Bullying
We are doing a blog post about bullying, and in this blog we will be talking about how it is not okay and it should be stopped because it is hurting a lot of people and some of the time people have experienced severe bullying and it has ended badly.
In 2016 1.5 million males and females aged 12-18 admitted to being bullied 19% of these were bullied daily, 44% developed depression, 41% developed social anxiety and unfortunately 33% of them have had suicidal thoughts. Due the period of time we are living in we make it even easier to become a victim of bullying, with all the technology we have we can bullied in many different ways.
In this part of the post we will be talking about the four main types of bullying and how they affect the victim.
Number 1 : Physical Bullying
Physical bullying is one of the worst types of bullying. Physical bullying is when you actually physically hurt the person or steal / ruin their property this includes : hitting, kicking, tripping, pinching and pushing or damaging property. Physical bullying causes both long and short term damage.
Number 2 : Verbal Bullying
Verbal Bullying this includes name calling, insults, teasing, intimidation, homophobic language, or racists remarks, or verbal abuse. This starts of harmless but then if it gets too much it can escalate quickly which can start affecting the person who is being targeted by this.
Number 3 : Social Bullying
Social bullying is sometimes referred to as covert bullying. Covert bullying is where it is carried out behind the bullied person’s back it can also harm someone’s social reputation and/or can cause someone’s humiliation. This also concludes lying spreading rumours, negative facial, physical gestures, menacing or contemptuous looks, playing nasty joke to humiliate, mimicking unkindly encouraging others to socially exclude someone, damaging someone’s social reputation or social acceptance.
Number 4: Cyber Bullying
Cyber Bullying can be overt or covert bullying behaviours they also use digital technologies, such as including computers and smartphone and software such as social media, instant messages, text, websites online platform. Cyber bullying can happen at any time, it can be in public places or private and sometimes only known to the target person and the person bullying. Cyber bullying can include abusive or hurtful texts or email or posts, images videos, deliberately excluding others online, nasty gossips or rumors, imitating others or using their online log-in .
As a person who has experienced bullying I can tell you that the main reason people don’t tell an adult is not because they’re scared, but because they feel like they have to go through it alone because whoever they tell will be powerless and therefore they can’t do anything about it. Another reason they don’t tell anyone is because the don’t want to burden you with their problems, they’d rather suffer in silence than cause other people greif.
Help and Advice
If you are being bullied or know someone who is there are a few things you can do to help yourself and them.
If you know someone who is being bullied you can:
- Be their friend – It seems so simple but even if you give them someone to talk to you can try and understand what they’re going through and talk to them about it but don’t get frustrated if they don’t talk about or else they’ll think that you’re taking pity on them.
- Don’t join in on the bullying, if you do you’re as bad as the bully
If you are being bullied DON’T
- Think it’s your fault, there is no excuse for bullying
- Fight or bully a person to ‘make yourself feel better’, you didn’t like it and you don’t know what that person is going through
- Keep it quiet it won’t go away if you keep on letting happen
- Ditch school or after-school activities because you’re afraid , your education is important so if the bully is getting in the way ask to move schools/classes.
- Be afraid to tell, yes it’s hard but there are people that can help but you let them help you
Take it out on your family, they don’t know how to help but at least they’re trying and if you shut them out who are you going to have to talk to
- Hurt yourself, I know sometimes it gives you something else to focus on or to let out your frustration on but it is the worst thing you could do to yourself.
If you feel that you are experiencing any form of bullying at our school, please show courage and see a member of staff you feel comfortable talking to.