Bullying And The Circumstances Surrounding Social Anxiety In Teenagers

I read a truly sad news article the other day in a popular, well-known national newspaper. I grew up in the state of Connecticut. During the course of the public school year 2010-2011, fully 25% of all high school students in the state of Connecticut were the victims of bullying incidents. Reading this statistic left me with an overwhelming feeling of sadness within my being. Social anxiety in teenagers, as the results of this type of abuse has become a serious problem on a national and global scale.

Teenage kids feel an almost wanton desire and need to fit in amongst their peers. It is not necessary for me to explain the psychology behind a 13/14 year old kids need to no longer spend 99.9% of his/her time hanging out with a parent(s). Kids at this age instead want to achieve a level of independence in taking control of their lives. This would include the notion of making friends with others of their own age. While it still is the parents responsibility to instill a level of respect and discipline in their off-spring, nevertheless at some point there has to be a gradual letting go process. Kids, like any other form of species on this planet must be allowed to leave the nest; eventually make it in life on their own.

Today we live in the electronic age of communication involving Blackberrys and I-Phones. Text and voice messaging has, sadly, replaced the notion of face to face communication. There are social networking outlets on the Internet which involve Face Book, You Tube, Twitter, and My Space. Without a persons consent, his/her private information can be posted online. Within milliseconds this information can potentially be read by anyone, anywhere who has access to the Internet. This fact is both sad and somewhat scary if you think about it.

A teenager who yearns to fit in feels the need to spend a lot of free time at these social media networks. Kids want to hear the latest gossip going on in school, positive or negative. Being human, teenagers will not hesitate to go out of their way to pick on, or bully a kid who they feel does not fit in amongst their peers; viewing him/her as outcasts. Here is the problem today, however, when it comes to those social media outlets. It is quite simple for countless numbers of teenagers to gain access to the nasty words, graphic depictions and photos posted online, which pokes fun at an individual youth. This tactic is also both insensitive and incredibly damaging to the psyche of the victim of this humiliating tactic. As one occasionally reads or hears in the news, is it any wonder why the final outcome of this type of cruelty is that these teenage victims sometimes end up taking their own lives tragically?

Through behavior modification techniques and a strong support system, social anxiety is a treatable disorder; and that includes teenagers afflicted with this condition. Parents and every adult employed in both the public and private educational system are charged with understanding the complete needs of every teenager. Train every educational employee connected with the school systems on the aspects of bullying. Parent(s) of teenagers should be taught in how to recognize the signs that something is wrong in the home should their child be a victim of this type of abuse. Students themselves must be educated on the negative psychological effects of this potentially destructive tactic. Strict disciplinary policies must be mandated for those who perpetrate this level of abuse; even to the point of school expulsion and criminal charges brought upon the guilty individual(s). There can be no exceptions to the rule.