Bullying. Wikipedia mentions that “bullying is an act of repeated aggressive behavior in order to intentionally hurt another person, physically or mentally. Bullying is characterized by an individual behaving in a certain way to gain power over another person.” So basically no matter which way you look at it, bullying is a type assault. Whether that is verbal or psychical.
Throughout our lifetimes, each one of us will experience different types of bullying. Whether it will be at school, at home, work or in public. Some not as extreme as others, but still bullying nonetheless.
The past decade, it seems as though bullying is on the rise. Whether that is because a lot more people are speaking out about it, or because it is actually on the increase is hard to say. A lot of close friends of mine admit that they have been bullied as a child and if they were ever to run to their teachers or parents about being bullied, they were told to fight back especially if they were male.
The one thing that a lot of people seem to forget, that bullying doesn’t end when you finish school. It continues throughout your adulthood as well. So if you’re just waiting and praying for that day when you finish school so it will end. It doesn’t. It’s now your bosses, your co-workers, people you meet on the street and sometimes even family members. It happens everywhere. Whether face to face, or through emails, text messages, phone calls, you name it.
Now I’m not mentioning this to give people a scare. I just want to point out that this is life. Bad things happen, we move on and things become great. Until another bad thing happens. It will seem like it is the end of the world and that you cannot live any longer. But it will get better, it always does. Moving on when something bad happens, can only make us strong people.
I learnt from a young age that the reason why most people bully other people is because they feel threatened by someone’s accomplishments, they don’t understand another person’s difference, or that they are in fact being bullied. So just to appear stronger, they will pick on another person to make themselves feel better and tough. So it really has nothing to do with you at all. There is nothing about you that the bully doesn’t like or hate. It is in fact the bullies hate themselves and take it out on other people.
To me bullying isn’t the worst thing that can happen. The worst is when you actually start to believe what the bully tells you. If they tell you that you’re worthless, or ugly, and other insults and you start to believe the lies, then to me the bully has won. If you walk away, voice your opinion and stand tall, then no one can harm you. I’m not asking people to fight back with their fists, just be more confident in who you are as a person, stand up for yourself, and you’re already ten steps ahead of everyone else. Violence of any kind if never the answer.
If you know of a person that is being picked on and bullied, the worst thing you can do as a human being is to stand by and let it happen. Bullying, wherever it may happen needs to end. We need to stand up for one another and report it when it happens. Just because you may see someone picking on one person, doesn’t mean it stops there. A person who bullies people within the work place may even go home and bully their family. It’s a never ending cycle. This is why we have to stop the cycle continuing.
If you are being severely picked on, always remember that there will be people who you can talk to about it. It can be your neighbour, a friend, a family member, a teacher or a work colleague. There will always be someone who you can talk to about it. Everyone at some point in their lifetime has been picked on, so anyone who says that they haven’t is lying. Even celebrities get it all the time, except their verbal bullying is a little more public than others. Remember Elton John and Lilly Allen at the GQ awards? Rosie O’Donnell and Donald Trump never miss an opportunity to call out abuse at the other person.
Doing nothing about the whole situation, makes the problem even worse. So remember, there will always people you can talk to about what is happening. The best websites to visit to find out more information is http://au.reachout.com/. This website contains blogs of actual people about their experiences and who you can contact. It is even for people who are being bullied within the workplace. http://www.bullyingnoway.com.au/talkout/faqs/default.shtml is another website you can visit, though this is more aimed at children who are being bullied at school.
I’ll leave you with a link to a YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdkNn3Ei-Lg&feature=share video that I was show the other day. I won’t go into too much detail about this video, but it is about a young boy who has been picked on all his life. He doesn’t understand why he has been singled out or what he can do about it. It’s a very heartbreak yet very powerful clip that I suggest everyone who has a couple of minutes to please watch and take note.
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