In our modern society bullying is something most teens experience. With the introduction to technology at such an early age the 21st century teenager does not only have physical bullying to contend with but faces bullying on cyber levels too. Whether its comments on Facebook, messages on AIM, tweets on twitter, texts and even mean emails the children of 2012 are surrounded by dangerous opportunities to belittle and deride fellow friends and class mates.

The problem with bullying is that there is no real way to measure it. Is it being made fun of twice or does it have to be continuous and involve an act of violence? This makes it hard for people to determine whether someone is being bullied or tormented. With ever growing charities and support lines children are able to self-advocate by researching and gaining support from experts. This is a new step in helping to prevent bullying. By having these help lines victims can anonymously ask for help. However, the currant issue we face is getting victims to ask for help. Just the thought that the bully could make life worse for you, hurt you, or hurt someone you love does prevent these sites from being actively used. We now face the challenge of finding a way to make these children feel safe after they have told an adult and to make sure that the situation does not escalate.

By making people feel ashamed of who they are and feel afraid to come to school bullies gain the confidence they need to keep abusing their victims. They accumulate a certain respect from piers who do nothing to stop them and create an unnerving vibe to others around them. They feel invigorated with every attempt to destroy some ones childhood and prosper on diminishing people who are unlike themselves. They are simply self-conscious and afraid so they anoint themselves as “the big dog”. You have to feel a sort of sympathy when dealing with someone of this kind, so afraid of life and so self aware that they need to make others around them feel as they do inside. Bullies have such low self-esteem that they have to steal it from someone else.

A problem is like fire, you leave it and it spreads. The more we ignore bullying the harder it will burn and larger it will grow. Our schools, government and communities need to work together to fight bullying before it gets harder to control. The government needs to give money to research and charities and needs to produce firmer laws that make bullying illegal. Teachers should also be more aware and parents should be monitoring their Children closer to ensure that they are not enveloped in a bullying frenzy. Teens also need to try and prevent bullying by intervening when seeing a fellow classmate being tormented. If all these things happen the burning fire of bullying can slowly be put out.