There have always been bullies, but in more recent years, society has become more aware of the serious and lasting impacts of bullying. With the rise of the internet and social media, cyberbullying has added another dimension to the problem. UNESCO reports that one in three learners worldwide is bullied at school every month. Cyberbullying is also a growing concern. A 2024 WHO study of adolescents across 44 countries and regions found that around one in six had experienced cyberbullying. Bullying can have serious consequences for a young person’s mental health, education, and well-being. Here are 10 essays that shed light on the issue:
“Could you forgive your childhood bully? Katy Wix confronts a painful memory”
Author: Katy Wix | From: The Guardian
In this personal essay, actor and comedian Katy Wix remembers how one of her closest childhood friendships suddenly turned into a painful experience with bullying. Her former best friend began mocking, excluding, and humiliating her. Adults encouraged Wix to be patient and not let the behavior affect her, but the bullying left marks that lasted well beyond school. Decades later, the former friend contacted her unexpectedly with an apology.
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“The Origins of Bullying”
Author: Hogan Sherrow | From: Scientific American
Sherrow opens his guest post on the Scientific American blog with the story of Jamey Rodemeyer. At age 14, the teen posted messages online describing the pain he endured from bullying and then took his own life. Sadly, this is not uncommon. In this 2011 essay, Sherrow explores why people bully others. Where does this type of behavior come from? To address bullying effectively, we need to understand the roots of bullying. He first defines bullying and presents evidence that bullying is something found in every culture. Sherrow describes it as a “part of the human condition.” Things take a turn into other species as Sherrow asks the question, “Is bullying unique to humans?” Based on research, bullying-like behaviors are found in other animals, including other primates.
This essay presents interesting scientific research on the root of bullying and how it’s evolved in humans. Hogan Sherrow is an assistant professor of anthropology at Ohio University and the director of the Hominid Behavior Research project.
“A moment that changed me: I was 16, gay and bullied for it. Then my father wrote to the Guardian”
Author: Sam Dick | From: The Guardian
Growing up gay in Britain in the 1990s, Sam Dick experienced homophobic bullying and feared what being open about his identity might mean. At school, homophobic jokes were common, and one person even threatened him with violence if he turned out to be gay. Although his family supported him, the wider culture still made him feel that there was something wrong with who he was.
Then his father wrote a letter to The Guardian expressing pride in his gay son. For Dick, seeing a parent publicly reject the shame surrounding homosexuality had a profound impact. The experience helped inspire his later career campaigning for social change. This essay shows not only the damage prejudice-based bullying can cause, but also how support from family and other adults can help a young person resist the messages bullies send.
“Instagram Has a Massive Harassment Problem”
Author: Taylor Lorenz | From: The Atlantic
This essay opens up with the story of someone who experienced Instagram harassment. At age 14, Brandon joined Instagram to share about his life and rare condition. Soon, he was bombarded with hateful messages, including death threats. It ruined his high school experience. Brandon’s story is just one of countless others where people – often very young teens – are bullied through Instagram. The platform does not have a good track record on monitoring or addressing the bullying. This contrasts sharply with the polished image it projects and markets itself with. While sites like Youtube and Twitter have had bigger dealings with harassment, Instagram seems like an oasis for the internet. What is it doing exactly? According to users who have faced horrific threats, not much. Author Taylor Lorenz is a former staff writer for The Atlantic.
“What happened when I confronted my cruellest troll”
Author: Lindy West | From: The Guardian
Writer Lindy West was accustomed to receiving abusive messages online because of her work on feminism and other controversial topics. One troll, however, went much further. The person created a fake social media account using the identity and photograph of West’s recently deceased father. Instead of ignoring the troll, West eventually confronted him. To her surprise, he apologized and explained some of the feelings that had driven his behavior.
The essay offers a personal look at online harassment while also exploring what motivates the people behind it. West does not excuse the abuse, but her encounter complicates the idea of an anonymous internet bully as simply an unknowable monster. It also shows how online harassment can become a tool for intimidating people and discouraging them from speaking publicly.
“Inside Instagram’s War on Bullying”
Author: Katy Steinmetz | From: TIME
Social media gives bullying a new environment, but what responsibility do technology companies have for stopping it? In this TIME feature, Katy Steinmetz examines Instagram’s attempts to address harassment on its platform. The article begins with the experience of a teenager who discovered that classmates had created an Instagram account specifically to mock his appearance. Reporting the account did little to stop the abuse at the time.
Steinmetz looks at Instagram’s efforts to use artificial intelligence, moderators, warnings, and new platform features to identify or discourage abusive behavior. The challenge is that bullying can be difficult for automated systems to understand. A comment that is harmless between friends may be cruel in another context. The essay raises broader questions about whether technology can solve cyberbullying and what social media companies owe the young people using their platforms.
“Shame and Survival”
Author: Monica Lewinsky | From: Vanity Fair
Bullying often occurs in a bubble, like a middle school or a social media site, but for Monica Lewinsky, the harassment played out on a much larger scale. In 1998, the 24-year old became the center of a presidential scandal. There were countless jokes made at her expense. Even while Bill Clinton emerged relatively unscathed, the shame followed Lewinsky for years. In this feature from 2014, she recounts her experience with public humiliation, how difficult it was to move on, and the concern she feels for young people today as cyberbullying becomes so prevalent. The essay is a great example of the long-term impact of humiliation on a national scale. Monica Lewinsky is a TV personality, former fashion designer, speaker, and social activist.
“Bullying has an impact that lasts years”
By: Anita Sethi | From: The Guardian
Written in recognition of Anti-Bullying Week, this piece describes the author’s personal experience with bullying and its lasting effects. As a child, Sethi experienced physical and emotional bullying. How bullies use language can be the most hurtful. The first thing they often do is take a victim’s name, so dehumanizing them is easier. Years after the bullying, a person’s mental health can suffer lasting consequences. What can be done? Teaching empathy is key. Anita Sethi is a writer, journalist, and contributor to Three Things I’d Tell My Younger Self.
“How the Internet Has Changed Bullying”
Author: Maria Konnikova | From: The New Yorker
Bullying existed long before social media, but the internet has changed how difficult it is to escape. In this 2015 essay, Maria Konnikova looks at research on traditional bullying and cyberbullying. Before the internet, a young person being bullied at school could at least leave that environment at the end of the day. Online harassment can follow someone home through social networks, messages, and notifications. Konnikova also explains that bullying is not limited to children. Adults can face similar behavior at work and online, where humiliation, exclusion, and harassment can be difficult to avoid.
The essay is a useful overview of what researchers have learned about bullying and how technology has changed its reach. Rather than treating cyberbullying as an entirely new problem, Konnikova shows how digital platforms can intensify familiar patterns of aggression and unequal power.
“Bullying In the Age of Trump”
By: Emily Bazelon | From: The New York Times
Published in November 2016, this op-ed takes a brief look at how bullying evolved with the election of Donald Trump. The Southern Poverty Law Center tracks harassment and hate speech. Following Trump’s election in 2016, it reported a surge in incidents of harassment and intimidation. The essay considers how bullying can be influenced by what is happening in the wider culture and what signals public figures can send about acceptable behavior. Emily Bazelon is the author of “Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy” and a staff writer for the New York Times Magazine.