What Should You Do If You’re Being Bullied? (Step 2)
By Antoine G Larosiliere
“She posted something about me being a slut, and before I knew it half of the school shared it.”
“Someone wrote on the bathroom stall that I had bed bugs, then everyone stayed away from me during lunch.”
“He told his friend that I’m “gay,” now all these boys keep calling me gay.”
According to the Pew Research Center survey, “59% of U.S. teens have been bullied or harassed online.” What should you do if you’re being bullied? Once you’ve established that the act is bullying because it is intentional, shows a clear imbalance of power and it repeats, or, has the potential to repeat; you now must report it immediately. Report it to a parent, teacher, administrator, pastor, or counselor. You can also use anonymous reporting apps to report what has happened to you or someone else.
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, times have changed; Today, bullying is not as simple. Bullying is more sophisticated, damaging and far-reaching. Technology and social media allows bullying behaviors to become easy to execute. The bullies are harder to identify which makes the consequences less likely. Back when I was growing up, kids could leave school, go home and feel safe. Today, technology follows us everywhere and so does the abuse, leaving victims no break or breathing room from continuous attacks.
“What I’m hoping you noticed is that all three situations repeated and continued even though the initial culprit did it once.”
Bullying has to “repeat” or have the “potential to repeat.”
The quotes I began this article with have one thing in common. Yes, they are all bullying, but that’s not the answer I’m looking for. What I’m hoping you noticed is that all three situations repeated and continued even though the initial culprit did it once. What should you do if you’re being bullied? This leads me to the part of the definition of bullying I want to talk about. Bullying has to “repeat” or have the “potential to repeat.” If the unwanted behavior continues even after you say stop, then it qualifies as being repetitive.
Are they “just mean?”
Most physical and verbal forms of bullying need to repeat to be identified as bullying. If someone teases you once, takes your belongings once, pushes you once; they’re just mean. It’s not bullying. But if it happens more than once, where a pattern can be determined, whether it’s day or every week, then that repetitive pattern qualifies it as bullying. But not all bullying must repeat to qualify.
Others repeated it for you
So let’s take a closer look at the “potential to repeat” part of the definition of bullying. Cyber bullying, and social bullying on the other hand, does not have to repeat initially to qualify as bullying. In the case of cyber bullying, you only have to post something mean once; but that post can be retweeted, shared, and reposted by others. So even though you only posted it once, other’s repeated it for you. The same thing occurs in social bullying situations. If you exclude someone in front of others whom you have influence over, that exclusion can begin to repeat amongst the people you have influenced even though you only did it once.
What should you do if you’re being bullied? Report it immediately!
What should you do if you’re being bullied? In the cases of cyberbullying and social bullying it’s too public in the sense that telling one person to stop, won’t work. You would have to go around telling everyone who can potentially repeat the specified behavior to stop, which would be futile. Your best bet is to report it, immediately. Report it to a parent, teacher, administrator, pastor, or counselor. There are even anonymous reporting Apps available to report what has happened to you or someone else. The best apps I came across are BRIM Anti-Bullying App, Stay Safe. Speak Up! App, and SafeZone-Report It App. Too many people are taking their own lives or the lives of others to not report it or seek help.
I hope this has been helpful. Many strategies including the one I just mentioned can also be found in the novel “The Bully Experience” Daniel’s Story. Also subscribe to the YouTube channel for more insight to these topics.
The Bully Experience "Daniel's Story"
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