Dear Future President,

I wanted to discuss the problem of bullying at school and cyberbullying. On the website www.pacer.org it states that, “One out of every four students (22%) report being bullied during the school year. 64 percent of children who were bullied did not report it; only 36 percent reported the bullying. More than half of bullying situations (57 percent) stop when a peer intervenes on behalf of the student being bullied. School-based bullying prevention programs decrease bullying by up to 25%.The reasons for being bullied reported most often by students were looks (55%), body shape (37%), and race (16%). 19.6% of high school students in the US report being bullied at school in the past year. 14.8% reported being bullied online. 90% of teens who report being cyberbullied have also been bullied offline”. 

Students who are bullied can suffer from anxiety, depression, and feel isolated. Also, if it is too much to handle, students can commit suicide. One reason why students bully other students is because their life at home is difficult to handle so they try to make others feel worse about themselves so that they can feel better. Most students don’t go to an adult for help because they don't want to have other people think that they are a tattle-tale. These are the same for the bystanders, too. Some students skip or move school because they can’t handle being bullied anymore. Bullying is a serious problem that could also lead to self harm such a cutting. Cyberbullying is also a problem among teenagers. The bully can haze the victim into doing something they don’t want to because they have something to use against them. On the website www.stopbullying.gov it states that, “Kids who are cyberbullied are more likely to use alcohol and drugs, skip school, experience in-person bullying, be unwilling to attend school, receive poor grades, have lower self-esteem, and have more health problems". Ultimately, these are serious problems that teenagers go through, so in the future, I hope that there will be a solution so teens do not have to suffer anymore. 

Sincerely, 

Crystal T.