Bullying is a form of violence.  It is deliberate behavior that is usually repeated and causes harm to someone else. It is behavior in which a person intentionally and repeatedly causes any person physical, emotional, or mental injury. An example would be if someone was calling you names, spreading rumors and lies that are not true so other people won’t like you, or it may cause physical violence as well.

Usually bullies do this out of jealously, attention seeking, or it makes them feel powerful or better about themselves if they can put someone else down. Usually this happens in middle school age adolescents, but unfortunately, it happens in high school as well. Especially if the person being the bully hasn’t matured very much. Most of us have witnessed this in some form or another. I know I have!

There is direct bullying, indirect bullying, cyberbullying, emotional bullying, physical bullying, etc. All of these cause harm and can be very serious.  For instance, a little girl in Florida committed suicide after being bullied for a year. Bullying can cause a person to have symptoms of  depression, low self-esteem, and emotional distress, to name a few.

Bystanders have the power to help put an end to a bully’s behavior. They can either take negative action by reinforcing the bully or take positive action that will discourage the bullying by standing up for the victim. They can ask adults and peers to help. The bully feeds off of attention and power, they want everyone to believe what isn’t true or take wrong actions by calling the person names or putting them down in some way or hitting and kicking them. By being a passive bystander, it helps the bully to continue. Be a positive bystander and stand up for the victim! That will help to take the attention and power from the bully and he or she may realize that what they are doing is wrong. Bullying is serious business so don’t participate in it and stand up for the victim…it’s the right thing to do!