Bullying is an issue that mostly occurs in the lives of high schoolers online and on social media.

“Bullying happens mostly on social media,” said Amanda Woszczak, science department. Teachers like Woszczak do notice some type of teasing and bullying going on, but sometimes it really isn’t bullying.

“It looks like kids are joking around,” said Woszczak. The teachers aren’t really ignoring some teasing going on. From their own point of view, it might look like the kids are just playfully joking around. If the behavior continues, then they will do something about it, such as contacting their administrators.

“Bullying is like an iceberg, we only see the tip of it but the worse of it is going on at the bottom,” said Woszczak. Some kids might get bullied and hold it in internally and maybe harm themselves. They might be smiling so the teachers don’t suspect anything going on.

“Some students internalize it and take it and take it and take it and decide to deal with bullying harmfully,” said Justin Onayemi, an administrator. Some individuals may be getting bullied and decide that taking the situation into their own hands might be a great idea. Onayemi also added that bullying mostly happens on social media. Bullying is a very big issue. On social media, bullies decide that they can bully someone online because they can’t be seen or found anyway.

“In my role, I deal with bullying a lot,” said Onayemi. He discussed a time when two kids were laughing at another kids’ appearance during this school year. He said this happens a lot in schools. Bullies pick on their targets because they are different and unique in their own ways. Bullying doesn’t only happen online or on social media. It also happens in school. Bullies pick on other kids mostly because they are threaten by their target or because they are going through something and they want to lash out on someone else.

Dosomething.org is a website that works towards volunteers for social change. The site includes a statistic stated that over 3.2 million students are victims of bullying each year. Some even skip school just so they can be away from all the hardships and bullying going on their lives. This is a lot of students going through a rough part of their lives every day. Dosomething.org also stated that 17% of American students report being bullied 2 to 3 times a month or more within a school semester.

“If a student feels victimized, they may isolate themselves and you will notice their grades slip,” said Marchell Goins, a counselor. Some students get frustrated and lose interest in school and other things they love doing. Bullying is an issue that need to be addressed and be aware of.