Monday 27 January 2014

Essentials Ways On How To Deal With Bullying

By Nelda Powers


Bullying is a problem that most of us have had to deal with in one part of our lives or the other. For a good number of people, it is a constant problem that they have to face every day. Bullying can be defined as the repeated act of aggressive behaviour to dominate others. It can be in form of mockery, threats, abuse and coercion towards particular targets. It has been linked to variation in gender, physique, class, religion; race, just to name a few. Bullying is one of the factors contributing to increased suicide cases especially among teens. As a result, various movements and laws have been created on how 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.

One would wonder why bullies take so much pleasure in aggression. Research has shown that most bullies lack self esteem and therefore use physical and emotional abuse for the purpose of concealing their weaknesses. Another reason could be jealousy or resentment. Some bully because they have been victims before or have lived in such an environment.

Some bullies may be obsessed with tormenting others because they suffer from psychiatric conditions. Bullies are usually characterised by high a temper and feeling too good about themselves outwardly though this may not be the case in reality. In addition, bullies report poor performance academically

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.

Parents, teachers and guardians are encouraged to attend anti bullying training programs to be help children cope. Schools can also come up with policies and peer counseling sessions. The state can actively participate by instituting laws against such behaviour.

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.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment