Bullying Stats/Facts

Bullying harassment may include verbal bullying, cyber cullying, text bullying, etc...and may occur as part of workplace harassment, or school bullying. This article helps define bullying harassment and offers tips on dealing with bullying harassment. Help stop bullying now.

One of the issues that many of us deal with while growing up is bullying harassment. Bullying harassment is common, but that does not mean that it should be acceptable. It is a good idea to teach your children ways to avoid bullies, and also to teach them to treat others with respect. Indeed, it is possible for some who have been harassed to become bullies themselves in some situations.

What is bullying harassment?

A bully is someone who is overbearing or cruel. The aim of bullying is to cause embarrassment and humiliation in the subject. Often, a bully is someone who is bigger or stronger in some way, and who harasses those who are smaller or weaker. Harassment is systematically bothering someone to the point where the environment becomes dangerous in some way. Bullying harassment is aimed at intimidation, and a desire to dominate for some reason.

It is important to note that bullying is not just physical behavior. While many people think of bullying in terms of physical harm and danger, this is not the only type of bullying harassment out there. It is also possible to bully people emotionally, verbally or electronically - without ever laying a finger on the victims. It is important to note that non-physical forms of bullying harassment can be just as traumatizing as physical bullying. Indeed, physical signs of bullying often disappear long before the psychological effects of emotional, verbal or electronic bullying disappear.

Even in its non-physical forms, bullying harassment is meant to intimidate and terrorize the victim. Saying rude and hurtful things habitually, turning friends, classmates and co-workers against someone, or harassing someone online or via text message, are all forms of bullying. These types of bullying can lead to ostracizing the victim, as well as inflicting emotional damage. The idea is to raise oneself up by tearing someone down and ruining his or her reputation. This can drive victims into depression, anti-social behavior and even substance abuse.

Dealing with bullying harassment

It can be difficult to deal with bullying harassment. However, since bullying is a behavior aimed at choosing someone who appears weak and then intimidating him or her further, there are some techniques that can help stave off bullies:

• Showing good posture indicates confidence, and may reduce someone’s likelihood of being a target.
• Making eye contact can also communicate that you are not vulnerable.
• Avoid isolated areas. Try to stay in public areas, where there are likely to be witnesses - especially authority figures - to the bullying behavior.
• Keep friends around. Many bullies are not interested in picking on someone who has a support system. Try to go places with friends, so that you are not alone.
• Runaway. This can be difficult, especially for children. However, it is better to leave the situation than to comply with a bully’s demands.
• Tell an authority figure. Children should be taught to notify authority figures of bullying behavior. This can be a good move, since it will bring the bully to the attention of those who can keep an eye on things.

You will need to show that you are willing to listen to your child, and that you will take him or her seriously. Try not to judge, and teach your child tactics to help him or her avoid becoming a target. If he or she is a target, let someone (teachers, etc.) about the problem. You can try to approach the parents of the bully, but they might not be willing to hear the truth. It is important, though, that your attempts to talk to a bully’s parents do not end up in conflict.

In the end, the best thing to do is to work with other parents and teachers to help show those in the school that bullying is not something that will be tolerated. This can nip the problem in the bud, as long as everyone makes an effort to stop bullying.