Bullying — a situation that has become a common occurrence around the world. Whether one is in school or at work, he may never escape the threat of being bullied. While bullying is not only limited to learning centers, it is however most common in these kind of places. Bullying inside the school is happening at very alarming frequency. But what is bullying?
Bullying is not just mere abuse of power or authority. It is also not the same as assault or harassment, although bullying could be constituted of such actions. Bullying could be defined as intentional aggressiveness towards persons perceived as lesser in terms of strength, power, stature, social status and even authority. The bullying act could come either verbally or physically and typically places the victim under a lot of stress.
In school, bullying even comes to the point where students become afraid of attending class because of the fear of bullies. Typical acts of bullying include victims being used by bullies as their personal gophers or as their cash coffers. Other typical acts of bullying include bullies playing insensitive pranks on their victims (i.e. showering them with water while walking on the hallway) as well as making sure that their victims are embarrassed in front of a number of classmates or schoolmates.
The role parents play
Parents’ intervention and prevention are typically needed to fight back against bullying. This does not mean that a parent should do things that would allow him or her to exact revenge against his/her child’s bullies. This means that parents could do things that would either prevent their children from becoming bullies or becoming the victim of bullies. In either of the two, parents shoulder the responsibility and duty to make sure that their children are growing up properly.
The existence of bullies could be traced from homes where parents — either the father or mother — are not so involved in the parenting process, especially during the formative years of their children. Children who grew up in a family where physical and verbal violence is a normal way to handle household issues and problems view such actions as normal. They think the physical and verbal abuse is just normal, even when dealing with other people who they think might be inferior to them. Thus, parents who are responsible enough in handling their family and their children could prevent more young people from becoming bullies. This could be considered as the best way to fight bullying. When there is one less bully in the world, there is also one less victim of bullying.
Still a problem
One main reason why bullying still occurs in schools is that victims typically would not report incidence of bullying, even to their parents. This prevents academic tutors and administrators and, most of all, parents from doing any intervention act. When no one intervenes, bullies and victims will keep on increasing in numbers. Bullies feel the power surging when they bully, while victims do not report for fear that the situation would only get worse. Parents must always find ways to encourage their children to report bullying incidents for them to be able to intervene promptly and appropriately.
In the end, it always depends on the parents on how they will prevent bullying or intervene when such acts occur to their children.
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About the author
Lindsey is a working mom with three children aged 3, 6 and 9. She is very active in parent-school activities despite working as an assistant counselor at a medium-sized firm. She written a research paper on bullying and also had essays written on the topic.
