Be a Buddy not a Bully Bullying is a social menace.
By: Literature Learners
Tags: Peace, Better Living, Social Change, Harmony

Be a Buddy not a Bully



Bullying is a social menace. It is a stigma on the world.Bullying can be defined as an intentional aggressive behaviour that is repeated against a person who cannot readily defend himself or herself. According to a recent report from UNESCO,30% of the world students have been victims of bullying. Silence remains one of the major reasons for the global presence of bullying. It effects the victim as well as the bully ,however the effect varies. The presence



of bullying in the world creates a negative atmosphere hampering the growth and development of its citizens .

Bullying can be physical like kicking ,hitting, punching ; social like spreading rumours, isolating the person ; verbal like the use of abusive language , teasing on the basis of colour, caste ,race, religion and nationality .The facts and statistics show that bullying starts as early as in the primary schools. In most of the cases bullying is not reported. Here the tolerance ,the fear ,the confusion in the mind of the victim forbids him to speak about it .His silence serves as a weapon in the hand of the bully who perpetrates it further. The victim suffers with mental agony ,pain ,depression ,low performance ,lack of confidence, pessimism and in worst cases it may lead to drug addiction ,crime and suicides. Even the bully who seems to be enjoying all this develop the habit of being aggressive whenever he finds that somebody is weak to defend himself ; faces lifelong adjustment issues ;becomes misuser of power which makes him a misfit in the society. He would be often found breaking the rules; enjoying the activities that law forbids and would be always found threatening one or the other .In most of the cases bullies become drug addicts and develop the criminal tendencies .



The boom in the use of technology has increased the cases of cyberbullying. Bully sends nasty messages ,images ,videos on the social media accounts and threaten and harass the victim which proves traumatic. Children who have just entered into the world of social media are the most vulnerable targets. In case they are being bullied in the school, the bullying becomes a continuous process as the bully will further perpetrates his activities by using technology.







We all must unitedly stand against bullying to free the world from this menace. The first step will be the resolution that each and every person should make that he will always be a buddy and not a bully. All the people must be made aware about their rights to speak up against bullying and it must start at the school level. The schools must have an active anti bullying programme . The program must have representatives from the students ,teachers, parents, administrative and non administrative staff and the counselor. An atmosphere of mutual respect, trust and care must be created so that the victim is confident enough that he will be heard, his problem will be solved and there will be no repercussions. The awareness programs must include the tips on the setting of passwords ,use of safe search engines ,safe sites ,the details of the helplines ,the government departments and other agencies .



The major hurdle in removing bullying from the world is silence. And it is just not the silence of the victim but the silence of bystanders as well. People must be made aware that they need to stand against this social evil for themselves as well as for the society.



As most of the cases are not reported. So onus remains on the friends, parents, teachers and well wishers to notice any kind of withdrawl symptoms, depression ,anxiety or any other unusual behaviour and find out whether bullying is the reason behind it . The bullying cycle not only includes the bully and the victim but also the passive onlookers; the companions of the bully who saw their friend bullying others but did not stop him ; the bystanders ;the family members ,the friends, the teachers ,the relatives who convinced the victim that it is the part of life.



Don’t be the silent observers and make the bullying successful .Be supportive to the victim and help him to report it to the right channel. Your voice will give support to the victim and he will learn to raise his voice .He will develop the trust that his voice will be heard . Once the bullying case is confirmed it can be solved by counselling sessions of the bully as well as the victim. The identity of the victim as well as bully must be kept secret as the purpose is the correction of the behaviour with love , trust and care. Remember, together we can fight against bullying and make the world a safe and happy place.