Bullying and how to navigate it
- What is bullying
- What getting bullied can lead to
- Why do people bully others?
- What to do when I or a friend is getting bullied
- What helps with bullying on social media
- What to say to parents or teachers
- How to improve your situation and well-being
One out of every five students report being bullied. This already starts with unfriendly comments or insulting jokes and it happens in every schools and nearly every classroom.
As it has crucial impacts on mental health, here you will find summarized the most important facts about bullying and strategies to handle it if you or someone you know is affected.
Causes and consequences of bullying
What is bullying?
Bullying does not include friendly teasing or an argument between two equally strong students.
Although bullying can always happen as soon as a bigger group of people get together, it often decreases with age.
What bullying can lead to
Did you know? Being a bully increases your risk of breaking the law and having problems with aggression and violence in the long run.
We’re not just talking about bullying as a health problem here. Being safe in school is essential, therefore we consider bullying a serious violation of fundamental human rights.
What can you do if it happens?
Why do people bully each other?
To be completely honest with you here: If you’re the target, you probably can’t end bullying all by yourself. But that also doesn’t mean you have to endure it forever.
Bullying can make you feel that you’re weird or that something is wrong with you. That’s not true!
And since you’re not the reason for the bullying, simply changing your behavior probably won’t help.
One of the criteria for bullying is a power imbalance. That automatically means it’s very difficult for the target to change anything on their own.
Did you know? Being a bully increases your risk of breaking the law and having problems with aggression and violence in the long run.
We’re not just talking about bullying as a health problem here. Being safe in school is essential, therefore we consider bullying a serious violation of fundamental human rights.
You might feel better going into this conversation a little prepared. The following questions can help:
- Who is involved in the bullying?
- What exactly are they doing?
- Around when did the bullying start?
- When, where and how often does it usually happen? (during breaks, after school, online…)
- If there’s something you’re really scared of (maybe taking that particular bus, or sitting in the library with the bullies…), you should mention that, too.
What helps with bullying on social media?
If you experience bullying via social media, you should talk to an adult you trust about it. That can be a parent or a teacher, for example.
If you’re currently having a hard time, it’s best to avoid the apps in question for a while. Also, please don’t hesitate to block people, delete comments, blacklist specific words etc. If it’s possible, try to report the bullies on the app.
What helps with bullying on social media?
Imagine your life as scales with things drawing your strength on one and things giving you strength on the other side. In the long run, these scales should be mostly balanced for you to feel happy.
Bullying can be a very heavy stone on the side that draws your strength. The longer it happens and the worse it is, the heavier the stone. That means your scales can tip to the bad side – even if you have a lot in your life that gives you strength.
Gaining strength
To balance out the scales, you need to know what gives you strength. That could be activities you really like, or something that helps you relax, or people you like spending time with. If you can’t really think of anything right now, try to remember if you had stuff like that in the past.note: You can use them to balance out the scales a little – but that won’t solve the problem of bullying, especially not in the long run. To get rid of the huge stone that is bullying, you still need help from an adult.
Professional support
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Get help
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