Recently there was a few reports of teenage suicide due to bullying including one in my hometown. With the recent cases it makes me wonder, can bullying really be stopped? Of course, we should stop bullying one another, but can we as a society, actually do it?
According to stopbully.gov, bullying is defined as unwanted aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalanced. Bullying is known to have a lasting impact of those who are affected, whether they are the victim or the actual bully.
Although I agree with the definition, I don’t think bullying is just something that children partake in. If it was, then why haven’t we [adults] been able to put a stop to it? I believe as humans we naturally pick on each other without realizing our actions.
Have you ever been hanging out with your group of friends, and started to laugh at someone in the room? Or are you, or someone you know, one of those people that feels like they can do or say whatever they want? What about partaking in comments on social media that talk about others?
All of those are different forms of adult bullying. The sad part is, as much as we would like to put a stop to bullying, you can’t fix something that people don’t realize they do.
In my experience working with children through volunteering and counseling, I’ve noticed a few things about their behavior. The first is that children are always picking on each other. They hardly ever have anything nice to say about each other, and they always "go for blood." Most of the time they don’t realize the true effects of their words. The second is that children are always watching adults, even when we don’t realize it. There were many times that one of my children in my classroom gave me information about the latest gossip between staff members.
The point is, children only mimic what they see adults doing. So, how do we stop bullying? We must first look inwardly at ourselves, and make the choice to be nicer individuals. If adults begin to think about their actions, children will follow suit.
Also, if you or someone you know is having problems with bullying, here are a few hotlines they can call for help. Let’s try to work on ourselves and stop bullying.
