Bullying is both insulting someone, excluding someone from society or writing offensive comments about someone on the Internet. Anyone can become a victim of bullying, but some features are common to many people subjected to it. Read about the exact behaviors that can be considered bullying, find out how to find out if a loved one is a victim of bullying, and find out how you can fight bullying.

Contents:

  1. Bullying: types
  2. Bullying at school
  3. Bullying: who is the perpetrator most often?
  4. Bullying: who is most likely to be his target?
  5. Bullying: How do I know if my child is being bullied?
  6. Bullying: how to fight him?

Bullyingis a concept very similar to mobbing. Generally speaking, this is the bullying, intimidation or harassment of a person. Bullying is repetitive, long-lasting behavior that is expected to cause psychological or physical harm to its victims. However, there is a slight difference between mobbing and bullying: the former is usually preceded by a conflict, while the latter usually begins without any provocation.

Bullying: types

In fact, there are at least a few different divisions of bullying. The most common, however, is direct and indirect bullying. The first is that aggressive actions are aimed directly at the victim of bullying - they can be physical violence (in the form of kicking, spitting or forcing them to perform some humiliating activities), as well as verbal violence (in the form of insults, or threats or ridicule).

Indirect bullying is more veiled, but no less painful. In this case, the behaviors leading to the victim's suffering include: spreading various false rumors about her or encouraging other people to reject the society offering. Indirect bullying also includes cyberbullying, which is unfortunately more and more common. It may consist, for example, in publishing photos on the Internet, ridiculing the victim, or writing false information on various social networks, but leading to the victim's suffering,topic. An example is a situation where information about a young girl is posted on the Internet, which suggests that she is a prostitute. In such situations, it is not uncommon that, apart from publishing the image, contact details of such a person are also provided - to what this can lead to, there is probably no need to explain more.

Bullying at school

The aforementioned mobbing is typically associated with work, while bullying is primarily spoken of in the context of school. The scale of the problem in the case of the youngest is unfortunately even terrifying - the statistics on the prevalence of bullying in schools are different, but according to one American data, as many as 1 in 5 students may experience this type of violence.

Bullying at school can take many forms. It happens that various items are taken from a child and then intentionally hidden - in a situation where it is a homework notebook, not only the fact of theft arouses negative feelings in the victim, but also a negative assessment may be a source of stress. Bullying at school is also called insults, peers rejecting the child or harassing the child, forcing the victim to fight or even physical violence.

What is stalking and how can you help someone who experiences it?

Hejt, or hate speech on the Internet

Anger: what is this emotion and how to deal with it?

Bullying: who is the perpetrator most often?

In theory, anyone can bully. Psychologists dealing with the subject of aggressive behavior in children, however, distinguish certain factors that favor the occurrence of their various forms, including bullying. In this case, the following aspects are primarily mentioned:

  • lack of warmth in the relationship between parents and child;
  • negative emotional attitude of the caregiver (or guardians) towards the child;
  • aggression directed by parents towards the child (both psychological and physical aggression - this is why it is commonly said that aggression breeds aggression);
  • allowing parents to display aggressive behavior by the child: if a toddler, even in the early years of life, beats others with impunity, spits at other children or targets them with any other type of aggression, the possibility that he or she will become a perpetrator in the future bullying, it just builds up.

Bullying: who is most likely to be his target?

Just as anyone can bully, basically anyone can become a victim of it. Overall, however, it is noticeable that many victims of this form of violencehas various common features. They are:

The perpetrators of bullying tend to choose the victims who are the easiest to hurt.

  • shyness,
  • low self-esteem,
  • a small amount of social ties (e.g. a child not having a large number of friends),
  • timidity.

At the same time, these are usually people who for various reasons - e.g. low self-esteem or fear - do not tell anyone that they are being bullied. This is where the role of parents comes in - they must observe their child and then, whenever they suspect that they may experience bullying, they must act immediately.

Bullying: How do I know if my child is being bullied?

Bullying can be seen in the victim both at school and at home. In the case of school, the child who is the victim of bullying usually spends breaks alone, and usually - due to fear of aggressive behavior - tries to be around the teacher on duty in the corridor.

During physical education lessons, the child may always be selected as the last member of the team, in addition, the child may also notice difficulties with speaking among other children - when asked about something by the teacher, the child may speak very quietly, and when spoken by extreme nervousness may be associated with the lack of sentences.

When a child comes home with torn clothes or a bruise on his body, parents usually realize pretty quickly that he or she is being abused. However, much more discreet signals can testify to bullying. As an example of them, we can give the child's constant requests to buy the same utensils - it may explain this by the fact that he constantly loses them, and in fact, these items may be stolen from him.

Parents' anxiety should also be aroused by - especially sudden - frequent attempts to avoid going to school. Your baby may complain of abdominal pain or headache every morning, but it may even induce vomiting on purpose. No wonder - after all, he associates school only with unpleasant events, so it is quite natural that a toddler who is exposed to bullying will try to avoid going to it.

Parents' attention must also be aroused by changes in their child's behavior. If a baby, who has been cheerful and laughing all the time, suddenly becomes gloomy, sad or irritable and constantly appearing nervous, it is an alarm signal. Bullying can have serious consequences - it can develop for its victimsanxiety disorders and depressive disorders, in addition to this type of violence, there is a risk that a young person develops suicidal thoughts, which may result in even a fatal suicide attempt. This is why bullying can never be taken lightly - it is imperative to fight it.

Bullying: how to fight him?

The fight against bullying should always start with a conversation with its victim. It is necessary to find out who is the perpetrator of the violence, but also to convince the victim that absolutely no one deserves aggression towards him and that it is necessary to take steps to stop the violence from taking place. Due to various concerns, the child may avoid talking about bullying - the first thing to make them aware of is that they can always count on their parents' support and help. this facility. It is necessary to talk to the class teacher, and sometimes with the headmaster or other teachers working in the school. First of all, it should be clearly stated that the problem of bullying exists in a given institution.

Later, various activities may be initiated to stop the occurrence of violence in school. Conversations with the educator (both with perpetrators and victims of bullying), educational hours devoted to the problem of violence, or meetings with parents of all students who discuss the subject of bullying are helpful. will no longer be bullying, he may still need help. It is invaluable to cover the victim with a psychologist - it is beneficial because violence leaves some conflicts in the psyche, which can be solved by working with a psychologist.

About the authorBow. Tomasz NęckiA graduate of medicine at the Medical University of Poznań. An admirer of the Polish sea (most willingly strolling along its shores with headphones in his ears), cats and books. In working with patients, he focuses on always listening to them and spending as much time as they need.

Category:

Psychology