Bullying is a common problem in our society and has become a public health emergency. Bullying can appear in many forms. It can be physical, verbal, mental, or cyber. Bullying can be a way for someone’s depression leading to mental illness. Bullying is associated with many negative outcomes including mental health effects, substance abuse, and suicide.

One case of bullying happened in Liberty High School. A student who didn’t want to expose her name shared her experience. She said that in her freshman year, she got bullied for “not letting boys touch her.” She was a Muslim but didn’t wear a hijab, so students assumed that it was okay to touch her. But not wearing the hijab was her personal choice, and it didn’t mean that she was not a good Muslim. When boys started talking and laughing about her, she started to feel uncomfortable and afraid.    

Another student from Liberty High School who also didn’t want to share her name experienced bullying. She was new to the school and didn’t speak English at all. At school boys and girls in her class used to laugh at her accent. In the class, every time she spoke they laughed. She was very shy and embarrassed. This made her almost mute. She stopped raising her hand and participating. When the teacher called her name, she just stayed quiet and almost cried. The teacher didn’t know, but this was because the students were waiting for her to speak so they could laugh at her. 

Bullying happens also through social media. It’s called cyberbullying. All students now have smartphones, and they spend a lot of time on social media like instagram. They post a lot of pictures and videos. And in the school, a lot of times, they post embarrassing pictures or videos of other students. One time, a student took a picture of a Yemeni girl and posted it on Instagram. He thought it was okay, but the girl was very upset because her culture doesn’t allow that. She told him to delete it, but he refused because he thought it was not a big deal. But for the Yemeni girl it was a big deal, and it was against her will. 

It should be known that bullying is a learned behavior, which the child acquires through anti-social behaviors, which is represented by being role models for adults, teachers and the media. Therefore the child must be taught and educated early on good social behaviors, and avoid doing actions that may harm others. Give teachers time to talk to students about bullying, and how to reduce this annoying behavior.  Helping children understand what behaviors may be bullying.  Raise the problem of bullying in public, in all gatherings, and at the school level. Cyber Bullying and cyberbullying are really bad and hurt students more than people can imagine. The school should have some program to teach the students about this important subject.