By Abdulhafiz Mohammed
Bullying is the use of force, coercion or threat to abuse and dominate other people. This behaviour is often habitual. Behaviours used to assert such domination include physical assault, verbal harassment and such acts may be directed repeatedly towards targets. Rationalisations of such behaviour sometimes could be because of differences in race, social class, religion, gender, appearance, size, reputation or strength.
Bullying has been classified by the body of literature into different types which are nonverbal, verbal and physical behaviour. There is also the case of the recent phenomenon called cyberbullying which takes place online where people (mostly teenagers) are bullied online. Physical, verbal and relational bullying are mostly prevalent in high school and amongst teenagers, and could go on for a longer period while continuing into later stages in an individual‘s life. We hereby explain the types as follows:
Verbal bullying: This is the most common type of bullying which is oral or some form of body language which does not involve physical contact. It is when words are used to hurt someone‘s feelings or self-esteem. Examples could include; name-calling, threat, laughing at someone, mocking someone‘s voice or style of speaking.
Physical bullying: This is any kind of bullying which hurts someone‘s body or damages their self possessions. Examples could include stealing, hitting, shoving, fighting and intentionally destroying someone‘s property. Sometimes a group of teenagers would target a peer who is weaker than them and physically torture them which can quickly lead to a situation where they are being taunted and tortured by their peers.
Relational bullying: This is the type of bullying that uses relationships to hurt others. It means that the bullying is done to hurt someone‘s reputation or social standing. Relational bullying is common among teens, especially girls. Examples could include social exclusion or making someone feel left out from others.
Cyberbullying: This is the use of technological channels to harass, threaten, or embarrass someone. This includes bullying by using email, social media, text messages and cell phones. Cyberbullying is also very common among teenagers.
A victim of bullying may likely be wounded emotionally, which leads to aggression and often thinks negatively, and is noticeably rejected or isolated by peers. Low level of self-esteem has been identified as a frequent antecedent of bullying victims. It has also been shown that victims are more likely to employ self-debating or self-deprecating humour intended to entertain others at the expense of themselves or their self-esteem.
Teenagers who are bullied often show physical or emotional signs such as complaining of headache and loss of appetite, lack of interest in school activities, reluctance to go out in public and having an overall sense of sadness.
Bullying can cause loneliness, depression, anxiety or even suicide as the case may be. For the maintenance of the mental and psychological well-being of students, the Nigerian government under the Federal Ministry of Education had warned that it will no longer condone bullying in schools. This was stated by the former Minister for State for Education, Dr. Chukwuemeka in Abuja at a training of over 100 boys and girls on anti-bullying programme organized by a non-profit organization (I am the Future of Youth initiative) in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, the Federal Capital Territory, the Nigerian Police Force and the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) in August 2019. Worldwide there is anti-bullying legislation which is legislation enacted to help reduce and eliminate bullying. This legislation may be national or sub-national and is commonly aimed at ending bullying in schools and workplaces.
In conclusion, bullying is a serious problem that is unfortunately too common in high schools and nobody deserves to be bullied. If you are a victim of bullying you may feel powerless, scared, embarrassed or even depressed but you don‘t have to let people who bully get you down. Experts who studied bullying have outlined strategies that can make one interact with bullies better. Having to deal with bullies is a challenging experience but you can use the following to make yourself into a stronger person:
•Avoid bullying encounters
•Travel or walk in groups to protect yourself from bullies
•Ignore insults from people who bully
•Just feel free to walk away when someone starts bullying you.
Remember, don’t you ever allow the action of a bully to affect your self-esteem. Sometimes bullying is done out of jealousy. So adopt the high and low theory postulated by the former wife of American President, Michelle Obama. Meaning that when they go low (which is where bullying and other negative attitudes belong), we go higher.