What is bullying?

At school and at home, most of you may have friends you spend time with. However, you or someone you know may have experienced bullying. Bullying is “when someone does hurtful things on purpose to another person”, repeatedly. This could be written or verbal such as name-calling, teasing, put-downs, etc., or spreading rumours, refusing to share things, excluding someone from group activity, etc. All these can happen in person or virtually. Bullying also includes physically harming someone by hitting, pushing them, and/or destroying their things such as toys, notebooks, gifts, etc.

When someone bullies you, you may feel helpless, lonely, and sad. Do not show you are scared because that encourages the bully. Try to be calm, and leave the place as soon as possible. It is important to immediately report the incident to trusted elders such as your teachers, parents, or an older sibling. Explain to them exactly what happened and how you feel about it. Remember that you are never responsible for someone bullying you. Bullies harm others for various reasons – because they are unhappy with themselves, they just need attention, they (wrongly) feel superior about themselves (they are usually older children), or even because they think what they are doing is fun and are not aware of the hurt their action is causing. But you can put an end to bullying. When you see someone being bullied, gather all your friends and confront the bully. Never laugh at someone being bullied. Invariably, a bully alone is a bully scared. Once the bully leaves, take into your group the person who was bullied as a show of comfort and support. Again, do not forget to report it to elders. If you are sure you can handle it along with a couple of trusted friends, you may try talking to the bully gently about the unacceptable behaviour and see if you have any common interests. Who knows, the bully perhaps was looking for a friend! Staying together, avoiding places where you can find yourself alone with the bully, confronting the bully as a group, refusing to encourage a bully, not spreading rumours, never laughing at or excluding someone being bullied, being kind to those bullied, and reporting the incidents to trusted elders are ways to eliminate bullying. You can do this even if the bully is not alone but works as a gang.

If you have been doing hurtful things to others, it is likely that you are a bully yourself. Open up about your behaviour to an elder, and with their help and / or through the help of counsellors, you will get a chance to understand yourself better, become a nicer person, and find true friends and happiness in life.

Picture Credit : Google

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