Enforce A No-Cut Policy

Some schools believe that cutting students from a sports team, helps them learn life lessons, when they don’t know it can actually be a bad decision. Cutting kids from a team can leave emotional scars, and believe it or not the ones with the least self-esteem and knowledge of the sport are the ones who would benefit most from continued participation in a sport. There should be a no-cut policy in our school so that each and every child receives equal amount of participation in a sport.

A crucial reason why we should have a no-cut policy is because some think that cutting kids from a sports team teaches them a life lesson. In the “real world” we do have our successes and failures, but they are still kids, all they want is to play a sport. Why do you talk so much about a close middle school community when you are encouraging kids not to participate. The less skilled ones, would take more interest in a sport because they can learn new skills, in contrast with the more skilled, more confident students who would take this opportunity to impress others, and take it for granted rather then seeing it as a chance to learn and grow as an athlete and a student. A situation where this occurs in our very own school, UWCSEA East. In our school, this season was basketball season, and being the popular sport that it is, of course many kids signed up. Unfortunately, not all could make it. Sixty girls and sixty boys signed up, there were three teams each, for boys and girls, A, B and C team. Each team could only allow 12 kids, meaning that in all 120 people that signed up, 72 kids made it and 48 young middle school kids got cut.

Forty-eight kids got cut. Since they have six whole teams, which I’m guessing is meant so that many kids could participate, they still had to cut kids. What about those kids who worked so hard and are are so passionate about the sport. Many will be saying, you did good, try next year, but say if this year was their next year and they didn’t get it, how would you feel if that was you? Out of all the kids that got cut, many of them were talented athletes, which didn’t get their chance to show the coaches what they can bring to a team. In a cruel irony, the children who are cut, as the least skilled and the ones with the least self-confidence, are the children who would benefit most from continued participation in a sport where they can learn such skills as a good work ethic and working cooperatively with a group towards a common goal. Why do we have to cut when we have enough facilities and coaches. We have a huge field and four big sports halls, these only cover a few sports, but still, is there a specific need to cut kids?

In addition, having cuts can leave emotional scars on those who simply get cut. The ones who were so excited to play, only to find out that they can’t. You mentally feel like you aren’t good enough and you never will be. This can definitely decrease one's self-esteem. “On the first day, we were told there would be cuts. After the tryouts, I was selected for the junior varsity team. My friend, Hillary, who was a talented athlete, was not so lucky. Suffering from heat exhaustion, she performed poorly. On the second day of the three-day tryout she got sick to her stomach. I remember going with her to the locker room. She was hurt, humiliated and embarrassed by the tryout process. Sadly, Hillary didn't come back for third day of tryouts and was cut, forever out of the loop, never to return to a team to try out again.” Said Brooke De Lench. Coaches think that in two to three days they can see one’s full abilities. This is completely wrong. Not everyone can play their best all the time. To crack under pressure is normal, we all do it but coaches don’t understand that, they believe that we have to play our best every second of the day. Leaving the tryouts, knowing that you could have done better, is disappointing and that thought keeps ringing in your head, reminding you that you didn’t play your best. Then finding out that you have been cut, breaks you down, and some don’t even continue to practice that sport leisurely because the fun of playing it has vanished and they give up, never to tryout again.

On the other hand, cutting kids from a team can make them work harder to earn their place on the team. It allows them to learn the skill of resilience and teach them how to cope with failure. From the research that I have done, I have found out that around 65% which is more then half of the students in my class believe that a no-cut policy isn’t needed. These kids are the more sportier ones and haven’t dealt with failure. Although, the ones who did agree to enforcing a no-cut policy have experienced what it’s like to be cut from a team. They are the ones who have worked harder then many others to achieve their goal.

It’s true, not all bad things come out of having cuts, but there are many good things that come out of having a no-cut policy. Selection for teams or representative roles would be based on demonstrated ability. Not-cutting would ensure that the lesser skilled would have equal access to learning opportunities. I’m suggesting that if we introduce this idea into our sports program, we can prevent emotional scars, loss of self-confidence and most importantly ensure that every single child gets equal participation in a sport of their choice.


Bibliography:

"Why a No-Cut Policy for Middle School Teams Is a Good Idea." Why a No-Cut Policy for Middle School Teams Is a Good Idea. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2016.

"Fighting For Change in a Local Soccer Club: A Letter to the Club's President About the Effect of Cutting." Fighting For Change in a Local Soccer Club: A Letter to the Club's President About the Effect of Cutting. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.

"Reasons For and Against Implementing a No-cut Policy in a Public School Co-Curricular Program." Reasons For and Against Implementing a No-cut Policy in a Public School Co-Curricular Program. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.

"Why a No-Cut Policy for Middle School Teams Is a Good Idea." Why a No-Cut Policy for Middle School Teams Is a Good Idea. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.

Why running should be more of a focus amongst schools.

While some people think swimming has more of a fitness benefit, other popular sports, including running can help build stronger muscles and bones and can help maintain a healthy lifestyle. Schools should put more attention on a variety of sports, as putting more of a focus on one sport could be bias and partial. Not only can running improve health and body functions, it can actually increase one’s level of self esteem and confidence, which can impact school work and outside of school. This paper will argue why running should be focused on and why the increasing level of the attention to swimming should be discontinued in favour of other measures.

Firstly, running can have a big impact on one’s health. Research shows that running can raise your levels of good cholesterol, while also helping you increase lung function and use. running can also boost your immune system and lower your risk of developing blood clots. For women, running can actually help lower your risk of breast cancer. It can also reduce the risk of having a stroke and reduces your chance of developing tension headaches. According to active.com, many doctors today recommend running for people who are in the early stages of diabetes, high blood pressure, and osteoporosis, and it is proven to help reduce the risk of having a heart attack. Therefore, running can increase and maintain your health and fitness and should have more of a focus at school.

Not all benefits of running are physical, running can provide a noticeable boost to your self esteem and confidence. You can give yourself a greater sense of empowerment, which can increase your level of happiness. Research shows that running can also relieve stress. Stress can cause a number of health and mood problems and could possibly lead to depression. As running can relieve stress and increase levels of self esteem and confidence, it will also help school/home work. Therefore running should be focused on children at his age, since with all the homework that is given, running can prevent children from panic and stress from school work.

While some people think that swimming has a better health benefit, swimming can actually have a negative impact to your body and health. In a chlorinated pool, the chlorine could provoke Respiratory problems, such as asthma. According to a 2002 paper published in the "European Respiratory Journal." Chlorine can also dry out your skin and create a green hue on your hair if you don't rinse it off. There's also a small risk of contracting a virus or infection from a public pool, particularly if it's not properly chlorinated. Therefore, the sports department should consider focusing more on running, simply because it has been proven by livestrong.com that it is important to alternate between these sports to maintain health and weight loss.

Therefore, I truly believe that the increasing level of attention on swimming should be discontinued throughout schools. This is because other popular sports, such as running can have a positive impact to your body and health. Even though, swimming can have a big health and body impact, swimming can also have negative effects to one’s health. Therefore, running, and other sports that have a positive impact, should definitely should have a big focus amongst most, yet all schools.

Having The Freedom To Choose The Sports Done in P.E.

I take the position that middle school students should be allowed to choose the sports we do in P.E. While kids get the required amount of physical exercise with the variety of sports given to us, middle school students are not enjoying P.E. classes because of the sports they don’t enjoy or are struggling in. The UWCSEA P.E. department should allow the freedom for middle school students to choose their own sports units in the P.E curriculum, because firstly, middle school students are starting to not enjoy P.E classes, and are pushing themselves to do things they don’t want to. Secondly, students’ self esteem is becoming lower because of how uncomfortable they feel when they’re doing the sports they’re not good at.

One critical reason middle school students should be allowed to choose their P.E curriculum is because students are starting to not enjoy P.E classes, and P.E classes are meant to be fun. Penelope Trunk, author of the article “Forced Gym Hates Exercise”, says: “Kids who don’t have any gym yearn for exercise during the day and they generally know what they like, team sports or individual sports, rigorous or methodical... Kids who are forced to do a certain type of exercise generally dislike exercise in the same way that kids who are forced to learn a certain way that’s not appropriate to them start to hate learning.” (Trunk, 2013). This is important to notice because that quote summarizes what I feel like in P.E. class. I don’t usually like the way we are being forced to learn the sports that we don’t take any sort of interest in, and I find myself become quite tense. I think the author’s intention was to tell P.E. coaches and parents that kids that have to follow the system of P.E. units get tired of doing forced sports. A study conducted by the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF) interviewed 1,500 kids and found that over half (51 percent) of girls are “put off physical activity by their experiences of school sport and P.E. lessons.” (Alamy, 2012). This is significant because 51 percent is a lot of girls that don’t like sports just because of their experiences, which is saddening because kids should be able to enjoy sports without any obstacles in the way.

Another crucial reason middle school students should have the right to pick the sports they do in the P.E. curriculum is because kids’ self esteem is decreasing because of how unconfident kids are feeling when doing sports they’re not good at or not fond of. I have personal experience. I really find myself engaged in some sports that we do, such as basketball or badminton. They are really fun, interesting sports which I wouldn’t mind doing in P.E. classes. I feel I strive in these sports and really like them. However, I feel that P.E. units I have such as touch rugby and volleyball are really challenging for my abilities, and I dread P.E. and feel uncomfortable when attempting to do the sports. Furthermore, I know some people like my classmate Piper, that really like touch rugby and volleyball, and some people that despise basketball and badminton. This is important to notice because I feel this can relate to everyone, even outside of the P.E. subject. You can be really talented at humanities, but struggle in maths. It’s exactly the same for P.E. units. Also, Sarah Harris, contributor to the Mail Online, found a research at that was conducted at the University of Bedfordshire in the UK. They found that almost half of middle school teachers (42 per cent) say that their students don’t enjoy PE lessons, and that thirty-nine per cent of children across the UK have a negative attitude towards being physically active by the age of 16, according to a survey of 400 middle school teachers. This shows that many middle school students’ interest in P.E. is decreasing, because it says that by the age of 16, the children have lost their attention towards P.E. At this age, children are going through adolescence and while we’re going through this transition, we start to make many decisions that usually stick through to the end of adolescence. P.E. is a subject in school that shouldn’t be ignored, and is crucial to our health, but with people losing interest in it, it’s not gonna benefit their mental health (e.g. feeling better about your body) if children are not interested at such a young age.

I do agree that their is no need to change the system of the current P.E. units. In the survey I conducted within my mentor class, most if not all the respondents generally said they didn’t mind the P.E. sports we had in school, and 12.5% of the peers said no to changing the sports curriculum. The P.E. units we’ve been having have been quite successful throughout many years and there have been no complaints. Also, I do understand how painful organizing everyone into these sports would be, let alone organizing middle school students into different P.E. classes. But don’t we want all kids to be comfortable, confident and contented when they’re playing sports? Isn’t that what sports are meant to be doing? Offering this opportunity to select what sports we can do would help achieve this goal.

Middle school students should be able to have the rights to choose the sports they want to do. I take the position that while middle school students stay fairly fit with the P.E. units given to us, we are having to follow the system of sports that some kids aren’t eager to do. The UWCSEA P.E. department should provide the rights for middle school students to choose their own sports units in the curriculum.

I do understand that it’s gonna be very chaotic to organize the sports for 620 students. Also, most kids still like the P.E. units. However, there are kids still struggling out there. I’m proposing an idea which can help solve this issue. We can treat P.E. class as a health society; kids who are keen athletes can have the opportunity to sign up for hardcore sports, and other kids who are less eager to do tough sports can choose ones they want to do so they feel better about themselves.

Looking Further Than Disabilities

Do you like the idea of diversity? I say that our school welcomes differences in strongly and with a respective manner. But I think that we should enlarge on the idea of diversity and welcome in new issues. I say that we have to expand on the topic of disabilities- or different abilities. We have focused a bit on it in mentor time but we have to educate people on this topic. In this essay it says why disabilities says what the lack of understanding can do, and how we can fix this problem.

I take the position that disabled people should be guaranteed the same rights and privileges as everyone else. We must look further than just appearance and consider their personalities and feelings. We must educate, respect, and support them.

My first reason is that people often treat disabled people in rude or un-mannered ways, causing lack in self esteem and confidence. Disabled people are often treated as a different species, many people have rude attitudes and behaviors towards them. Hardeep Aiden, from the opinium says “Two thirds (67%) of the public feel uncomfortable talking to disabled people.” (May, 2015) This means that we have been proven to produce a negative effect on disabled people. Awkwardness effects disabled people causing their self confidence to drop. What if you were always treated in rude or disrespectful manners? How would that make you feel? Some cases can get worse, and disabled people put even more doubt on themselves. Tom Shakespeare says “some of them feel profoundly depressed and upset.” (June, 2014) With this negative effect on disabled people it can lead to some horrible thinking of themselves. With personal experience, I say that everyone should think of each other's feelings. By only having a mindset that is limited to certain people, it can lead to other problems later in life. I believe that you should always encourage everyone in the same way, by moving past one barrier you can push through negative thinking and actions towards others.

My second reason is that schools should take time to educate everyone on this topic so everyone is more understanding of each other. In all of the schools I have been in, this topic has never been brought up once in class- and I have been to 5 different schools. Andrea McCarthy says “Much of the discomfort people feel about disability may stem from a lack of understanding.” This means that the negative mindset might be coming from the lack of knowledge on this topic which says a lot. People could not know that they are being rude, and maybe hurt someone's feelings which lowers confidence. It’s like a chain, if somebody doesn’t understand it can cause other problems and people won’t learn from their mistakes. Courtney Long says “Our research shows that both the general public and disabled people believe that more everyday interactions and greater public education about disability will increase understanding and acceptance of disabled people.” (December, 2015) This means we have to take time to educate and interact with the public to create a difference.

My third reason is that we must push past the barrier of appearance. I can connect deeply to this cause I have faced many struggles of appearance. I often try not to interact and most of the time hide or cover my “hand” but I realised all of us have to push past that thinking and all that matters in personality. We are all human, we all have the same rights, we must respect each other in that way. Scott Rains, a researcher of the opinium says “People don’t make an effort to get to know the people and judge them by their looks and appearance.” This means that we have to think of what's inside not outside. Often people are use to judging everybody, and that is natural but it can be stopped. Have you ever been stared at? Constantly having the feeling that someone is talking behind your back? Not a lot of people face this as much disabled people have. I say that we should think of everybody before you make assumptions of personality by just looking at their appearance. Dylan Redd says “People are not accepting to others that are not like them and need to be more open to people.” This means that people won’t accept diversity if it’s different to them, I say we have to teach people how to accept people even if they are different. I know it can be a struggle sometimes, but if we look on the inside of a person we can change our lifestyle so that we all support and respect on another.

Wrapping it up, I say that we have to have a clean palette and open our minds a bit more. I understand that it can be difficult to accept something that is different from yourself, but on the inside it is all the same. I conclude saying that all we need is a education on this topic to look further. I propose that our school should make a mentor time unit focusing on diversity in general including this topic in it. In school now we only have some slivers of diversity but for learning to expand it needs more types of diversity and it should definitely include this topic. Scott Rains says “ Research shows that public education could help tackle the discrimination and stigma associated with disability.” I think you should consider how we can tackle this problem, and give new learning for everyone.

Bibliography:


"This Short Film About A Boy And His Dog Is Winning Every Award. Watch It And You'll Know Why." Wimp.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.



"A Point of View: Happiness and Disability - BBC News." BBC News. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.



"No Clear Data on Disability Situation in Singapore, Healthcare in Singapore News, Health News, AsiaOne YourHealth." No Clear Data on Disability Situation in Singapore, Healthcare in Singapore News, Health News, AsiaOne YourHealth. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.


"E-Bility DisABILITY Information Resources." Articles: Disability Articles, Personal Stories, Accessible Travel and Disability Service Reports. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

"Articles." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 21 Dec. 2015. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

More Sporting Opportunities for the Youth

I feel the same as you that during sporting events teens can loose self esteem and possibly injure themselves but one might argue that more sporting events and opportunities should be available to kids around the world because it gives Teens across the world a chance to achieve sporting greatness, sports events can help bond friendships and a player can gain confidence from participating in sporting events.

While Sports competitions can damage teenagers self esteem and possibly injure them more sporting opportunities and events should be available to teens because A player can gain confidence from participating in competitive sporting events, Teenagers across the globe look to achieve athletic or sporting greatness and competitions can also help bond teams and friendships within the team.

Sporting events are only available for the top athletes in certain sporting clubs. Sporting committees and owners of Youth sport teams should create competitions to help less skillful players develop Teamwork, Dealing with defeat and skills that are needed to make a good teammate not the best player.

Firstly, Teenagers across the globe look to achieve athletic or sporting greatness. Giving Teens more sporting events to participate in will increase the chance of coaches scouting them. They will also train more often which will help them increase their skill level. A article By an unknown source on the website www.topuniversities.com says “By participating in a competition organised by a company, university or other organization, you have a new opportunity to show your talent and apply your skills. In turn, the rewards of student competitions, whether tangible or otherwise, can help you achieve your educational and professional goals. You might win an internship that leads to the job of your dreams, some money that would help you buy course books, or even help to start your own business.” This is really important because it shows how people with experience and practice can achieve greatness in an area of interest. Although this is in a school perspective this shows that participating in competitions can help develop someone's skills as well as show them off which can really help outside scouts to pick players especially if they have experience.

Another reason is that competitions can also help bond teams and friendships within the team. This can help the team play better as they will also feel a lot more comfortable around each other. An article by Cherie Burbach from http://friendship.about.com/ says “If you're looking for friends, joining a sports team is a great way to connect with people. There are several reasons for this. First, you and your team are all working together and playing by the same set of rules. You need to trust each other (will he make the play, will she have my back when I miss) and as you get to know one another you play off each other's strengths.” This is saying how being in a sports team can help build trust with friends/team mates as well learn that they will always have your back.

Lastly, A player can gain confidence from participating in competitive sporting events.An article from Richard Bailey says “Over the years that followed my "discovery" of running, my self-confidence grew, and feeding off the accomplishments I achieved in sports - setting new personal bests, winning a little local race, surviving the setbacks of injuries and marathons gone wrong - I discovered a capacity within myself that I never knew I had. I wasn't just physically stronger than I expected, I thought of myself as a different person, as someone with more potential, broader horizons, bigger possibilities. I saw that I could push myself and take risks, not just in sports, but elsewhere, too. The competition in sports, as in life, was not with someone else, it was with myself. To "compete" was to discover my own potential to do better, to hold my own self to a higher standard, to expect more of myself--and deliver” This shows how from years of running he built up his self esteem and this helped him in places outside of sports and helped him push himself, take risks until he reached his full potential.

Owners of Youth sports teams and sports committees should take immediate action to include the less skillful player and offer more opportunities to help get players recognised to hopefully help them pursue their dream sometime. Opening more youth academies and more local and international sporting events for teams to bond and for young talents to be recognised in the community.

"Do Sports and Other Physical Activities Build Self-Esteem?" Psychology Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2016.

"3 Tips for Making Friends Through Sports." About.com Dating & Relationships. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2016.

"Six Reasons to Participate in Student Competitions." Top Universities. N.p., 03 Oct. 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2016.

Higher Sporting Opportunities For Kids For the Future

Coaches may not know or rather even realise that kids sometimes feel pressured or don’t get enough opportunities to go professional or showcase their talent because they think that their system is really good.And it is good most coaches have a great system but there are things that they should do more like giving kids more opportunities and chances to also meet new people so they get used to it and also will help them in the future.

In some cases sports could end up bad as it could lower confidence,ruin self esteem and possibly injure themselves. However, they will never get chances or be able to become better or more confident if they aren’t given opportunities which is why I argue that there should be more sporting events organised to kids.

An important reason why kids should get opportunities is because, It is just another thing to have fun in and not only that but also when kids grow up if they are good and studies and sports, they could have 2 things they might do just incase one may not work out.

“We certainly encourage our children to read, write, and learn math.We don't think twice about making them go to school every single morning. Yet when it comes to sports (that can also be very valuable to their development) we shy away from one practice a week.” From the article, 10 Reasons Kids Should Play Sports by Shari Medini. Shari Medini is trying to convey that the fact that, sports are equally important and useful as math, reading or other intellectual subjects like that. She is trying to say that sports will help kids out a lot when they grow up possibly as much as studies would. It helps develop the child in sports and also mentally for many other things.I do agree that studies is really important as it has so many different aspects and so many highly opportunities for people but Sports also provide highly level benefits for kids for the present and the future. As kids they have a lot of fun and get better at it so it can help them meet new people and interact and as well as help them for future by giving them another path.For example if teens or anyone is good at intellectual subjects but also sports and for some reason one may not work out they have a fall back and a good one.Something they enjoy.And although not all kids like do sports which I agree with and not all of the have to, however the kids that do really enjoy it and kids who don’t should maybe give it a try.

Another important aspect to sporting events and opportunities is that it helps bond kids with others and also helps team building which will help people a lot in many circumstances.

People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defences, or the problems of modern society. Vince Lombardi, American Football Coach from the article

‘Psychological and Social Benefits of Playing True Sport’. Vince Lombardi is trying to make people realise or rather even convey that sports that involve teams will only will win if players play as a team.Which is why I stated the point earlier that helps bonds by team building and meeting new friends but also helps players learn more about being in a team.And he is trying to say that essentially a win will only come if players play together not as a bunch on individuals put into a game and are called a “team”.It is about the fact that they understand each other and know each other and play as one.I agree very well with this as it is obvious although there are players with great individual talents out there, and can showcase it eventually if it is a team sport it comes down to everyone together.And I also sort of agree that yes there will be times individuals will spark and try out things which is good and helps confidence but however it is a lot about the team and how a player can also contribute to the team's development and not just his. 

Another real life example is that I was at a football tournament and we would have presentations and other things like that to prepare mentally and tactically as well as physically for the game, and we would always reinforce the fact that it is about “surrendering the me for the we”, It really helps players and it definitely helped us always know that it is how we do as a team.So sports opportunities and competitions are good for team building and meeting newer people and its good for the present and future.

If kids get more opportunities they will learn more about physical activities which is very good and also academic success

Physical activity is the most obvious benefit of sports participation. Children often spend too much time watching television or playing video games. However, sports practices and games provide an opportunity for exercise that can help keep kids in shape and healthy, from the article why should kids play sports, by Amanda Davis. Amanda Davis is trying to say that kids should really take opportunities to join a club or start a sport and maybe go to games to learn and then play or do the sport. It will help them stay fit and help them be healthy which is good for the long run, in the future.It keep children fit to also be ahead of people and it will really come in help in the sport they are doing even when they grow up.I think it is very important to stay fit and active as I also do sports and all my friends and it really helps keeps kids and players more healthy and will also help them in other things people do, not just sports.Another good quote, It is no surprise that children who participate in athletics excel in academics as well. They can apply the same principles of dedication and hard work learned through sports participation to their studies. According to an article published on the website America, playing on a high school sports team increases a young woman 's chances of graduating from college by 41 percent, from the same article and by Amanda Davis. She is trying to convey that the amount of hard work and dedication and how much they try in a game or in sports helps keep that mentality for other things like academics and it will help boost academics as the proof given because people have the effort now to push themselves and use the same mentality.I think that it is very good and I do agree that because they love sports people might put effort there, however I argue that they have put in effort in sports and they know how it feels so if they could focus and also use it in other activities it could really help. And also it helps them feel healthier and better which is good for a other activities or rather all activities.

It really does matter when it comes to taking opportunities in sports. It is important to take them and make the best of them earlier as it will help in the long run.And I agree sometimes people don’t want kids to join sports too early however I argue that maybe parents should just ask them about it or if they like to do sports just put them in the first chance they get. Hence, to conclude Sports opportunities should be more frequent to kids, maybe by just adding a sports day, or maybe a few, also maybe just other tournaments to engage them as it will give positive outcomes.

The Psychology Of The Common Bully

As we grow up-and-and start getting older we often start facing new problems and issues. Bullying and dealing with bullying is one of them. Being a middle school student myself, I have dealt with bullying; both as a victim and as a bystander. Why does bullying occur? Have you ever been bullied? Bullying is a very complicated issue because, in our increasingly interconnected and diverse world, we come across varied thinking and opinions. Lines of reasoning, rules, and boundaries are changed, pushed and expanded. The line between what is considered acceptable and what isn’t is very much blurred and people are doing unethical things which are considered alright by themselves and others. Schools, children, and people should reconsider the boundaries of what is tolerable and what isn’t and enforce them. People who step over the line what is considered acceptable should be punished, and they are made to understand why bullying is wrong and helped. The argument that the bully is doing something wrong and should only be punished and that only the victim is negatively affected is misguided because both victim and tormentor are negatively affected psychologically, sociologically and physiologically. Bullying is like a double edged blade. Swinging it cuts both the victim and the tormentor. This paper will take one through the mind of the tormentor, the psychology behind their thinking, why it may be misguided and why the antagonizer and the victim need to be helped.

Firstly let’s take a look at the concept of dominance and power. Bullies often threaten others and try to control them. Why one might ask. Skeptics might argue that bullies have low self-esteem and that they bully to improve their self-esteem. Nevertheless, this is a misguided argument because it is based on a myth. Bullies actually often have huge egos and think very highly of themselves. With this inflated sense of self-importance, they try to be powerful through bullying. Catherine Bradshaw, a developmental psychologist who studies bullying says “It provides these kids with a sense of power,”.(Bradshaw,2010) Consequently, this leads to a vicious cycle being created where people are harassed and despotism so that their tormentors gain control over them and gain more influence. This boosts their self-importance even more and they try to control and antagonize more and more people. Jaana Juvonen a development psychologist and much sought out authority on bullying states, “The bigger, stronger kids create a social hierarchy and appoint themselves the leaders. The bullies are clearly in charge, gaining power and status that translates to a big time ego boost” (Jouven,2012) Furthermore, more people start wanting to join that that level of this social hierarchy to reap the so-called “benefits”.The focus intensifies on weaker people who are not so sure of themselves and lack self-esteem and confidence

Critics may argue that based on the actions and behaviors of the bullies, it is the victim that suffer and not the bullies. It is indeed true that victims often face many negative effects. Victims are taunted, the bully playing on the victims insecurities. This results in the victim having low self-esteem and a wounded self-concept. Dr. Mark Dombeck, a Ph.D. in Philosophy who studies philosophy states "Being bullied teaches you that you are undesirable, that you are not safe in the world, and (when it is dished out by forces that are physically superior to yourself) that you are relatively powerless to defend yourself." (Dombeck,2007)Students grow increasingly doubtful of your own talents and skill. Confidence is often lost and this can result in faltering more easily under hard times. While this may be true nevertheless bullies are also on the receiving end of the negative effects of the whole process of bullying. They are in a sense in the same boat as the victims later on in life, The vicious cycle of gaining more and more power for the bully does not end there. Bullies try to rule over people through violence and threats. In a study where boys from Grade six to Grade nine, bullies were found to be four times more likely to be convicted of a crime than other people. 60% of the bullies had committed at least one crime and 35% had committed three or more -Olweus, D. (1992).Through these statistics, it can be concluded how bullies often have higher chances of committing crimes in later years, a way they try to have a sense of power and control. Bullies often continue to try to be in control and have a sense of dominance. They can sometimes, though not always resort to violence and crime to try to control people through things such as fear.

Secondly, let’s take a look at popularity and being well known. People tend to bully to become more well known or be popular amongst kids. This might be surprising and many may argue that bullies are often scorned by others and are considered unpopular. I challenge this as it is actually a flawed argument. We keep hearing these stories in the news about how a plane has crashed in a certain place and we are many people are actually scared of their next flight. However, these are just a small minority. We don’t hear anything about the thousands of planes that safely take off and land every day. Humans are more attracted to interesting news which is often negative news. As bullying statistics.org states "The fact that one gets more social recognition for negative behaviors than for positive ones can also contribute to reasons why people bully." From this piece of evidence and the self-importance explored in the last paragraphs, we can conclude that bullies want to increase their sense of importance and want to be known to more and more people and get a wider audience to see them. So, they often pick on people who are considered nerdy or have low self-esteem and are considered popular and “cool” by many students. People with low self-esteem are labeled in such a way that they are considered uncool and bullying them does not matter because the victims do not matter. A study was conducted by Jaana Jouven.More than 2000 grade 6 students were taken where bullies were asked to be identified and victims were to be identified. Then teachers and students were asked who were the most popular students and who were the least popular. By far the bullies were the most popular and the victims were unpopular.This evidence makes it clear that students, idolize and in some sense almost hero worship bullies who make fun of unpopular kids who are sometimes scorned instead of helped.(Jouven, 2012)

It seems once again as though it is the victim who bears all the burden and negative effects while the bullies don’t. Critics might say that based on my previous point, the bullies tend to be the popular ones, with the support from the crowd and against the-the victims have no support. They are seen as uncool, nerds and geeks and are scorned. They take the constant taunting of the bullies and the bullies label them under titles such as teachers pet, nerd or if they are different they are titled as things like gay or disabled.Often victims of bullying suffer from problems such as anxiety, panic attacks, and depression. Some extreme cases can be seen in the example of Amanda Todd who committed suicide after cyber and physical bullying(as well as other reasons). A study conducted by the Duke University Medical Center took 1420 children, out of which 21.5 % were victims and 5%were bullies. The rest were bystanders and had nothing to do with bullying. (Copeland,2013)Victims had 4 times more chance of having anxiety issues and 5 times the chance of depression. This research and statistics give us proof that the problem being faced by victims is very real and them being scorned and not receiving support is one of the reasons these problems occur. Victims clearly showing signs of depressions and anxiety means that they do not get any help what so ever. This can mean that either students are considering bullying acceptable or they are mocked by the public for being labeled as teachers pet. This is the work of the manipulative bully who turns people against victims and makes the bullying humane and reasonable. This is clearly a concern that this is being allowed and boundaries of what is acceptable should re-made and enforced. The scene where the bully is the most popular and well known while the victim is scorned might be seen as an idealistic situation for the bullies, but this is far from the truth. Bullies too often suffer from anxiety, depression and substance abuse in adulthood. After being considered popular and having inflated ego’s, when they get to adulthood and the “real world” they are severely let down. They are not prepared to be working under people and often times they find that they can’t dominate and rule anymore. Having bosses and people that are above them is does not always go down well with their sense of self-importance. Bullying in one's past can be one of the many factors people might lose jobs. Eyes on bullying, an organization that raises awareness about bullying and it’s ill effects states “Aggression, Antisocial behavior, Difficulty controlling their emotions, Convictions for drunk driving, Depression, Suicides are characteristics found in adult bullies”

Equally important is this idea of shame and self-esteem as well as their difference. Earlier I had said that the idea of bullies having low self-esteem was largely a myth. While that may be true, bullies are prone to shame. Feeling shame means that you feel disgrace, inadequate or flawed about something. However having low self-esteem means that you do not believe in yourself and you feel bad about yourself and do not like yourself. Bullies may have high self-esteems meaning and largely believe that the are amazing but they try to hide any flaws, avoid any shame. They often try to hide their own flaws by bringing out others inadequacies and flaws. "Their mean behavior toward others keeps their self-esteem high because it takes their own and others' attention away from the parts of themselves about which they are ashamed.”-Dr.Maria C Lamia Bullies.(Lamia, 2012) Bullies often pick targets that either have flaws that the bullies can exploit to draw attention away from their own flaws or they have talents where the bullies have flaws. As Dr. Ronald E Riggio states “...Bullies often target persons who are particularly skilled or competent, viewing them as competition, and compensating for their own weaknesses.” (Riggo, 2015)Bullies label these victims as nerds or geeks and scorn them with support from the general crowd and pull out their flaws to shame them.

In the same fashions as above paragraphs, there is a price to pay with bullying for this reason. Maria C Lamia, a Ph.D. psychologist states that “ They are afraid their failures or shortcomings will be exposed.” (Lamia, 2012)They attempt to hide their failures.They always worried about these failures and shortcomings and them being exposed and that can cause stress and anxiety. A study that William Copeland, a researcher at the Duke University Medical Center took 2000 kids; a mix of bullies, victims, and bystander. Bullies had 15 times the likelihood of developing panic disorder and displaying symptoms of anxiety. (Copeland, 2103)Also, one cannot improve on one's flaws without acknowledging them and attempting to solve them. The problem with bullying to hide your flaws and ignore them leads to not fixing these flaws and having them permanently. I used to be terrible at art and would ignore the subject stating that I did not care about it. However, one year I tried to put effort into my work and I started improving slowly. I eventually managed to get a gratifying grade. The fact that before I did not bother with my flaw in art and when I did I started improving and getting better grades means that actually accepting your flaws and working on them are better in the long run as you actually improve on them and they are no longer considered flaws by you or others.

In conclusion, bullying occurs because of multiple reasons. The sense of self-importance and ego, the lust to be well known and being shame-prone. Schools and kids should reconsider the boundaries of what is acceptable and act within them. If they see anyone stepping over these boundaries and bullying others they should act and stop the bullying and help the victim as well as the bully. Most people believe that the victims are the only ones that need help and the bullies should be completely punished and not helped at all. They may state that the effects on the victim and the reasons bullies bully are terrible enough that the bully should not receive any help whatsoever. This is flawed and misguided because the process of bullying that occurs now as it harms and hurts victims, bullies, and even bystanders at times. "By far, being a bully and a victim meant having the worst long-term outcomes" sums William Copeland(Copeland,2013)The whole phenomena is full of negative psychological, physiological and even sociological impacts. It is everyone's duty to ensure that such a phenomena does not come to be and both victims and bullies receive support to stop the ill effects which can later impact their adult lives drastically.

Bibliography:
"Being Bullied Can Make Kids Stronger." Motherlode Being Bullied Can Make Kids Stronger Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2016.

"Do Bullies Really Have Low Self-esteem?" Psychology Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.

"Eyes on Bullying." Eyes on Bullying. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2016.

"The Long Term Effects Of Bullying." Mental Help The Long-Term Effects of Bullying Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2016.

Mail Online, David Derbyshire for. "Why It's Not Always Bad to Be Bullied: Learning to Fight Back Helps Children Mature, Says Study."Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2016.

Pappas, By Stephanie. "The Pain of Bullying Lasts into Adulthood."LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 20 Feb. 2013. Web. 11 Mar. 2016.

"Psychologist's Studies Make Sense of Bullying." UCLA Newsroom. Judy Lin, 3 May 2012. Web. 9 Mar. 2016.

"Why People Bully Archives - Bullying Statistics." Bullying Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2016. "Why Me?" Why Me? N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.

Social Media Causing Insecurities in Body Image

We’ve all known that feeling when you see someone on Instagram with that gorgeous new handbag or that makeup someone is wearing. You want it. You aspire to be like them, and that's fine, until you realise that you can’t be like them and that’s where the problem begins. Social media was designed so that you could see what everyone is doing every second of the day. But do we really need to know what everyone is doing every second of the day? If you think about it that way it sounds just that bit creepier.

Some people might argue that social media can be good helping to create connections, keep in contact and motivate you to be better and more like the people you see on social media. Whether or not teenagers should use social media is a complicated issue because although there are many benefits of social media such as keeping in contact with people, sharing job opportunities and resources. As well as helping find criminals, it can also raise money and awareness. But this argument is misguided because the average teenager doesn’t actually need to do any of this. What tends to happen is teenagers end up wasting time and using social media for things that aren’t so good. If social media was used responsibly these problems wouldn’t come up so much. The actual topic that should be discussed is that social media really affects the way teenagers think of themselves. Social Media can cause depression, anxiety and self esteem issues such as bullying as well as body image problems. This promotes teenagers to do unhealthy things to themselves in order to appear ‘ideal’ to society. To much social media can be bad for teenagers and people should promote less time spent using social media. Except when teens are using social media to help them stay in touch or if it is keeping them from doing other harmful things.There are many benefits to using social media however social media can be bad especially for teenagers who are vulnerable to depression and self esteem issues.

Social media can cause insecurity in teenagers. Now of days teenagers are using far too much social media such as Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook. I’m not saying that they are bad but that we should be cautious of how much we use them and what we use them for. Social media leads teenagers into false impressions seeing a post and thinking that is what I should look like causing them to become insecure of themselves. Something on social media, a post of a beautiful girl (probably photoshopped and edited). Leaves you thinking that you are not ‘ideal to society’. According to an article on Teen Health and the Media, “One study reports that at age 13, 53 percent of American girls are ‘unhappy with their bodies.’ This grows to 78 percent by the time girls reach 17.” This is significant as that is a lot of girls who don’t feel good in their own body. Feeling confident in your own body is really important as so much is going on in your life that you don’t need to be worrying about what you look like. Now of days people spend way too much time worrying about things that they don’t need anything else to worry about. According to Clean Cut Media “Almost across the nation 50% of young girls are engaged in negative activities such as injuring and cutting themselves or engaging in unhealthy eating habits and disorders due to self-esteem and self-image issues.” (2009).

Don’t you wonder why they do this? The cause is low self esteem that has been caused by social media. Social media is away to brag about your life and if you are already insecure enough the pressure can just be too much. You should never feel the need to injure yourself or do unhealthy things. I have known people to be upset and insecure about themselves and it has been related to social media. Social media causes many problems and insecurity is a big one especially in teenagers where they are most vulnerable to being insecure of their bodys. Especially when all those beautiful edited photos are posted. Body image is very important to many people and I understand that. Especially now in this time and age where it has become ‘normal’ to try and be ideal and have the perfect image. Did you know that in America 57% of girls have mothers who criticizes her looks. (Girl Self-Esteem & Image Issues & Parents, 2009). How would you feel if your parents or children criticized you on how you looked? Parents aren’t supposed to make their children feel insecure. Children already have enough of that at school and that is the last thing they need. 

Social media provides another place for bullies to hurt people. On social media things can be done anonymously and for some reason people think that it is different than face to face bullying. Let me tell you this there is no difference. While many people feel that bullying on social media is a problem. How many are actually trying to stop it? According to Social Networking ProCon “49.5% of students reported being the victims of bullying online and 33.7% reported committing bullying behavior online. [110] 800,000 minors were harassed or cyber bullied on Facebook according to a June 2012 Consumer Reports survey.” (Networking ProCon, 2015) Bullying is not nice and can make people feel insecure and have anxiety. No one wants to be bullied but often the bullies are the ones who are insecure. Everyone remembers when QuizYourFriends was popular. Someone who was obviously insecure took my quiz and said some really horrible things to me. Probably trying to make themselves feel better by taking pride in making someone else feel insecure. Social media offers just the place to do this. Cyberbullying is linked with depression. "There were consistent associations between exposure to cyberbullying and increased likelihood of depression," Hamm told Livescience.(Pappas, 2015). Bullying makes people upset and depressed and insecure. It’s all a vicious circle. "Kids really are hesitant to tell anyone when cyberbullying occurs," Hamm said. "There seems to be a common fear that if they tell their parents, for example, they'll lose their Internet access." Kids shouldn’t have to be scared to report bullying, parents are supposed to help in these situations. But it also provides a way of communication. According to Top Ten Social Media “Statistics show that 70% of adults have used social media sites to connect with relatives in other states, and 57% of teens have reported making new friendships on social media sites.” Social media is a lot quicker then sending an email and if your followers are people you want to keep in contact as soon as you post they get notified. It’s way easier. I use social media and don’t see a problem as long as you use it responsibly. The problem is that some people don’t.

Overall social media can be good helping people to stay connected, but people can waste lots of time on it. Social media can be bad causing teenagers to feel insecure, depressed and have self esteem issues such as not being confident in their body image. If people spent less time on social media there would be less of this trouble. Although social media can be good in some cases. It affects teenagers and how they think of themselves but in the end everyone uses it and it is the individual's responsibility to use it wisely. I hope that you can see how much social media can affect you and the way you think about your body. Please understand that social media causes many problems that you just don’t need especially in your teenage years.

Bibliography:

Pappas, Stephanie. "Cyberbullying on Social Media Linked to Teen Depression." Live Science. Live Science, 22 June 2015. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.


O'Brien, Shaelyn, and Camryn Reid. "Social Media: A New Source of Insecurities." The Highlander Online. Highlander Online, 18 Nov. 2014. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.

"Social Networking ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. ProCon.ORG, 24 Mar. 2015. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.

TopTenSM. "10 Pros and Cons of Social Media." Top Ten Social Media. Top 10 SM, n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.