The National Anti-Bullying Day falls on the second Wednesday of October every year. It is aimed at creating awareness around the effects of bullying as well as to promote intervention and preventative measures and strategies to combat the prevalence of bullying.
Bullying is an extensive and pervasive problem which has manifested malignantly as a global epidemic in the recent years. It holds many forms and is used to assert dominance or power over another person, inevitably resulting in detrimental outcomes.
Narrowing it to the South African context, there have been over 345 serious assaults (with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm) and 564 common assault cases due to bullying in the past year- of which, 9 murders and 19 attempted murders originated from school bullying.
Whilst most people have the misconception that bullying only occurs in schools, it is important to recognise the different types of bullying to realise if you are a victim, a by-stander or perpetrator and to either seek help or rectify your actions. Bullying may present in verbal, physical, relational, emotional or virtual (cyberbullying) forms.
Verbal bullying: involves name-calling, use of derogatory words, slander and hate-speech. It can be aimed at an individual (direct verbal bullying) or at a person’s family or friends (indirect verbal bullying).
Physical bullying: involves aggressive and unconsented interactions such as hitting, kicking, pushing and groping. These may cause physical bodily harm or even lead to death.
Relational bullying: involves purposely excluding an individual from events, activities and groups through social strategies and manipulation.
Cyberbullying: involves stalking, trolling, hacking and using social media and virtual platforms to incite rumours, spread misinformation about a person or blackmail them.
Emotional bullying: involves manipulating and taking advantage of a person’s emotions for personal gain or self-satisfaction, by preying upon their mental state or innocence.
Familial bullying: involves being forced to follow a specific path, by your family, even though it goes against your personal beliefs and views. When members of your family use the above types of bullying to be little your self-esteem, blackmail you and limit your opportunities.
Regardless of the type of bullying, people (especially children) may become withdrawn, develop depression, anxiety and fear society, due to the trauma caused. Bullying damages a person from the inside out as it obliterates a person’s self-esteem, sense of self-worth and mental health, often leading to drug abuse and suicide. I am sure you don’t need me to tell you the 13 reasons why.
Whilst bystander intervention can halt bullying in real-time, bystander encouragement effectuates the problem. Hence, understanding how bullying can be prevented is important and more effective. Therefore, the National Anti-Bullying day calls on organisations, schools, educators, parents, students and communities to rally together and learn about the different aspects of bullying and how to prevent it in the context it presents. It is important to teach children how to identify bullying from a young age and to inform someone who they trust if they’ve been experiencing it. It encourages victims and bystanders to be brave and report their situation when they are anchored by the fear of social status, well-being and safety. It promotes safe spaces for people to wear their uniqueness with pride and nourishes a good holistic well-being.
Let’s promote diversity, inclusivity, good cyber etiquette and shared safe spaces at schools and within our communities. Let’s teach our kids to be resilient and be unapologetically themselves (whether it’s waiving the rainbow flag high or starting a Moxie revolution). Remember, most bullies project their psychological trauma onto others and are victims of abuse themselves. Practicing empathy and routinely offering compassion, kindness and love can serve as a band aid to heal these raw wounds. However, we should stand together and advocate for those who have been victims of the past and present so that there won’t be victims of the future. Let’s #Stopbullying, let’s save lives!
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