What Is Considered Bullying - Learn to Read the Signs!
Written by: Meenakshi Joshi – M Sc
(Psychology)
Table of Contents
What Is Considered Bullying – Learn to Read the Signs!
Students in a class tease a short boy because of his height. Co-workers making fun of the guy who speaks poor English. The “big boy” in the class tries to show how strong he is and makes the weak guys in class do his homework. What would you call these things? Is it bullying? Would you say that this is what is considered bullying.
Chapter 1:What Is Considered Bullying?
- Use of power to scare others – A bully is a person who thinks that they need to show their power to others. The person wants to be “strong”. They enjoy scaring others. They want to be popular and feel that the only way to do this is to be the strongest one around. For example, you see a strong tall boy in a class force the weaker kids to “obey” him. So, he scares them by using aggression and threats. So, he feels that he can control them by doing this.
- Making fun of others – You must have seen people joke about others or tease them. This fooling around happens in a group of friends, classmates, co-workers, relatives, etc. But mostly this is just simple fun. However, this is okay if everyone is a part of it and you do not harm anyone. But it may be considered bullying if the person who is teased is not okay with it.
- Commenting on those – Comments, gossip, and rumors can also be harmful. You can really hurt someone by saying bad things about them or by talking about them in an insensitive way. Words can make someone feel very bad and cause a lot of distress.
Why would you be bullied?
There are a lot of behaviours that can be considered bullying. Also, there are a lot of things on which someone can bully you. There is no logic or base for it. Additionally, it can happen anywhere and it can be about any of these things.
- the way you look – your height, weight, colour of skin, appearance, built, etc.
- how you talk – your accent, what words you use, your tone, etc.
- what you do – things that you do in class, for example, if you are someone who always has doubts and you ask the teacher a lot of questions during class, you may be bullied for being “over-smart”. Also, if you are obedient and do whatever the teacher says, then you might be called “teacher’s pet”.
- the way you dress – your clothes, hairstyle, etc.
- your race, religion, the region you belong to, community, gender, etc.
- your beliefs and values
- sexuality and sexual preferences
- your family background
Thus, many things can be a reason for bullying. Sometimes, these things are beyond our control or things that we cannot change. For example, gender, family, appearance, etc. You cannot do anything about it but they become targets for people to tease you about.
Chapter 2:Who Is a Bully?
A bully is someone who uses force and power to dominate other people. You can tell that someone is a bully by seeing how they behave with people who are weaker than them. They try to control and scare these people.Â
A person who feels that he is better than others. He wants to show how great he is to the world. A bully is someone who thinks and wants others to think that he is the best. But the truth is, a bully can be a person with low esteem and no sense of self-worth. He feels insecure about his own self and his abilities. Thus, he wants to put others down and scare them so that he can feel better about himself.
The person who bullies is often lonely and low self-esteem. Their way of seeking approval from others is by showing off their superiority. They feel that no one values them or cares for them and hence, they need to do something to gain respect from others. However, they try to seek popularity by using the wrong means.
Some examples that can be considered bullying
- In schools, stronger, bigger, and popular kids bully kids who are weaker or shy. Cornering them, spreading rumors about them, teasing them, trying to make them do embarrassing things, etc. can be termed as bullying.
- As kids grow older and enter adolescence, this can take a more serious form. Kids may tease or make fun of others for their appearance and sexual orientation. The comments and gossip might get very personal.
- Being aggressive towards others – physically harming someone or hitting someone can also be considered bullying.
- Creating fake pictures or posters about someone
- Creating fake social media accounts to insult or ridicule someone. Posting comments or information that can cause mental harm or damage someone’s image and reputation
- In offices, forcing someone to do menial work just because you are in a position of authority.
- Passing sexual or dirty comments on someone
Chapter 3:Why Is Bullying Bad?
- First, you are causing a lot if harm to the person you are bullying. You may cause physical harm if you are aggressive. Even if you are not aggressive, making comments or teasing someone can cause humiliation and thus mental stress and damage.
- You might make the person feel sad and unhappy. Also, the whole atmosphere becomes unhealthy.
- It might cause serious self-esteem damage. You might reduce or destroy the person’s confidence and belief in himself.
- Such mental pressure can make the person take extreme steps. For example, unable to bear all this, the person might become depressed or even start thinking about or attempt suicide.
- You are setting a bad example for others. If you are someone others look up to, you will lose their respect. No one likes people who insult and put down others. Also, some people might start thinking that this is the correct way to deal with others. They will do the same. This will absolutely make the whole environment unhealthy.
- Also, if you are the bully, you will regret your actions someday. You will get back what you give to others. Others in authority might even punish you for your actions. The damage you have will make you feel miserable and you will not be able to forgive yourself.
Chapter 4:Summary
In summary, any action is considered bullying if it causes harm to others. If you do something to show your greatness or strength and in that process you try to ridicule, threaten, or hurt other, then you are a bully. It can harm people. It can shatter their self-confidence.Â
So, do not tolerate bullying. If you are a bully, then stop it! It is not a good thing to do and it will only harm the people around you. On the other hand, if someone is bullying you, then you need to stand up to them. You should speak up about it and report the person to concerned authority. Also, if you are witness to such acts, then you cannot sit quite and let it happen. You have to help the person be courageous to talk about what is happening to them. Also, you should try to make the person who is a bully understand how wrong their actions are.Â
Please check out our courses pages if you want to learn to be more confident about yourself. You will find courses there that will help you to develop your self-esteem so that you can face any challenges in life.Â
