Prevent "Bullycide"

I never understood if bullying leads to suicide, why do people still bully others? The correct definition of Bullycide is suicide caused from the results of bullying. Bullying is becoming a major problem in America, and it’s the leading cause of suicide, student dropouts, and school shootings. Even though laws are enforced in 49 states in the U.S., it’s still growing into a bigger problem nationwide. It is the leading cause of death in youth. In most cases, they die from hanging of the neck, or shooting themselves. Suicide rates among 10 to 14 year olds have grown more than 50% over the last 3 decades. (makebeatsnotbeatdowns.com). I couldn’t believe how young some kids were that committed suicide.

 

This picture encourages people that are bullies, or are being bullied to get help. The picture agrees with the stereotype that the “weird” or “quiet” kids always kill themselves. Society made it so it’s always the “weird” kids that bomb/shoot up the school or do inhumane acts not adding what the reason is for majority of these acts are – being bullied. There is a lot of pathos in this picture. It’s not every day that you see a person hanging themselves. Many may find this picture hurtful because hanging of the neck is one of the main ways teens kill themselves. A lot of people have experienced someone in their family that committed suicide by hanging themselves, so this gives off an emotional appeal because this picture makes suicide victims remember their past. This picture can also appeal to those who have been bullied and thought about killing themselves because this picture shows them what they could have been.

There are only 3 colors in the picture. The author chose a gloomy, light, bluish background to bring out the hanging person more clearly. If he would have had a darker colored background, it would have taken away the sentimental effect of the picture. That is also why he made the hanging person in all black because he wants the viewers to see what it is really like to be hung. It is not a fun experience which is what makes this picture so horrendous. The audience also sees a small statement next to the person being hung. The first sentence says “Bullying can kill” in all red letters. The website they granted was also in all red letters, while the rest of the passage is written in black. The author did this because he wants his viewers to see the importance in this picture. The author also wants the viewer to see the main idea of this picture, which is to stop bullying and go to the website given if you are a bullying victim.

Lastly, what is so unique about this picture is the format of what is supposed to be a rope. Instead of the teen being hung by a rope, he is being hung by the malicious words that caused him to commit suicide in the first place. The words are in the shape of a rope around his neck. The author did this because he wanted to show his audience the reason teens commit suicide.

People don’t understand the damage bullying really does until the damage is done, so we should prevent the ruthless acts from happening by standing up, or asking for help.