Essentials Ways On How To Deal With Bullying

By Nelda Powers


Bullying is a problem that is all round us. Most of us have faced off with a bully at one point or the other. Bullying may be defined as the habitual use of any form of aggression with the aim of gaining power over another person. There is, in addition, the use of threats, abuse, coercion and intimidation. A bully targets a specific target that they deem to be vulnerable in a particular area. Some of the criteria that may be used for discrimination include gender, class, religion, body size, age and so on. There are a number of things that you need to understand if you wish to deal with bullying.

There are three basic types of abuse as regards this vice. These are emotional, physical and verbal abuse. Within the three categories, there exists physical violence, insults, coercion and intimidation. There is some differences in the manner in which abuse is perpetrated in the female and the male genders. This behaviour in females is associated with emotional abuse while male tend to be more physically aggressive. In isolated cases, both sexes may choose mockery such as when the victim looks more masculine or when both parties are adults who do not want to be considered immature.

The act of bullying that can be used is that of direct and indirect. The former type involves the use of force against the individual. It includes forces such as pulling, kicking, biting, shoving and pushing. The indirect type, on the other hand, is mainly characterised by social aggression whose main objective is to isolate the victim. Negative publicity is a major tool used here.

What exactly is the motive behind this kind of aggressive behaviour? Studies indicate that most bullies are weak at heart and would rather disguise their weakness by forcing it on others. Such people lack self esteem or may have been gone through the same a similar experience at some point in their life. Others learn this act from people that are close to them.

One of the other common causes of this undesirable behaviour is a personality disorder. The common forms of personalities seen are temperamental, obsessive or an excessive concern about a self-image. If they are of school attending age, they usually perform rather poorly compared to their colleagues. Within a social group, they want to be regarded with fear and respect.

There are many negative effects associated with this problem including depression and a feeling of loneliness. The victims also have their self-esteem lowered markedly and start to lose interest in life activities. In extremes, it may lead to post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. The victims become bitter and may themselves become violent in future. If one manages to stand up to a bully, they gain a lot of respect in return.

To cope with bullying, training programs have been set up for guardians, teachers and parents. Such programs may include peer counselling and forming school bullying policies. The state can also be involved in creating laws that restrict people from abusing others.

Targets can be able to deal with bullying by being on the defensive rather than feeling inferior. This can only be possible when one puts on a positive attitude towards the situation. Bullies prefer weak people and can only retreat when they have been confidently challenged.




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