Bullying
is a very common and serious problem that teenagers face all over the
world. It is something most people have been through in their school
life and have tried to ignore, but many of the bullied have been
mentally affected by all those comments and actions from the bullies.
Ways of bullying may range from seemingly harmless jokes, comments
and spreading rumors to pranking, verbal if not physical violence. If
it is not taken seriously, the person affected by this can go into
depression and isolate themselves from their peers and even their
family. In the worst cases they can even go as far as to harm
themselves or commit suicide.
Even
though no reason can be significant enough to justify bullying, the
main causes are prejudices and stereotypes created by our society and
especially by this generation. One of the main groups of people who
are victims of bullying in almost every school are the so-called
nerds. These are the studious and (not necessarily) introverted
students who do not indulge in ordinary high-school activities like
gossiping or partying. These kind of people are ostracized by their
peers and in some cases forced to help others to cheat in their
classes for better grades. This is one of the main reasons for their
low levels of self-esteem and distrusting nature.
Our
modern body image is another cause for bullying of specific
individuals. Being dark-skinned or overweight can make you victim of
bullying in most schools as our generation idolizes “white”,
skinny celebrities. In my opinion, this obsession over a fair skin
complexion is like a hangover-effect from the colonial time. Anyone
with this type of a figure and complexion are considered beautiful
and those who do not fulfill these beauty standards are shunned. This
often results in rude jokes, pranks and disrespect for the bullied
person and this affects them mentally. They may even start disliking
their bodies or themselves and may not feel comfortable in their
skins.
In
many private schools there is the problem that students, who stem
from the middle-class or low-income earning families are
discriminated and bullied. They are belittled because they do not
have branded products or because their English sounds too
“low-class”. The constant rude remarks and laughter that they
experience may distract and completely demotivate them from studying
or even focusing on their aims in life. Of course, not everyone can
be generalized to this statement. Some people prove the others wrong
by putting in their best efforts and achieving their goals, but they
are exceptions.
Bullying,
for whatever reason it may be, really impacts the lives of the
bullied and the bullies. The bullied ones have difficulties with
their own character and appearance as they wonder if it is their
fault that everyone disrespects them. They have serious trust issues
for a major part of their lives, are very defensive due to all these
negative experiences and do not understand the value of their
uniqueness. They try to get rid of their individuality and become
“normal”, which can even lead to an identity crisis as they are
not being accepted by their peers. The bullies do not understand the
difference between respect and fear and live delusional lives until
they realize their mistakes. They may never realize how the problems
that they created in some other individual's life may have hurt and
impacted them this deeply. They will never learn until they
experience it themselves.
However
we cannot generalize and say that bullies are always the “bad”
ones in this story. Who knows what might have cause them to behave
this way to others? They might have even been bullied or mishandled
in the past. Maybe that is just how they let out all the anger,
frustration or stress that has been pent up inside them. I know from
my own experience that life can be very difficult and unfair. But it
gives no one the right to treat another person without any respect or
equality.
Some
say that bullying can never be stopped and will always prevail in
every school. I too agree with them, but only up to a certain extent.
Of course bullying will not stop if no one takes any action against
it. Of course it will never stop until we all realize that at some
point in our lives we had been on either one side of this problem:
the bully or the bullied. But it not enough to just realize this.
Victims of bullying should acknowledge their strengths and weaknesses
and not let themselves be defined by their peers. They should
appreciate their individuality and empower themselves. The same way,
when bullies realize what they have done, they should take a step
towards respecting others and treating them equally. Most
importantly, they should forgive anyone who was a reason for their
attitude towards others and also forgive themselves.
– R
*
I'm not rude, I'm outspoken.
