Bullying has been and continues to be prevalent in society. Almost all cases of bullying deliver a few negative impacts, both for bullies and victims. Bullying should have been stopped immediately since it really harms all parties: the person who bullies, the person who is bullied, the families of both, institutions, etc.
Bullying is one of the acts of violence that is carried out by a person or more by attacking or intimidating someone both physically and mentally. Bullying often occurs both in regular and inclusive schools, in schools with disabilities or special schools, and commonly affects children and adolescents who are physically weaker than their peers. Victims of bullying may lie so others don’t find out.
Identifying Bullying Effects and Victims
Bullying not only happens when the bullies physically abuse the victim, such as by hitting, kicking, or slapping, but can also occur when the bullies verbally ridicules the victim, such as by taunting, calling someone derogatory names, embarrassing them in front of many people, or even spreading gossip about the victim.
In the digital era, acts of bullying are easier since they can be done in cyberspace, i.e., cyberbullying. The people who tend to bully can simply use social media to bring down their victims, such as spreading photos or videos about the victim and spreading texts with negative themes.
Acts of bullying actually have many negative effects for victims, including:
- Experience mental disorders, including depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, difficulty sleeping well, self-hurt, or even suicidal thoughts.
- Drug abuse and addiction
- Refuse to go to school
- Get a low score in academic
- Participate in violence or take revenge, like a man who has been bullied by a woman tends to become a misogynist.
As a parent, you should figure out how to identify the characteristics of changes in a child’s behavior. If you find some characteristics in your children, such as a tendency to refuse to go to school, decreased academic achievement, or decreased appetite, you have to immediately take further steps to identify what exactly happens.
Furthermore, there are some other changes that can appear in your children, such as:
- tend to refuse a friend’s request and suddenly lose friends.
- Their belongings are often destroyed or even lost.
- Experience sleep disturbances.
- Ran away from home.
- When they get home from school or check their phones, they are frequently perceived as stressed.
- There may be wounds on their bodies.
If you notice these characteristics in your children, you should first try to communicate with them on a personal level. You can start having conversations in a subtle way so that they have the right time to express what they’re experiencing all the time. Make sure to teach them how to deal with people who are rude to him, such as avoiding meeting them or saying, “Don’t bother me.”
One other thing to remember is that you should never teach them to fight back or to use violence against the bullies. You may instead teach them to feel victorious since they managed to make them despair. Make sure to always encourage them to stay confident and keep associating with other children who have good behavior.
How to Overcome Bullying?
There is no doubt that the effects of bullying can be long-lasting for victims, including mental disorders. All parties including the staff at school, parents of both bullies and victims, or other institutions have to stop the cases of bullying right now.
As parents of children who are victims of bullying, you can try to overcome cases of bullying by coming to school and then reporting people who abuse your children. Your action should lead the school staff to handle it directly and report it to the parents concerned.
The bullies should be stopped immediately since not handling this case will harm your children and the younger generation. I have compiled some steps that can prevent bullying; here are they:
- Instill moral values at a very young age.
- Invite children to jointly access and differentiate good deeds from actions that are not appropriate for others.
- Improve communication with your children and always accompany them in their growth and development processes.
- Teach your children to be assertive but polite, so they are not easily bullied and do not become people-pleasers.
- Encourage your children to report bullying to their teacher or school staff when their friend(s) bullies them.
- Allow your children to send messages or emails if they cannot talk face-to-face with you.
- If the bullies are your children, you can allow them to tell what happened to them and why they do this bad behaviour to their friends. You can then try to find out the causes behind their bullying. Explain to them that this is not a commendable act, and is not acceptable.
- To make them understand that the acts of bullying are not allowed, make sure to allow both bullies and victims to undergo counselling.
- Become a good role model for your children. It is no less important since, whether they realize it or not, they will imitate what you do as a parent.
Of course, it is very important for parents and teachers to give the support and cooperation to bring back the enjoyment of the learning process to your children at school without being bullied. If you’re worried that cases of bullying can obstruct the development of your children, make sure to never hesitate to talk to a psychologist about what your children experience.
Okay, you already read the information about the effects of bullying and how to overcome it. So, if you find the acts of bullying nearby, you should immediately stop it and report it to local authorities.
