and consequences for perpetrators. These policies should be communicated effectively to all stakeholders to create a safe and inclusive environment.

Creating a safe reporting system where victims and witnesses feel comfortable reporting incidents is crucial. Offering support and counseling services for victims, as well as intervention programs for bullies, helps address the underlying issues and promote behavioral change.

Integrating empathy and social-emotional learning programs into the curriculum can foster a culture of respect, kindness, and empathy. Teaching students how to manage emotions, develop healthy relationships, and resolve conflicts peacefully can prevent bullying behavior.

Engaging parents, community members, and local organizations in anti-bullying initiatives fosters a collective effort in addressing this issue. Collaboration between schools, families, and communities is essential to create a comprehensive and sustained approach to bullying prevention.

Conclusion :

Bullying is a deeply concerning issue that inflicts significant harm on individuals and communities. By raising awareness, implementing clear policies, fostering empathy, involving bystanders, and providing support, we can effectively address and prevent bullying. It is our collective responsibility to create safe and inclusive environments where every individual can thrive without fear of aggression or harm. Through concerted efforts, we can eradicate bullying and cultivate a society built on respect, empathy, and equality.

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Bullying Essay | Essay on Bullying Essay for Students and Children in English

February 13, 2024 by Prasanna

Bullying Essay: Usage of force, coercion, or threat, to abuse or aggressively dominate is known as bullying. Three minimum criteria to characterize aggressive behaviour are hostile intent, imbalance of power, and repetition over some time.

Bullying is the subcategory of this aggressive behaviour. Development of bullying culture can occur in any context in which humans interact with each other. Physical assault, verbal harassment, threat or such acts fall under bullying. Bullying has different effects like suicide, positive development, hormonal changes, etc. Ignoring bullies is the best way to respond to bullies.

You can also find more  Essay Writing  articles on events, persons, sports, technology and many more.

Long and Short Essays on Bullying for Students and Kids in English

We are providing students with essay samples on long essay of 500 words and a short essay of 150 words on the topic Bullying for reference.

Long Essay on Bullying 500 Words in English

Long Essay on Bullying is usually given to classes 7, 8, 9, and 10.

The process of harassing someone through applying forces, abusing verbally or non-verbally, threatening, and using other means of violence to make someone do a piece of work, or just for the pleasure of the assaulter is known as bullying.

Bullying has been a common practice on colleges, where the seniors assault the juniors to show them their power, and the privileges of being seniors. Generally, bullying is done by the strong people on the weaker sections of people.

These people appear to be strong based on their power (both physical and intellectual) and position. These people bully the weaker people for mainly two reasons; to make their presence felt or to make them do some unpleasant work.

Bullying is not only common in colleges but also schools, offices and other places. A person who is bullied regularly or has been bullied before, suffer huge mental trauma and physical trauma. Some people lose their mental and physical steadiness due to these bullies.

Some people even lose their confidence after getting bullied, either temporarily or permanently. In both cases, that person should be treated by a proper therapist or consultant because mental trauma may not appear to be as serious as physical trauma. Still, the mental condition of that person will make him lead a life according to his choices that he is going to take.

If the person who is bullying other people succeeds in doing so, then he will get confident and continue bullying people. In that case, a bully should be reported immediately, and the person who is bullying should be immediately punished with proper punishments so that he does not repeat the same thing.

There are many clubs or organizations in schools and colleges that ensure that the students are safe from bullying. They strictly instructed the students that they should inform the authorities of the organizations if there is any case of bullying or ragging seen on the premises.

In offices, there are no such organizations made as all the staffs present in the office are adults. They are expected to be capable enough of handling these situations. There is a positive and a negative side seen in this case.

The positive side is that the employees who are victims of bullying learn to handle these situations independently. They should handle these situations smartly enough so that they don’t lose their positions and at the same time, face the problems and tackle them easily.

The negative side is that the people who bully do not get any punishment unless the victim retaliates. Every bullied victim may not be powerful enough to retaliate against the bully. Those who are weak, they will not retaliate, and this will provide us with an opportunity to the assaulter.

Thus, a person should be taught to retaliate against the bully, and at the same time, they should be taught not to bully on the weaker people to show them their power. The oppressor should not oppress, and the victim should protest against this.

Short Essay on Bullying 150 Words in English

Short Essay on Bullying is usually given to classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Bullying seeks to harm, intimidate or frighten someone often over some time and often forcing them to do something that they do not want to do. Bullying is repeated verbal and physical unacceptable and unfair behaviour. Bullying causes humiliation division and inequality in society.

It is considered as a very harmful and disturbing behaviour which acts against mental peace. Bullying can happen anywhere at school workplace society, and the latest trend in cyberbullying. Bullying is very negative and destructive. Bullying creates a social problem in our society.

You can now access more Essay Writing on this topic and many more.

It can ruin the life of an emotionally weak person when bullying gets extreme. Children can be scared to go to school or play if they are bullied at school or a playground. One can cope with bullying if help available through counselling and things will get better, and for their self-esteem and confidence are keywords.

10 Lines on Bullying Essay in English

1. Usage of force, coercion, or threat, to abuse or aggressively dominate is known as bullying. 2. Physical assault, verbal harassment, threat or such acts fall under bullying. 3. Bullying has been a common practice on colleges, where the seniors assault the juniors to show them their power, and the privileges of being seniors. 4. A person who is bullied regularly or has been bullied before, suffer huge mental trauma and physical trauma. 5. Some people even lose their confidence after getting bullied, either temporarily or permanently. 6. There are many clubs or organizations in schools and colleges that ensure that the students are safe from bullying. 7. The employees who are victims of bullying learn to handle these situations independently. 8. The people who bully do not get any punishment unless the victim retaliates. 9. Bullying causes humiliation division and inequality in society. 10. One can cope with bullying if help available through counseling.

FAQ’s on Bullying Essay

Question 1. What is Bullying?

Answer: The process of harassing someone through applying forces, abusing verbally or non-verbally, threatening, and using other means of violence to make someone do a piece of work, or just for the pleasure of the assaulter is known as bullying.

Question 2. How to cope with bullying?

Answer: One can cope with bullying if help available through counselling.

Question 3. What does the bullying cause in society?

Answer: Bullying causes humiliation division and inequality in society.

Question 4. Write one positive side of bullying.

Answer: The employees who are victims of bullying learn to handle these situations independently.

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Essay on Bullying in Schools

School bullying can be defined as the situation in which one or more students (The Bullies) single out a child (victim) and intend in behavior intended to cause discomfort or harm the child. A bully will repeatedly target the same victim several times. Under all circumstances, bullies have an advantage over the victim as they possess more power. Compared to the victim, bullies usually have physically stronger with a large circle of friends or higher social standing. Bullying can inflict emotional distress, humiliation, and physical harm. More than 95% of learning institutions experience bullying globally. Bullying must be meet a specific rationale to be considered bullying. Such requirements include repetitiveness, recurrent imbalance of power, and provocation. Bullying can occur in schools, on campus, or the outskirts of school, but its setting must have been created within the school. Regardless of the position, all the stakeholders in a school context, such as parents, educators, children, and community members, are required to contribute to the prevention of bullying in schools. School bullying is increasingly becoming a social problem in modern society. Ideally, there are several types of school bullying attached to different causes. The effects of school bullying can be classified in psychological, economical, and academic dimensions.

Types of Bullying in Schools

The common types of bullying in a school setting include verbal, sexual, cyber, psychological, physical, and higher education bullying. Notably, victims in a learning context can experience bullying regardless of age. The aforementioned types of bullying are further classified as either direct or indirect bullying. Direct bullying is defined as an attack that is openly targeted to a victim. Direct bullying is either verbal or physical. Contrary, indirect bullying involves different forms of relational aggression that leads to social isolation through defaming one’s reputation and manipulating the conscience of others into falsehood. Indirect bullying is usually hard and subtle to detect in a school setting (Goodwin et al. 330). If undertaken by a group of bullies, direct and indirect bullying can be referred to as pack bullying. The different types of bullying can be defined either directly or indirectly relative to the implication to the victim.

Physical bullying occurs when there is unwanted physical contact between the victim and the bully. Physical contact can be hand to hand or tripping and throwing items at others that can cause physical harm. The second is emotional bullying. Emotional bullying can be defined as hurting others emotionally by negatively influencing their moods and psyche. The primary examples of emotional bullying include; belittling, spreading false information, and defamation. Verbal bullying can be defined as the usage of slanderous language or statements causing emotional distress to other people. Examples of verbal bullying include harassing, mocking, teasing, and threatening to cause harm. Finally, Cyberbullying is attached to the evolution of the internet and computers. The use of computers in bullying at schoolyards is on the surge. In most instances, schools experience difficulties in controlling cyberbullying as experiences are beyond the school fraternity.

The other common types of school bullying are sexual bullying and higher education bullying. Sexual bullying is either non-physical or physical, grounded on the gender or sexuality of the victim. In most instances, sexual bullying is undertaken by the male gender. The United States department of education reports an average of 60% of expulsions and suspensions from learning institutions attached to sexual bullying (Goodwin et al. 328). In most instances, the young ones are frames into tricks to share their nudes, after which there are forced to fulfill specific sexual demands at the expense of exposure. Higher education bullying occurs at the campus or college level. Around 95% of students have reported having been bullied at the college level. Higher education bullying results in depression and suicide in most cases.

Measures to Control Bullying

The main approaches in controlling bullying in school settings include the implementation of educative programs, creating a positive school climate, engaging parents, encouraging open communication and punishments. These techniques, however, vary depending on the learning level and the prevalence of bullying in the particular period. Education programs involve creating awareness to parents, students, and teachers regarding what constitutes bullying. Educative programs are instrumental in creating insight into the harmful nature of whichever kind of bullying. All the stakeholders within the school fraternity are enrolled in sessions of creating awareness on the signs of bullying and the most appropriate intervention criteria. The most common ways in educating on bullying include role-play, identification and reporting discussions, and other approaches to decline being involved in bullying. Nickerson(19) argued that educative programs are 62% effective in curbing the prevalence of bullying in learning institutions.

Secondly, schools can help in the prevention of bullying by promoting a positive school climate. Schools with a positive climate are presumed to have a healthy development, while the negative school climate results in a surge in bullying cases, unsafe feelings, victimization, and aggression. While the elements of positive school culture vary from norms relative to power, relationships, and feelings, it’s evident that a positive climate is a product of a conscious process that becomes self-reinforcing (Goodwin et al. 330). The main determinants of a positive climate include leadership and integrity in learning institutions. Therefore, the ability to have cognitive leaders is an advantage of coping with bullying in schools.

Third, schools should engage parents. Parents spend most of their time with children at the primary level. While there are many stakeholders involved in the lives of the children, parents play an essential role in understanding their behavior. Engaging parents in bullying scenarios means initiating communication on the progress of the children in terms of behavior and performance. Integration between parents and teachers is essential in providing consistent approaches that help yield a more productive and appropriate behavior (Nickerson 22). Parents can help their children recognize while being bullied by others. However, the approach is not viable in urban schools as parents experience difficulties establishing trust with schools.

Finally, schools should initiate open communication techniques. Open communication is essential in building rapport. Having open communication means that students can disclose their problems to teachers. Open communication helps the teachers gain more insight into existing bullies in the school (Nickerson 20). For instance, classroom meetings in grade 4 will enable teachers to obtain crucial information in enacting more controls to curb bullying in schools. Teachers are expected to listen carefully during the class meetings to avoid inflicting fear on the learners. Students should be assured of confidentiality and privacy of the information obtained as any disclosure might attract further bullying.

Effects of School Bullying 

The effect of school bullying can be categorized in psychological and academic dimensions. Bullying results in poor performance in school. More than 70% of learners subjected to bullying ends up recording a decline in academic performance. The results are more severe at a young age. Bullying would result in fading of interest and participation of learners in school activities as it results in unexplained injuries linked to affecting concentration (Menesini and Christina 246). The impact of bullying on educational performance is increasingly becoming imminent. Bullying installs fear in learners from attending school regularly, thus affecting their consistency and concentration in class. Based on this explanation, it’s evident that bullied students will experience difficulties in achieving their academic goals. Moreover, bullying is linked with an unsafe learning environment that creates a negative climate of fear and insecurities and the perception that teachers do not care about the welfare of learners, thus decline in quality of education.

Secondly, bullying is associated with psychological problems. While bullying to individuals helps them enhance their personality and perceptions as they grow, it’s presumed that bullying can risk an individual developing an antisocial personality disorder linked to committing crimes. Bullying leads to depression, anxiety, and psychosomatic symptoms, which often leads to alcohol and substance abuse by the victims at a later stage in their lives. It’s argued that victims of depression feel free and open to share their experience with others, unlike in bullying, where the victims would choose to shy talking about the feeling in fear of being bullied again. In the short run, bystanders of the bullying experience may develop the fear, guiltiness, and sadness, and if the experience persists, they might get psychologically drained (Sampson). Therefore, the victims of bullying experiences struggle with insomnia, suicidal thoughts, health problems, and depression. Bullying does affect not only the students but also their classmates and family. Feeling powerless, parents and immediate family members might fall victim to depression and emotional distress. Some parents would invest more time in protecting their children, thus affecting them psychologically and economically.

Causes of Bullying

There are numerous causes of school bullying attached to religion, socioeconomic status, race, and gender. Understanding the reasons why students chose to bully their classmates is significant to teachers in combating bullying. The National Center for Educational Statistics report established that 25% of Blacks, 22% of Caucasians, 17% of Hispanics, and 9% of Asian students were bullied in 2017 (Divecha). Some of the students that bully others have higher levels of courage and confidence and can respond aggressively if threatened by the behavior. Students at the college level get bullied on sexual matters. For instance, the subscribers to LGBTQA sexual orientation get bullied based on their decision as gay or lesbians. Moreover, bullying in schools is caused by other factors attached to families. Students from abuse and divorced families are likely to bully others due to jealousy, anger, and despair.

From the above discussion, it’s evident that school bullying in whichever capacity is detrimental to human dignity. School bullying is increasingly becoming a social problem in modern society. Ideally, there are several types of school bullying attached to different causes. The effects of school bullying can be classified in psychological, economical, and academic dimensions. The primary forms of school form such as verbal, sexual, cyber, psychological, physical, and higher education bullying are categorized into direct and indirect bullying. The intervention strategies to curb bullying should involve all the stakeholders, such as parents, teachers, and students. The main approaches in controlling bullying in school settings include implementing educative programs, creating a positive school climate, engaging parents, and encouraging open communication and punishments.

Works Cited

Divecha, Diana. “What Are the Best Ways to Prevent Bullying in Schools?”  Greater Good , https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/what_are_the_best_ways_to_prevent_bullyi ng_in_schools

Sampson, Rana. “Center for Problem-Oriented Policing.” Arizona State University,  https://popcenter.asu.edu/content/bullying-schools-0

Menesini, Ersilia, and Christina Salmivalli. “Bullying in schools: the state of knowledge and effective interventions.”  Psychology, health & medicine  22.sup1 (2017): 240-253.

Goodwin, John, et al. “Bullying in schools: an evaluation of the use of drama in bullying prevention.” Journal of Creativity in Mental Health 14.3 (2019): 329-342.

Nickerson, Amanda B. “Preventing and intervening with bullying in schools: A framework for evidence- based practice.”  School Mental Health  11.1 (2019): 15-28.

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• Career Advice

Battling Bullying in Academe

By  Maria Shine Stewart

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“Bullying” is a word that evokes strong reactions. And it spawns firm, yet contradictory, advice. You’ve heard the stock phrases, I am sure:

• “Don’t back down.”
• “Ignore it.”
• “Be strong. Bullies prey on the weak.”
• “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

If you question whether bullying truly happens in the workplace -- including in academe -- check out the work of Gary and Ruth Namie, who have written on the topic and coordinate the Workplace Bullying Institute . I may have joined any skeptical reader in a skeptical point of view at one time. After all, middle school is over. But personal experience plus awareness of the encounters of others has taught me otherwise.

I offer a few types of aggression below that I have observed. Whether each type exhibits random or intermittent hurtful behavior or an instilled, chronic pattern (or even an adaptation on how to garner power), I am not sure. I am basing my types on my life in academe. To my surprise, other people's categorizations offered online from different work environments look surprisingly similar.

Do any of these types sound familiar to you?

The screamer. This person may be a staple of an institution yet prevails through intimidation. It could be someone who has served a long time and, like a sturdy tree, will weather future storms -- that is, when the individual is not causing them. Why this person is “an institution” within an institution is anyone’s guess.

The blamer. Though we all make mistakes, blamers will never let you forget. This person will taunt or wait for a vulnerable moment to let others know that your -- or someone’s -- errors are not forgotten. This co-worker functions like the Dementors in Harry Potter. Don’t let a blamer brainwash you into blaming yourself. Especially nefarious if crossed with a narcissist. (See below.)

The naysayer. This person, often vocal, may throw a wrench in important projects or fresh new ideas, blasting them with ample schadenfreude. Though the character of Lucy in Peanuts has charm, the insidious campus wretch (naysayer) is not small, cute or confined to a comic strip. Their “vanity of knowing better” (an elegant phrase for “know-it-all,” coined by Abraham Low, neuropsychiatrist and founder of the self-help group Recovery International) is a compulsion and rarely based on fact.

The narcissist. Having already fallen in love with their own reflections, narcissists will be out to get anyone who does not echo the admiration. A virulent combination is the narcissist/tyrant. (See “tyrant” below.)

The tyrant. If you have encountered one of these on campus, you may have already left academe. Eschewing collaboration. Demanding behavior. Degrading comments. Everything we were supposed to have learned in kindergarten apparently did not apply.

The Janus. Though foolish consistency is one thing, being outright two-faced is a flaw not only in middle school but all through life. Make sure you are looking in all directions if such a type wields power at your institution.

The supersized ego. Not to be confused with Freud’s superego, the supersized egos actually believe that academe, and all of its constituents, serve them. The ego may emerge anywhere -- from the freshman orientation session to campus president’s office to the governing board. Healthy self-concept is one thing; obliviousness to the needs of others is quite another.

The rumormonger. Not since first grade has the power of having a secret been so important -- regardless of the validity of it. The toxic potential of rumormongers’ gossip is not to be underestimated.

Though my makeshift taxonomy is undoubtedly incomplete, I do believe that lack of humility among perpetrators is a common thread through all of these, as well as at least some of the 27,000 hits for “bullying in academia” via Google Scholar. Some might say a lack of social or emotional intelligence is one, too. The topic is rarely discussed, in my experience, because most victims would rather bolt than reveal what occurred. And if bolting is not possible, the victims may suffer disenchantment, at least, and loss of vocation or health, at worst.

The best advice for anyone encountering bullying in academe must come from very deep within. And that advice must be more than an abstraction. It should be accompanied by relentless self-care, friendship, skilled helpers, chances to build confidence again and genuine buffering in the forms of groups that get it. And though certain diagnosable emotional conditions may run parallel to being a victim of harassment or bullying, that does not mean anything is intrinsically wrong with the victim. The situation is absurd; victims should avoid self-blame.

Through my own painful experiences, and by reading about and listening to others’ difficult academic tales, I have learned that if one is dedicated to academe, one can change institutions -- and even professions within it -- and eventually have a new life. Still, it is indeed possible to be derailed by another bully again.

But please, if you are a reader in the thick of being bullied right now, don’t let your story in higher education end there. Here are some things I wish I had known to tell myself a little earlier in my career:

• I am not imagining this, even though it flies in the face of every expectation.
• While I can perhaps do little about this situation, I can mobilize on my own behalf.
• I will not succumb to drugs, alcohol or compulsive behaviors. Their relief may be short-lived, and the long-term results may include layering a problem upon a problem.
• I will not harbor fantasies that anyone will come to my rescue. People flee when they see trouble in academe.
• The perpetrators will probably not change. This shtick has worked for them a long time.

There are many subtypes and types of aggressors, and they occupy important spots at private and public, two-year and four-year, urban and rural institutions. My go-to plan of coping has been to probe the research done by scholars such as Claudia Lampman . I discovered David Yamada five years ago, astounded that bullying could happen in the mental health profession. And the work of Dan Olweus brought me hope when a child in my life was harassed at school.

Of course, sometimes the culture of any workplace is so toxic that one must leave. Persevering under hostile circumstances can exacerbate other problems and lead to an erosion of physical or emotional health, necessitating another kind of leave.

But I wonder if there are ways to remediate, short of filing grievances and lawsuits. I wonder if self-scrutiny of culture -- collective campus culture -- can help reduce a bully’s power. I envision that on a kinder campus, no tolerance of bullies can become a reality. When I did some research on K-12 teachers some time back, I learned that sometimes bullying is on their radar but they do not intervene, thinking that students may be better left to fend for themselves. That does depend.

Perhaps you are still skeptical, having persevered almost to the end of this column. You may be thinking that this behavior does not happen on the campus depicted on your website and in admissions’ publications, employee manuals or recruitment ads. I hope you’re right.

For those who are in the thick of bullying as victim or bystander: note that it takes awareness and guts to change a culture, to confront someone out of bounds and to strive to create a healthier climate.

In graduate school, I encountered a colleague who admitted to being a bully at a young age. I was intrigued, as such a revelation is rare. She explained that she was a student in preschool run by a grandparent, and she therefore deduced (using pre-K logic) that the lineage of power extended to her. She even climbed up on a table and shouted at the group -- ordering some children around and denying privileges to others. Fortunately, a relative taught her an early lesson: “We all must work together.”

How wise to provide that counsel. I wish all campus bullies had a loving grandparent like that to set them straight before habits became ingrained.

If colleges and universities cannot educate their own constituency, who can?

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08-20-2024 TECH

How AI tools help students—and their professors—in academic research

New systems can help surface relevant research papers and quickly understand what they have to say.

[Photo: Nikish Hiraman/peopleimages.com/Adobe Stock]

BY  Steven Melendez 7 minute read

For students and professional scholars alike, starting a new research project typically means digging through academic literature to understand what others have already written.

That can take a considerable amount of time, with researchers tracking down and combing through journal articles to begin their research and contextualize their own findings. But a growing collection of AI-powered tools aims to make that process easier. These new tools can help researchers more quickly find relevant papers, pull out relevant information from them, or both.

“It can be a really helpful way to get started with research, especially for students who aren’t familiar with the research process,” says Breanne Kirsch, director of the library at Illinois College. “As long as they’re taught how to use it in an ethical way, and that they can then expand beyond what it does.”

A tool called Elicit can help researchers conduct what are called systematic reviews , which involve going through copious amounts of published research to find an answer to a question, like how a particular drug affects a medical condition. “It’s all very, very manual,” says James Brady, head of engineering at Elicit. “It takes teams of people many months, and you know, costs hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars to do these things.” 

Elicit can make that process much faster, and also help researchers by quickly finding and summarizing published papers related to a particular question. It can also generate tables describing a whole set of relevant papers, with columns for data points like algorithms and statistical techniques used, variables examined, and the number of participants in experiments. 

The company recommends researchers still look at the original papers, and Brady emphasizes that the tool doesn’t replace the human judgment and analysis necessary to scientific research. “It’s not like you take the final step of Elicit and hit the publish button and then it ends up in Nature or something,” he says, but it can still greatly speed the process of sifting through and understanding prior work.

Understanding how AI can help academic research is part of a larger industry question of how and when the technology can replace or supplement traditional web search tools. And since the 1990s , computer scientists have realized that the academic publishing landscape—where scholars cite each other’s papers and publish in journals with a particular reputation in a particular field—isn’t that different from the internet ecosystem . That means techniques for finding relevant materials, minimizing AI errors and hallucinations, and presenting useful and verifiable results to the user may transfer from academia to the broader web.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Steven Melendez is an independent journalist living in New Orleans.   More

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Leaders are pushing to ban cellphones in schools. Are they a distraction or necessary tool?

Kids may no longer be allowed to whip out cellphones to type essays, operate calculators, make videos or text their parents from school starting this school year in some parts of the U.S.

Democratic officials in California , New York and Virginia are urging school leaders to restrict student cellphone usage. If they implement such rules, schools in those states would join a growing number of districts that ban the devices .

These governors' directives have reignited a debate over an issue some parents never contended with in their youth: Are cellphones a distraction, a safety tool or an aid in modern classrooms?

The directives from governors and state legislatures to limit kids' access to cellphones in class are a new phenomenon, said Kenneth Trump, the president of the National School Safety and Security Services. Local officials have tried to ban smartphones and other electronic devices in classrooms for more than a decade – these debates go as far back as bans on pagers in the 1980s , he said.

The new concern comes on the heels of a call to action by the U.S. Surgeon General directed at policymakers, technology companies and families to implement measures to address the harms of social media on children.

Elizabeth Keren-Kolb, a clinical professor of education technologies and teacher education at the University of Michigan who has written books on cellphone use in school, said concerns about kids' increased exposure to screentime during the COVID-19 pandemic and pandemic-relief funding that allowed schools to buy devices for every student so they didn't need to use their cellphones as much have also played a role.

States weigh school cellphone bans: Atop district policies

Cellphones as learning tools, teaching aids

Keren-Kolb opposes the sweeping bans these governors are proposing.

Each community should be able to decide whether to allow cellphones in classrooms, in her view.

Even though schools purchased devices for kids to have access during the pandemic, students could be left with only cellphones as a technology resource, she said. Many electronic devices that districts purchased in 2020 during the sudden surge in remote learning have become outdated or broken, and pandemic relief funding to replace them will soon disappear.

In low-income communities where students are more likely to own only a smartphone and not a tablet or a laptop, banning devices will only further existing inequities in student achievement, she said. Some students have to complete homework or assignments on cellphones if they don't have laptops. Their schools should have the flexibility to let kids use them as instructional aids and as an in-class resource for academic purposes, she said.

"Cellphones clearly can be distracting in school, and there are studies that support that, but cellphones also have been ways to help schools become more equitable in terms of technology access," she said.

Richard Culatta, CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education, said the renewed calls for smartphone bans in classrooms remind him of the recent bans on OpenAI's ChatGPT too l and other artificial intelligence tools.

And he thinks that's regrettable.

Any technology ban in a schoolhouse represents "an old way of thinking" and "not a good digital culture," Culatta said. Educators should instead utilize smartphones as learning tools and teaching aids to create a good digital culture on their campuses, he said.

"It's generally a terrible idea to ban a tool they’ll need to use in the future. It harms kids when we aren’t teaching them to use technology effectively," Culatta said. "The question I’ll often ask schools is 'Do you think kids are going to use them in the future?' They say, 'Yes.' And so, if we as educators are not teaching them how to use them effectively, who is?"

If kids aren't learning how to use technology effectively in schools or at home they might learn how to use cellphones from advertising or other kids, but the classroom is a more suitable and safe environment, Culatta said.

The International Society for Technology in Education guides schools in teaching kids about digital citizenship, including training on how to use electronic devices and artificial intelligence in smart and safe ways.

Is banning them the solution? Schools don't want kids on cellphones.

A distraction in the classroom or avenue for cyberbullying and social media use

People who support cellphone bans in schools largely say they're a disturbance, they distract student learning and allow kids additional time to be on social media, which they view as either harmful or wasteful.

The U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, said in his directive that policymakers should find ways to limit young people's access to social media.

“Children are exposed to harmful content on social media, ranging from violent and sexual content to bullying and harassment," Murthy wrote in a May 2023 advisory . "And for too many children, social media use is compromising their sleep and valuable in-person time with family and friends."

A recent global UNESCO report suggests that kids can learn better and be better protected from cyberbullying if they don't have smartphones as a distraction . The report also acknowledges that kids need to learn how to use the devices to thrive in the future.

"Students need to learn the risks and opportunities that come with technology, develop critical skills, and understand to live with and without technology," the report reads. "Shielding students from new and innovative technology can put them at a disadvantage."

A safety tool in the age of an uptick in school shootings and threats

District officials weighing how to regulate cellphones in their schools have turned to Trump, the school security expert, for advice. He's been working on this issue since the mass shooting at Columbine High School in 1999 and the September 2001 attacks. 

The debate has come full circle, he said, but he views the broader statewide restrictions on cellphones as political posturing rather than a genuine solution to a problem.

Phones can be a major distraction during a life-threatening event at a school, Trump said. He thinks there are benefits to removing them from classrooms. His concerns include the fact that assailants can hear a phone ding or kids could urge their parents to come on campus when authorities are trying to manage the situation. But it's also understandable that parents would want their kids to have their phones in these instances given the real threats of gun violence, he said.

Parents are split about whether kids should have cellphones on campus and about who should be making those determinations. A recent national survey from the National Parents Union shows that 57% of more than 1,500 parents polled supported a local-level decision on cellphone bans rather than a statewide one. About the same percentage of parents said students should be allowed to use cellphones during breaks from class and during afterschool activities, the survey found.

Do school bans stop kids from using phones?

Even in places where bans go into effect, it's up to principals, teachers and other officials to enforce the rules, Trump said. Many schools are already burdened by the increasing list of policies that policymakers have required them to add to their school safety handbooks following a school shooting or other incident.

Officials and educators already have a hard time enforcing everything on the books, he said.

Keren-Kolb, who has written books on cellphones in schools, agrees.

"While there are laws, they are often haphazard because of (the) lack of enforcement," she said. "It's very difficult to be able to support (them) because there's not exactly funding that comes with it."

Some districts that have banned phones are struggling to enforce the rules , because they say students or parents are refusing to comply. Kids are also finding innovative ways to bring them into classrooms, and educators say they've struggled to police their use.

Contact Kayla Jimenez at [email protected]. Follow her on X at @kaylajjimenez.

Home — Essay Samples — Social Issues — Bullying — An Informative Bullying, Its Causes, Effects And Ways To Tackle

An Informative Bullying, Its Causes, Effects and Ways to Tackle

• Categories: Bullying Physical Abuse Victim

About this sample

Words: 2893 |

15 min read

Published: Jan 28, 2021

Words: 2893 | Pages: 6 | 15 min read

Table of contents

Informative speech outline on bullying, informative speech example on bullying, introduction.

• Definition of bullying
• Overview of the essay's focus on bullying, its causes, and effects

Effects of Bullying on Victims

• Psychological impact on victims
• Increased risk of mental health problems
• Correlation with smoking and alcoholism

Characteristics of Bullies

• Description of typical bully traits
• Correlation between bullying and misconduct
• Influence of bullying on self-destructive behaviors

Peer Dynamics and School Adjustment

• Impact of bullying on school attachment and peer relationships
• Correlation between victimization and academic competence
• School avoidance as a consequence of victimization

Long-Term Effects of Bullying

• How bullying can extend into adolescence and adulthood
• Relationship between bullying and mental health issues
• The impact of bullying on academic performance

Prevention and Intervention

• The need for schools to prioritize bullying prevention
• Developing a support network within school systems
• Empowering bystanders to speak up against bullying

Workplace Bullying

• The prevalence of workplace bullying
• Impact of workplace bullying on employees and businesses
• Strategies for addressing workplace bullying

Cyberbullying

• Definition of cyberbullying and its venues
• The role of anonymity in cyberbullying
• Responsibility of parents in preventing cyberbullying

Bullying in Health Care

• Prevalence of bullying in medical and healthcare professions
• Impact of bullying on patient care and safety
• The need for respect and collaboration in healthcare settings
• Summary of the pervasive effects of bullying
• Call for a society that promotes safety and discourages bullying

Works Cited

• Dake, J. A., Price, J. H., & Telljohann, S. K. (2003). The nature and extent of bullying at school. Journal of School Health, 73(5), 173-180.
• Dorn, L. D. (2005). Adolescent bullying and sleep disturbance. Journal of the American Medical Association, 293(24), 2993-2995.
• Hermann, P. (2007). Life after bullying. Interview with Dan Wilhelm. Childhood Education, 84(3), 173-175.
• Shah, S. (2011). Effects of bullying may add up in kids' grades. The Wall Street Journal.
• Ttofi, M. M., & Farrington, D. P. (2011). Effectiveness of school-based programs to reduce bullying: A systematic and meta-analytic review. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 7(1), 27-56.
• Twemlow, S. W., Fonagy, P., & Sacco, F. C. (2005). A developmental approach to mentalizing communities: II. The peace builders program. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 69(4), 282-304.
• UNESCO. (2017). Behind the numbers: Ending school violence and bullying.
• Vaillancourt, T., McDougall, P., Hymel, S., Krygsman, A., Miller, J., Stiver, K., & Davis, C. (2008). Bullying: Are researchers and children/youth talking about the same thing? International Journal of Behavioral Development, 32(6), 486-495.
• Wolke, D., Woods, S., Stanford, K., & Schulz, H. (2001). Bullying and victimization of primary school children in England and Germany: Prevalence and school factors. British Journal of Psychology, 92(4), 673-696.
• Wong, D. S. (2015). Students' perceptions of the effectiveness of anti-bullying strategies in Hong Kong schools. Educational Studies, 41(2-3), 161-180.

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The False Narrative of Settler Colonialism

The rise of an academic theory and its obsession with Israel

O n October 7 , Hamas killed four times as many Israelis in a single day as had been killed in the previous 15 years of conflict. In the months since, protesters have rallied against Israel’s retaliatory invasion of Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians. But a new tone of excitement and enthusiasm could be heard among pro-Palestinian activists from the moment that news of the attacks arrived, well before the Israeli response began. Celebrations of Hamas’s exploits are familiar sights in Gaza and the West Bank, Cairo and Damascus; this time, they spread to elite college campuses, where Gaza-solidarity encampments became ubiquitous this past spring. Why?

The answer is that, long before October 7, the Palestinian struggle against Israel had become widely understood by academic and progressive activists as the vanguard of a global battle against settler colonialism, a struggle also waged in the United States, Canada, Australia, and other countries created by European settlement. In these circles, Palestine was transformed into a standard reference point for every kind of social wrong, even those that seem to have no connection to the Middle East.

One of the most striking things about the ideology of settler colonialism is the central role played by Israel, which is often paired with the U.S. as the most important example of settler colonialism’s evils. Many Palestinian writers and activists have adopted this terminology. In his 2020 book, The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine , the historian Rashid Khalidi writes that the goal of Zionism was to create a “white European settler colony.” For the Palestinian intellectual Joseph Massad, Israel is a product of “European Jewish Settler-Colonialism,” and the “liberation” referred to in the name of the Palestine Liberation Organization is “liberation from Settler-Colonialism.”

Western activists and academics have leaned heavily on the idea. Opposition to building an oil pipeline under a Sioux reservation was like the Palestinian cause in that it “makes visible the continuum of systems of subjugation and expropriation across liberal democracies and settler-­colonial regimes.” When the city of Toronto evicted a homeless encampment from a park, it was like Palestine because both are examples of “ethnic cleansing” and “colonial ‘domicide,’ making Indigenous people homeless on their homelands.” Health problems among Native Americans can be understood in terms of Palestine, because the “hyper-­visible Palestine case …  provides a unique temporal lens for understanding settler colonial health determinants more broadly.” Pollution, too, can be understood through a Palestinian lens, according to the British organization Friends of the Earth, because Palestine demonstrates that “the world is an unequal place” where “marginalised and vulnerable people bear the brunt of injustice.”

Although Israel fails in obvious ways to fit the model of settler colonialism, it has become the standard reference point because it offers theorists and activists something that the United States does not: a plausible target. It is hard to imagine America or Canada being truly decolonized, with the descendants of the original settlers returning to the countries from which they came and Native peoples reclaiming the land. But armed struggle against Israel has been ongoing since it was founded, and Hamas and its allies still hope to abolish the Jewish state “between the river and the sea.” In the contemporary world, only in Israel can the fight against settler colonialism move from theory to practice.

T he concept of settler colonialism was developed in the 1990s by theorists in Australia, Canada, and the U.S., as a way of linking social evils in these countries today—such as climate change, patriarchy, and economic inequality—to their origin in colonial settlement. In the past decade, settler colonialism has become one of the most important concepts in the academic humanities, the subject of hundreds of books and thousands of papers, as well as college courses on topics such as U.S. history, public health, and gender studies.

Read: The curious rise of settler colonialism and Turtle Island

For the academic field of settler-colonial studies, the settlement process is characterized by European settlers discovering a land that they consider “terra nullius,” the legal property of no one; their insatiable hunger for expansion that fills an entire continent; and the destruction of Indigenous peoples and cultures. This model, drawn from the history of Anglophone colonies such as the U.S. and Australia, is regularly applied to the history of Israel even though it does not include any of these hallmarks.

When modern Zionist settlement in what is now Israel began in the 1880s, Palestine was a province of the Ottoman empire, and after World War I, it was ruled by the British under a mandate from the League of Nations. Far from being “no one’s land,” Jews could settle there only with the permission of an imperial government, and when that permission was withdrawn—­as it fatefully was in 1939, when the British sharply limited Jewish immigration on the eve of the Holocaust—they had no recourse. Far from expanding to fill a continent, as in North America and Australia, the state of Israel today is about the size of New Jersey. The language, culture, and religion of the Arab peoples remain overwhelmingly dominant: 76 years after Israel was founded, it is still the only Jewish country in the region, among 22 Arab countries, from Morocco to Iraq.

Most important, the Jewish state did not erase or replace the people already living in Palestine, though it did displace many of them. Here the comparison between European settlement in North America and Jewish settlement in Israel is especially inapt. In the decades after Europeans arrived in Massachusetts, the Native American population of New England declined from about 140,000 to 10,000, by one estimate . In the decades after 1948, the Arab population of historic Palestine more than quintupled, from about 1.4 million to about 7.4 million. The persistence of the conflict in Israel-Palestine is due precisely to the coexistence of two peoples in the same land—­as opposed to the classic sites of settler colonialism, where European settlers decimated Native peoples.

In the 21st century, the clearest examples of ongoing settler colonialism can probably be found in China. In 2023, the United Nations Human Rights office reported that the Chinese government had compelled nearly 1 million Tibetan children to attend residential schools “aimed at assimilating Tibetan people culturally, religiously and linguistically.” Forcing the next generation of Tibetans to speak Mandarin is part of a long-­term effort to Sinicize the region, which also includes encouraging Han Chinese to settle there and prohibiting public displays of traditional Buddhist faith.

China has mounted a similar campaign against the Uyghur people in the northwestern province of Xinjiang. Since 2017, more than 1 million Uyghur Muslims have been detained in what the Chinese government calls vocational training centers, which other countries describe as detention or reeducation camps. The government is also seeking to bring down Uyghur birth rates through mass sterilization and involuntary birth control.

These campaigns include every element of settler colonialism as defined by academic theorists. They aim to replace an existing people and culture with a new one imported from the imperial metropole, using techniques frequently described as genocidal in the context of North American history. Tibet’s residential schools are a tool of forced assimilation, like the ones established for Native American children in Canada and the United States in the 19th century. And some scholars of settler colonialism have drawn these parallels, acknowledging, in the words of the anthropologist Carole McGranahan, “that an imperial formation is as likely to be Chinese, communist, and of the twentieth or twenty-­first centuries as it is to be English, capitalist, and of the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries.”

Yet Tibet and Xinjiang—­like India’s rule in Kashmir, and the Indonesian occupation of East Timor from 1975 to 1999—­occupy a tiny fraction of the space devoted to Israel-­Palestine on the mental map of settler-colonial studies. Some of the reasons for this are practical. The academic discipline mainly flourishes in English-­speaking countries, and its practitioners usually seem to be monolingual, making it necessary to focus on countries where sources are either written in English or easily available in translation. This rules out any place where a language barrier is heightened by strict government censorship, like China. Just as important, settler-colonial theorists tend to come from the fields of anthropology and sociology rather than history, area studies, and international relations, where they would be exposed to a wider range of examples of past and present conflict.

But the focus on Israel-­Palestine isn’t only a product of the discipline’s limitations. It is doctrinal. Academics and activists find adding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to other causes powerfully energizing, a way to give a local address to a struggle that can otherwise feel all too abstract. The price of collapsing together such different causes, however, is that it inhibits understanding of each individual cause. Any conflict that fails to fit the settler-colonial model must be made to fit.

I srael also fails to fit the model of settler colonialism in another key way: It defies the usual division between foreign colonizers and Indigenous people. In the discourse of settler colonialism, Indigenous peoples aren’t simply those who happen to occupy a territory before Europeans discovered it. Rather, indigeneity is a moral and spiritual status, associated with qualities such as authenticity, selflessness, and wisdom. These values stand as a reproof to settler ways of being, which are insatiably destructive. And the moral contrast between settler and indigene comes to overlap with other binaries—­white and nonwhite, exploiter and exploited, victor and victim.

Until recently, Palestinian leaders preferred to avoid the language of indigeneity, seeing the implicit comparison between themselves and Native Americans as defeatist. In an interview near the end of his life, in 2004, PLO Chair Yasser Arafat declared, “We are not Red Indians.” But today’s activists are more eager to embrace the Indigenous label and the moral valences that go with it, and some theorists have begun to recast Palestinian identity in ecological, spiritual, and aesthetic terms long associated with Native American identity. The American academic Steven Salaita has written that “Palestinian claims to life” are based in having “a culture indivisible from their surroundings, a language of freedom concordant to the beauty of the land.” Jamal Nabulsi of the University of Queensland writes that “Palestinian Indigenous sovereignty is in and of the land. It is grounded in an embodied connection to Palestine and articulated in Palestinian ways of being, knowing, and resisting on and for this land.”

This kind of language points to an aspect of the concept of indigeneity that is often tacitly overlooked in the Native American context: its irrationalism. The idea that different peoples have incommensurable ways of being and knowing, rooted in their relationship to a particular landscape, comes out of German Romantic nationalism. Originating in the early 19th century in the work of philosophers such as Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Johann Gottfried Herder, it eventually degenerated into the blood-­and-­soil nationalism of Nazi ideologues such as Richard Walther Darré, who in 1930 hymned what might be called an embodied connection to Germany: “The German soul, with all its warmness, is rooted in its native landscape and has, in a sense, always grown out of it … Whoever takes the natural landscape away from the German soul, kills it.”

For Darré, this rootedness in the land meant that Germans could never thrive in cities, among the “rootless ways of thinking of the urbanite.” The rootless urbanite par excellence, for Nazi ideology, was of course the Jew. For Salaita, the exaltation of Palestinian indigeneity leads to the very same conclusion about “Zionists,” who usurp the land but can never be vitally rooted in it: “In their ruthless schema, land is neither pleasure nor sustenance. It is a commodity … Having been anointed Jewish, the land ceases to be dynamic. It is an ideological fabrication with fixed characteristics.”

In this way, anti-Zionism converges with older patterns of anti­-Semitic and anti­-Jewish thinking. It is true, of course, that criticism of Israel is not inherently anti-­Semitic. Virtually anything that an Israeli government does is likely to be harshly criticized by many Israeli Jews themselves. But it is also true that anti-­Semitism is not simply a matter of personal prejudice against Jews, existing on an entirely different plane from politics. The term anti­-Semitism was coined in Germany in the late 19th century because the old term, Jew hatred , sounded too instinctive and brutal to describe what was, in fact, a political ideology—­an account of the way the world works and how it should be changed.

Wilhelm Marr, the German writer who popularized the word, complained in his 1879 book, The Victory of Judaism Over Germanism , that “the Jewish spirit and Jewish consciousness have overpowered the world.” That spirit, for Marr, was materialism and selfishness, “profiteering and usury.” Anti-­Semitic political parties in Europe attacked “Semitism” in the same way that socialists attacked capitalism. The saying “Anti-­Semitism is the socialism of fools,” used by the German left at this time, recognized the structural similarity between these rival worldviews.

The identification of Jews with soulless materialism made sense to 19th-century Europeans because it translated one of the oldest doctrines of Christianity into the language of modern politics. The apostle Paul, a Jew who became a follower of Jesus, explained the difference between his old faith and his new one by identifying Judaism with material things (­the circumcision of the flesh, the letter of the law) and Christianity with spiritual things—­the circumcision of the heart, a new law “written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”

Simon Sebag Montefiore: The decolonization narrative is dangerous and false

Today this characterization of Jews as stubborn, heartless, and materialistic is seldom publicly expressed in the language of Christianity, as in the Middle Ages, or in the language of race, as in the late 19th century. But it is quite respectable to say exactly the same thing in the language of settler colonialism. As the historian David Nirenberg has written, “We live in an age in which millions of people are exposed daily to some variant of the argument that the challenges of the world they live in are best explained in terms of ‘Israel,’” except that today, Israel refers not to the Jewish people but to the Jewish state.

When those embracing the ideology of settler colonialism think about political evil, Israel is the example that comes instinctively to hand, just as Jews were for anti-Semitism and Judaism was for Christianity. Perhaps the most troubling reactions to the October 7 attacks were those of college students convinced that the liberation of Palestine is the key to banishing injustice from the world. In November 2023, for instance, Northwestern University’s student newspaper published a letter signed by 65 student organizations—­including the Rainbow Alliance, Ballet Folklórico Northwestern, and All Paws In, which sends volunteers to animal shelters—­defending the use of the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” This phrase looks forward to the disappearance of any form of Jewish state between the Mediterranean and the Jordan, but the student groups denied that this entails “murder and genocide.” Rather, they wrote, “When we say from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free, we imagine a world free of Islamophobia, antisemitism, anti-­Blackness, militarism, occupation and apartheid.”

As a political program, this is nonsensical. How could dismantling Israel bring about the end of militarism in China, Russia, or Iran? How could it lead to the end of anti-Black racism in America, or anti-Muslim prejudice in India? But for the ideology of settler colonialism, actual political conflicts become symbolic battles between light and darkness, and anyone found on the wrong side is a fair target. Young Americans today who celebrate the massacre of Israelis and harass their Jewish peers on college campuses are not ashamed of themselves for the same reason that earlier generations were not ashamed to persecute and kill Jews—because they have been taught that it is an expression of virtue.

This essay is adapted from Adam Kirsch’s new book, On Settler Colonialism: Ideology, Violence, and Justice .

​When you buy a book using a link on this page, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting The Atlantic.

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