What Is Social Bullying? And Its Effects

Written by: Harmandeep Kaur Grewal – PhD (Psychology)

Last updated date : March 23, 2023

When a strong person tries to overpower another person, also, the victim is weak as compared to the accused. Moreover, any kind of bullying is bad and harms the well-being of another person. Your victim gets traumatized for life. For instance, you bullied a classmate who was fat. He became depressed and sad and wanted to commit suicide because of his abuse. You may not know the extent or consequences of your behavior. Therefore, you should abuse him or you will be punished as per the laws. Furthermore, social bullying is highly prevalent in our society. You could ask, is bullying a social issue? Yes, it is.

Additionally, we live in a society where our relationships with different people matter to us. So, you want to harm someone and then destroy her relationship. For instance, you hate your classmate who considers you a friend. So, you spread rumors about her. And damage her reputation in front of your class by telling her secrets to others. Therefore, you socially bullied her by damaging her connections with people. Hence, you harmed her psychologically and emotionally. You need to understand that your behavior has harmed your friend.


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Chapter 1:

Social Bullying

When you damage the relationship or bond of another person by spreading lies about that person. Moreover, social bullying can take the form of cyberbullying. For instance, you befriend someone online and date her. Later you broke up with her. But you hold grudges against her. So, you post her objectionable pictures online to embarrass her. Therefore you damaged her dignity and made her the subject of ridicule. But you need to remember that your behavior could be punished. People ask, Is bullying a social issue? Yes, it is.

Furthermore, as a victim, you may try to withdraw from the situation itself and isolate yourself socially. For instance, you saw your pictures online so you deleted your online profile and leave all other social platforms to protect yourself from social scrutiny. Your bully has succeeded in making you alone and cornered. But, you need to complain against the person and quickly respond to it before it damages your self.

Also, the hater will make others turn up against you by speaking lies about you. For instance, if you hate someone popular in your class then you quietly go to her friends and tell them that she has many boyfriends and she flirts with many men. Therefore, your victim will face social scrutiny and others will judge her.

Additionally, another way to socially abuse someone is by outcasting a person and motivating others to do the same. Hence, your victim will be made a social outcast.

Chapter 2:

Negative Effects of Bullying

Is bullying a social issue? Yes, social bullying is highly prevalent today. You see people lying, faking, and laughing at others.

First of all, bullying affects your mental health. You become depressed and sad after the bullying incident. Therefore you let the accused harm you. You can always talk. And seek help in your condition. You need to wait for the matter to die down. Take action right now. Bullies are carefree when they go unpunished. Also, you did not report or complain about it. In contrast, you stay silent.

Secondly, your performance at school or work will reduce rapidly. Your scores in exams will fall and you will not want to go to school altogether. Therefore, you hide from shame or pain, but this is the time for you to raise your voice against the violence or abuse which you faced. You can report your case if you have faced bullying online.

Thirdly, the bullying behavior is repetitive and could harm the well-being of your victim. You will push her into depression. Also, the victim will socially withdraw and not talk to any person. Hence, you will isolate her from others.

Chapter 3:

Reasons for Bullying

You should know that there are several reasons for social bullying. And when you ask is bullying a social issue? I say, yes. We live in a society where people vent their anger on others by destroying their relationships.
  • First of all, you want others to notice you. No matter how positive or negative the consequences of your behavior as long as you are getting attention. For instance, you are jealous of popular kids in your school. So, you start a fight with them in open. And, you get happy when people start to know about your existence.
  • Secondly, you are prone to getting away with everything that you do. Also, you have never been punished for your behavior so keep repeating your behavior. You need to learn the consequences of your behavior and improve yourself for your well-being.
  • Thirdly, you are jealous of someone and you want to make them suffer in some way. Hence, you lie about them and spread rumors about them. Accordingly leads to harming the connections and relations of your victim.
  • Fourthly, you have bullied yourself in past. Also, you learned that behavior and applied it to victims.
  • Next of all, people with low self-esteem or confidence have anger problems.

Chapter 4:

How to Overcome Bullying?

You can learn to manage yourself after a bullying episode. Moreover, social bullying can affect your relationships.

You need to be careful when you make friends. So that any person who gets near you should not harm you in any way. Moreover, you need to stay vigilant so that people around you are not leaking your secrets to your enemies. For instance, you befriend an unknown person online. And he gets closer to you so much so that he knows when you go home or come to the office. He will leak your secrets which could harm you.

Ask for help. Additionally, report your incident to higher authorities. The accused can be punished after your testimony.

Do not isolate yourself from others. Because you need to know that your bully is laughing at some place watching you suffer. So collect yourself and report the incident which you experienced. You should know that your bullies are punished. Then you can save someone from the act in the future.

Stay your true self. You cannot run from reality. Therefore take action against your bully. Likewise, this will show to other people who observe. You know that such an act is not tolerated.

And, do not be scared. You need to muster the courage for yourself. Moreover, your behavior will teach other people to act similarly and punish the bully accordingly.

For more information, please click “Courses” on the navigation bar to check out our self-paced online courses. The course titled “Coping with Bullying” will help you to get a better understanding of the current topic.

"Structured and engaging course" Joan

69 sections

6-Weeks Self-Paced

  • Educational Content
  • Quizzes
  • Self-reflection material
  • Suggestions & feedback
  • Worksheet, tips & tools to use

$9.00 $12.00

25% discount