Bullying’s Impact Analysis
Bullying has become a prevalent social issue among teenagers, and its consequences can be devastating to a teen's mental health. In the novel Speak, the main character Melinda goes through the struggles of the aftermath of sexual assault at a summer party before her freshman year of high school. Throughout the book she also deals with bullying and that heavily impacts her behavior and the way she responds, as well as the way she thinks and views herself . While Speak shows what it is like to be the target of bullies, the article “I Used to be a Bully and Why I stopped” shows the perspective of a former bully, the author of this article gives the reader more understanding about bullying from a former bully’s perspective.
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Verbal Abuse is a part of bullying remarks as well as crude language towards the person can damage their confidence, as a result they start to distance themselves as their mental health starts to spiral downwards. An example that is noticed is the novel Speak. Speak shows a first person narrative of the main character Melinda. Throughout the novel Melinda goes through the struggles of the aftermath of sexual assault at a summer party last year before her freshman year of highschool. No one is aware that she had been raped at that party. Unaware that she had called the cops in complete fear, they believe that she called the cops to snitch about the party and are resentful towards her. “If there is anyone in the entire galaxy I am dying to tell what really happened, it’s Rachel. My throat burns. Her eyes meet mine for a second. “I hate you,” she mouths silently. She turns her back to me and laughs with her friends.” (Anderson 5) This quote points out the classmate's clear resentment towards her. While no physical aggression has been shown, the classmates' resentment towards only Melinda makes her singled out. This is also the start of her viewing herself as an outcast. Like, when Melinda says “I am an outcast” (Anderson 4) This is meant to portray how Melinda sees herself as a social reject. She lists how everyone has this sort of clique and group to …show more content…
Bullying happens because of the bully wanting to assert his or her power, and having control over the victim, stemming from their own insecurities and need for validation. Nevertheless, the impact of bullying can be incredibly harmful for the victims, shattering their confidence is what inevitably ties into falling into depression. The article, “I used to be a bully and this is why I stopped” shows a former bully’s perspective and how they bullied others. “. . .and I definitely wasn’t confident in myself. I didn't know who I wanted to be or what group I wanted to be part of, but what I did know is I wanted people to notice me and like me. That’s when the crude joking and teasing of others truly began. It was in an effort to boost my own self worth that I bullied others, tearing down the confidence they seemed to possess.” (Erin Ze 1) The narrator admits that she tears down others in an attempt to make her confidence rise. The narrator first admits how she wasn't confident in herself and her need for validation from others is what started her path on bullying others. She saw that the only way that she could boost her own confidence while getting people to like her was by destroying the confidence in others'. “We focused on other people’s inhibitions, which made me forget about mine. This time I had people around me that not
Another way Melinda is betrayed by her friends, is when the book quotes on page (105-106) “(Heather)You are the most depressed person i've
No one will speak to me. I am outcast.” (Anderson4) This demonstrates Melinda's opinion about herself as well as what other people think of her. Melinda's lack of a “clan” shows her inability to make friends and shows us that she is different.
Also it’s showing that everyone does not think of her the same way. Melinda is also not blend in with everyone because she is wearing different clothes. In the end of the book, Rachel starts talking to Melinda again after she finds out Andy Evans raped her. Another part in the beginning of the book Heather starts making friends with Melinda but when Heather starts using her, Melinda stands up to her. Heather is super nice to Melida and invites her to do things, but when she meets the Martha’s she slowly started to leave Melinda behind until she needed something.
This quote shows us that she has shut down, not willing to tell anyone. Since no one was aware of what actually happened to Melinda the night of the party, everyone showed hatred to her for calling the cops at the party. Without a doubt, Melinda’s old friends were very angry at her. A situation that demonstrates their anger was on the first day of school when Melinda introduced us to them, “Rachel
It was the summer after eighth grade, a year of pretty terrible bullying at a brand new school. I had just lost touch with my best friends-- the kids I’d known since Kindergarten-- and once I became a target, I was blacklisted and was abandoned by the new friends I’d made. My parents didn’t know I was bullied or that I was struggling with very severe depression and anxiety and, honestly, they didn’t try very hard to figure out what was going on. Much like Melinda’s parents, they responded with anger, frustration, and a deficiency of compassion. So I struggled; I was hurting and alone with nobody to talk to.
These on going topics will help us better understand themes and ideolgy in this book. Bullying is described in this book a lot. In fact, almost in every chapter we see people bullying each other. For example, in the first chapter a bully named Stilson antiganises Ender. Stilson says "Hey, Third,
This is evident when a new girl that came to Merryweather High School, named Heather. In the beginning, Heather followed Melinda around everywhere. Then Heather turned on Melinda because she did not think Melinda was not cool and popular. Melinda says, “Heather, you mean we're not friends
Laurie Halse Anderson’s novel Speak reveals a lot about the main character’s psychological state through their emotions, behaviours and feelings. The main character, Melinda Sordino is a high school freshman year (grade 9) student who is disliked by everyone around her. All she wants is to be happy, which in Melinda’s point of view is “being accepted by [her] friends” (7). Melinda is constantly blamed by the students of Merry Weather High because she called the police at an end of school summer party. Melinda tries her best to ignore all the hurtful comments, she believes that no one will ever believe her if she told the truth as to what really happened the night she decided to call the police.
In addition to having called the police, she admits that she has “entered high school with the wrong hair, the wrong clothes, the wrong attitude.” (Anderson 4). After Heather leaves her, Melinda is the only person completely alone with no friends to sit with, because no one feels any connection to her, as her defining trait is that of a snitch. The other outcasts are allowed an identity that they can connect to other people with. “[They] have the social power to sit with other losers.
Mandy Hale wrote, “It’s okay to be scared being scared means you’re about to do something really, really brave”. Melinda Sordino demonstrates this when she stands up against the bullies in her school. In Laurie Halse Anderson’s novel, Speak, Melinda Sordino, a bullied teenager, became someone who prevented others from getting hurt the way she did. Melinda shows that she is frightened, brave, and lonely in the way she reacts and the people around her act after the end of Summer party.
In “How to Handle a Bully,” by Kathiann Kowalski, an experienced journalist, Kowalski reports the different strategies to stop bullying. She informs that bullying is at its peak in the late teenage years, but can start in an early age. Kowalski concurs that girls intimidates as much as boys; however, they do it differently. She explores many reasons why bullying occurs at the first place, and who starts bullying. Kowalski exemplifies the situations that victims could be in, and the solution on how to handle the bully.
This means that people can not be hurt by impolite words that are said to them, but in this case Danille was hurt constantly by these impolite words. Many people claim that bullying can cause a variety of issues in anyone's life, not just a child's. Anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and stress
She was bullied so badly that it resulted into pulling her hair out every time she cried so she could calm down. She didn’t let this stop her from becoming a successful author though instead she says it made her better because of the emotions she experienced. This shows she is resilient because even though she was extremely bullied to the point of self harm she still manages to be successful in life. [Insert quote here…] [Insert explanation to quote here…]
Heather claims that they were never really friends, that their tastes are different, and that Melinda truly has no interests at all. Melinda would be told by her that she is the most depressed person she has ever met. Which leads Melinda to say, “ I was the only person who talked to you on the first day of school, and now you’re blowing me off because I'm a little depressed? Isn’t that what friends are for, to help each other out in bad times?” (106).
This article explains what is bullying exactly. Bullying is any form of psychological, verbal, or physical abuse that occurs repeatedly among schoolchildren over a period. Statistically, the dominant type of violence is emotional and occurs mostly in the classroom and courtyard of schools. Bullying is a kind of torture, methodical and systematic, in which the aggressor sums up the victim, often with silence, indifference or complicity of other comrades. The author explains some characteristic and consequences of bullying.