Today is the world day of the fight against bullying and a very important part of this fight is awareness. It is very important to educate parents that It is not about children's games, nor about healthy competition.
Bullying affects victims to the point of being able to leave consequences for life. Actually, it also hurts the aggressor, because he gets used to maintaining his power through violence and harassment.
Main figures of bullying
Parents need to know the figures involved in bullying or bullying. This is essential to be able to recognize if our child is a potentially involved party or a spectator, in case of harassment.
If we detect any unusual behavior, it is the best way in which we will know if our child is being a victim, an aggressor or a simple bystander. In any case, the situation will have to be reported, but then we will know the best way to tackle it with respect to our son.
- The aggressor: It can be a boy or a girl and although statistics show that boys are more prone to bullying with violence and girls are more prone to psychological harassment, both sexes have the following characteristics in common:
- Aggression towards others.
- Lack of empathy with the weakest or those who are different from him.
- Justification of aggressive behavior with other people, of the type "you deserve it because ...".
- He is vindictive or turns his frustration onto another when he fails to achieve his wishes.
- The victim: It can also be a boy or a girl, with the following characteristics:
- They show great shyness, insecurity and anxiety.
- They tend to have excessive parental protection.
- They are usually less physically strong.
- They don't take home friends
- They are the least popular.
- They do not present violent or aggressive behaviors.
- They tend to get along well with teachers.
- The spectators: they are the rest of the boys and girls who witness the harassment and silence the situation for fear of becoming victims. They are of all the profiles, although in reality, they are within the average between the most popular and those who are victims of harassment, which are always the least popular.
Types of bullying
There is no single type, harassment is divided into two forms, depending on the way it is applied to the victim:
- Direct: which is the one that occurs when the victim is threatened or physically mistreated.
- Indirect: It is the one that corresponds to an isolation of the victim and insults or threats through intermediaries that the aggressor uses as pieces of his game.
Spectators, the most important figure
Whether direct or indirect harassment, bystanders are the figure that empowers the aggressor. Because the more they applaud or silence the situation, the longer it will last. This makes parental awareness of the problem essential. You cannot educate your child on a subject that you do not know, it is impossible that you can point him to the right path.
Obviously it will take time to know the situation. However, if you are aware and you know the problem, it will be easy for the topic to arise and you can recommend what to do to your child to make the right decision. You should know not to silence or support a bullying situation.
If you talk about what bullying is, how dangerous it is and how harmful it can be even for the aggressor, it is easier for the situation to be avoided, or to stop occurring if it has already started.
Awareness campaigns and workshops
Today there are awareness campaigns in which boys and girls who have been victims of bullying participate. Even bullies who have corrected their behavior. These guys They are dedicated to raising awareness about a problem that currently affects a significant part of the school population.
In many centers too there are workshops for parents. Various specialists in psychology and education, join forces to explain the situation in such a way that they can understand it well. So they can tackle a potential problem and nip it in the bud, before causing irreversible damage.
In any case, you can also go online to find out about the subject. Blogs and specialized psychology pages are a useful source of information about bullying. In this same blog you can find various articles on bullying, which can be very useful. It doesn't matter if your child is victim, aggressor or viewer.
The message of these workshops is that Bullying is not a game and it is necessary to educate and raise awareness so that our children know that it is not the correct way to achieve their goals.