Being Bullied and Hate Crimes: The Impact of Prevention

Introduction

Many people do not know that the majority of the time, bullying appears to be a “junior” or “apprentice” version of adult hate crimes. Showing that what may seem like harmless teasing at a young age can become a serious crime as that person matures. Since many people do not know the seriousness of bullying and hate crimes, it is crucial that everyone who is unaware should know the truth about the effects that being bullied and hate crimes have on teens and about their prevention.

Being Bullied and Hate Crimes

There are some aspects of bullying and hate crimes that are similar, however, there is also a fine line that separates the two. According to stopbullying.gov, bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. According to fbi.gov, a hate crime is a criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity. There are multiple types of bullying such as physical, verbal, social, and cyber bullying.

Though no matter what type of bullying, bullying behavior is always aggressive towards the person being bullied and consists of an imbalance of power and repetition. Bullies often try to create a power imbalance using aspects like physical strength, embarrassing information, and/or popularity as a means to intimidate. By doing this the bully is able to gain control over others. This leads to repetition or a continuation of the action being done. For an act to be considered bullying, the bullying behavior must happen more than once or have the potential to continue happening. This is how situations that are small grow into bigger problems that must be dealt with.

Harm of Physical Bullying

Physical bullying consists of anything from hitting, kicking, pushing and damaging property to fist fighting, being personally attacked and sexual assault. Bullying constantly occurs in all school scenarios, from kindergarten up to college. Physical bullying is more likely to occur among males than females, though it is not at all rare for females to experience physical bullying. Bullies are often physically stronger than the victims and have friends or associates who condone or even encourage their behavior (Better Help). The victims are therefore usually physically and/or metally weaker than their bully, which can make it easier for the act of bullying to happen and continue. The victims can also be socially marginalized due to their weight, ethnicity, sexual orientation, race, appearance, gender or any other characteristics that make fitting in much harder (Better Help). Damage done by physical bullying can result in both long and short term damage to the person being bullied.

Harm of Verbal Bullying

The next type of bullying is verbal bullying which involves teasing, insults, intimidation, homophobic or racial remarks, and/or verbal abuse. This type of bullying is usually mistaken as ‘just a joke’ or ‘regular teasing.’ This can lead to verbal bullying being overlooked by many adults, including teachers. In contrast to physical bullying, verbal bullying is more frequently experienced by females than by males (Verbal Bullying). Verbal bullying is just as serious as physical bullying and just as damaging or even sometimes more damaging than physical bullying. When bullies have verbal bullying in mind, the goal is to degrade and demean the person being bullied, while making themselves look more powerful and dominant. This type of bullying is a way for teens to bully others with more subtlety and to avoid getting in trouble (Verbal Bullying). Verbal bullying, it does start off as harmless, however, over time it can result in mental effects.

Being Socially Bullying

Another type of bullying is social bullying or covert bullying. It is carried out behind the person’s back and is done to harm a person’s reputation and sometimes causing humiliation. It involves spreading rumors, menacing looks, social exclusion and damage to social reputation (Social Bullying). Social bullying is more likely to happen to females than males and can include leaving someone out on purpose, telling others not to be friends with someone, embarrassing someone in public and other harmful things done to affect the way others see a person (Social Bullying). Social bullying can be used to achieve or maintain social position, gain attention, or alleviate boredom in response to threats, feelings of anger, jealousy, or betrayal.

Defining Cyberbullying

Lastly, bullies take part in cyberbullying by using technologies like smart phones, and software like social media, text messaging and websites. Cyberbullying often consists of harmful texts, images or videos and nasty gossip, rumors and imitation of others(cyberbullying). Many of the photos, messages, or pages don’t get taken down even if it is deleted, which can cause one person to get bullied by multiple people and can cause the resurfacing of past harmful posts or images online (cyberbullying). This type of bullying can also be much easier to commit than other types of bullying since the bully does not need to confront the target and social media is not constantly supervised by adults or teachers(cyberbullying). This is why cyberbullying is particularly damaging; because it can be anonymous, hard to trace and hard to control (cyberbullying).

Defining Hate Crime

In order for any action to be a hate crime, it must first constitute as an offence under criminal law and second, the person must have motivation for committing the crime based on bias. The term “hate” does not always have to be actual hate towards something and the person committing the hate crime does not need to feel rage, anger or general dislike towards the person receiving the action. Hate in this context generally means to be against a person or group with specific characteristics defined by law. Hate crimes can be committed on the basis of negative thoughts/opinions, stereotypical assumptions, or intolerance towards the victim’s perceived or actual race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability. The crime is often violent such as assault, murder, arson, vandalism or threats to sommit such crimes. Though hate crimes can be categorized along with other crimes, there are specific hate crime laws because hate crimes have a larger effect that most crimes due to the fact that hate crimes do not just involve the victim but also involve others like that person.

People apart of the LGBQT community are constantly targeted by bias-motivated crimes also known as hate crimes because of who they are, because of their sexual orientation. In the last two years over 50 people of the LGBTQ community have been killed. The “epidemic of violence against LGBTQ people, specifically transgender women of color is staggering” (HRC). Over seven thousand incidents are reported per year during the past couple of years and crimes directed against transgender individuals have increased significantly (HRC). However, it is not only LGBTQ people who are affected by hate crimes and racially-motivated crimes remain the most common hate crime with almost have of race-based hate crimes targeting african-americans.

Effects of Being Bullied and Hate Crimes

According to the Centers for Disease Control, bullying is a serious threat to our youth today due to the fact that bullying affects 20% of high school students and cyberbullying affects 16% of high school students. Bullying can have both short-term and long-term effects and consequences for the victim and the bully. All teens are affected by bullying in different ways, during and after being bullied and so they have different behaviors and reactions to being bullied. Keep in mind that with relational aggression and cyberbullying on the rise, bullying can last for long periods of time before it is reported to a teacher, parent or any adult by the victim to seek help. The bullied victim can start to reflect anyone or all of the following effects. Social isolation, feelings of shame, sleep disturbance, change in eating habits, low self-esteem, school avoidance, symptoms of anxiety, bedwetting, higher risk of illness, psychosomatic symptoms (physical complaints with no known medical cause), poor school performance and symptoms of depression. With all of these potential effects, it is important that parents and school officials pay attention to what is going on around them and their students because the effects can sometimes be very dangerous to the students' health, both physical and mental. Contrary to one's belief, the bully can also suffer from the effects of their own bullying. Some examples of possible short-term effects of bullies are poor school performance, due to missed days because of suspensions; increased truancy risks, due to getting into multiple bad habits after bullying; difficulty maintaining social relationships, when classmates do not want to associate with a bully; and increased risk of substance abuse, to help forget or feel less bad about bullying others. Some of the long term effects of bullying for the bully that are usually the continuation into adulthood, are risk of spousal or child abuse, risk of anitsocial behavior, substance abuse and less likely to be education of employed.

People victimized by violent hate crimes are more likely to experience more psychological distress than victims of other violent crimes. These victims are more likely to also experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), safety concerns, depression, general sense of fear, hopelessness, anxiety and anger than victims of crimes that are not motivated by bias. Hate crimes can make people of the victim’s community feel as though they are not welcome or fear that they will be treated the same. Due to this many people of the same group start to feel unsafe in their own community. Hate crimes overall can victimize an entire group and decrease feelings of safety and security. Furhtermore, witnessing discrimination towards others of ones own group can lead to psychological distress and lower self-esteem. It is important that people know that over the years, hate crimes have increased so the number of people experiencing these effects are increasing.

Prevention of Bullying and Hate Crimes

There are many ways to stop and prevent bullying from happening in schools. The first thing that everyone: students, teachers and parents, should do is pay attention to what is happening. There may be signs that point to a student being bullied. For example, unexplained injuries, lost or destroyed personal items, changes in eating habits and avoidance of school or social interactions. It sometimes may be hard to find these signs in every student that is being bullied but realizing when a person is able to, can make a big difference in the situation, how long it lasts and the outcome. Adults and students must also remember to never ignore situations, even if it seems like harmless teasing. A conversation should at least be had with the students to make sure it is not serious. Students also have different levels of coping and so what may be okay for one student might not be easy to handle for another. Even if it is a fellow student, if they see something wrong they should try to do something about it. Informing a teacher or the teacher dealing with the situation can help out the person being bullied, even if it’s only a little bit. All schools should help students fully understand bullying and how it affects others. Students can also be taught how to stand up to bullies so that everyone tries to prevent and stop bullying. Children and parents are also able to join organizations like Anti-Bullying Alliance and BeatBullying. Being apart of these types of organizations can allow people to support anti-bullying everywhere and not just in a student’s own school. This can boost the popularity of the organization and persuade more people to join and help out.

Hate crimes can cause pain and injustice in communities that negatively affect our society, also causing fear and tension that affect everyone (Preventing). Schools, families, law enforcement and communities are able to work together to prevent the development of prejudiced attitudes and violent behavior that lead to hate crimes, in children and teens. Prejudice and violence can be reduced by teaching teens appreciation and respect for people with differences and by teaching empathy, conflict resolution, and critical thinking skills (Preventing). By teaching young people that hate or dislike toward people who are different is wrong, the world will be a better place as people will be able to prevent extreme acts of hate in the future. Some schools have already taken action by creating comprehensive anti-hate policies and programs that involve the entire school community (Preventing). To prevent hate crimes, even more school districts should agree to represent anti-hate ideas and encourage students to accept people’s differences and embrace them (Preventing). People can also learn about people with different races, religions, and/or ethnicities as a way to better understand them and possibly realize that just because a person is different, does not mean that they deserve the hate directed towards them.

Getting Help: For Those Being Bullied

Teens are constantly experiencing bullying everywhere and it situations when you usually can not solve them yourself, teens are able to get help. If there has been a crime or someone is at risk of harm, they should call 911 (Stop Bullying). IF someone feels hopeless of is thinking of suicide then they should contant the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK(8255). This number connects to centers that provide counseling and mental health referrals. If there is someone who is acting differently or it is for personal reasons, it is easy to find a local counselor or other mental health services (Stop Bullying). A lot of schools also have in-building counselors that students are able to talk to during school hours, which may be free. If a student realizes another student is being bullied, they should contact the teacher, school counselor, school principal, school superintendent, and or state department of education. The person who is being bullied should also be encouraged to talk to someone about what is happening and should at least tell their parents (Stop Bullying). If bullying is a serious problem in someone school and the school does not adequately address the harassment based on differences then anyone can contact the school superintendent, state department of education, US Department of Education and the US Department of Justice (Stop Bullying).

If you are a victim of a victim of hate crimes or know someone who is a victim of hate crimes then there are some things you can do to get help. You should trust yourself and if you believe you are in danger then you can decide and should call 911 for immediate assistance.In which you can ask for an emergency protective order against the person (Hate). It is also helpful to record what is happening to the victim such as important details and hate language or dialogue for a case against the person committing a hate crime. The victim should also file a police report to get legal help in case the situation is too much to handle alone (Hate). However, if the victim does not want to trust people they do not know they can lean on trusted friends and family. Together with friends and family the victim does not have to figure out what to do by themselves and will have the support of loved ones, that can be helpful after experiencing a hate crime (Hate). They can also reach out to an advocate for more support (Hate). There are local, statewide, nationwide and worldwide groups that support anti-hate ideas or consist of victims of hate crimes who want to help others or share their stories. In which the victim could get appointments for help, courage to stand up to the person committing a hate crime or even get someone to speak on your behave if they’re not comfortable or able to do so they’re selves (Hate).

Statistical Data

“In 2018, 7,120 hate crime incidents were reported, Slightly less than 2017, when 7,175 hate crime incidents were reported” (HRC).

“In 2018, we know that at least 28 trangender people were violently killed. So far in 2019, 22 trangender or gender non-confirming individuals have been killed” (HRC).

Conclusion

Teen years consist of the age when bullying is most common, with almost all teenage students being affected directly or indirectly by bullying. This is an age where young people want more to fit in with their peers, making some students more likely to bully or condone bullying to fit in, while those who don’t fit in stand out more as victims. Though it is less common than bullying, hate crimes are also very impacting on teens and cause students to feel insecure about their differences and about themselves as people which can impact their mental health, both bullying and hate crimes. This research can help people become more aware of what teens everywhere have to deal with and the seriousness of how it impacts them, as well as how to prevent bullying and hate crimes before they happen and what to do after they have happened. With this information, people are more likely to understand how real these problems are and will hopefully work to decrease the amount of bullying and hate crime incidents that go one today.

There are some jobs that deal with bullying or people who are bullied and hate crimes and those people who have those jobs are able to help teens suffering from bullies in their school and hate crimes. The first job is a therapist, who are able to help improve the lives of people by helping to develop better emotional skills and cope with various challenges. So therapists would be able to help victims of bullying or hate crimes feel better about themselves and can get them help to stop the person from being bullied or from being attacked by someone. The next job is an Advocacy coordinator, whose job can consist of maintaining and ensuring projects and programs are well planned. They can work under companies supporting anti-bullying or anti-hate crime ideas in order to help kids in a small community or kids all over the world by preventing or ending bullying and hate crimes. Another job is a Behavioral Analyst, which is a job that allows a person to provide a therapeutic environment for individuals struggling with their behavior. 

Works Cited

1. Better Help. “Bullying: An Overview.” Better Help, www.betterhelp.com/advice/bullying/.
2. Cyberbullying Research Center. “Defining Cyberbullying.” Cyberbullying Research Center, www.cyberbullying.org/defining-cyberbullying.
3. Federal Bureau of Investigation. “Hate Crime.” Federal Bureau of Investigation, www.fbi.gov/investigate/civil-rights/hate-crimes.
4. Hate Crime Help. “Getting Help.” Hate Crime Help, www.hatecrimehelp.com/getting-help.
5. Human Rights Campaign. “Violence Against the Transgender Community in 2022.” Human Rights Campaign, www.hrc.org/resources/violence-against-the-trans-and-gender-non-conforming-community-in-2022/.
6. Preventing Hate Crimes. “Preventing Hate Crimes.” Preventing Hate Crimes, www.preventinghatecrimes.org/preventing-hate-crimes.html.
7. StopBullying.gov. “What Is Bullying?” StopBullying.gov, www.stopbullying.gov/what-is-bullying/index.html.
8. Verbal Bullying. “Verbal Bullying.” Verbal Bullying, www.verbalbullying.com/.