So recently I had a few questions on
ask.fm about bullying. One of them was bullied because of weight and
the other because of looks. I answered both questions how I would
normally answer any question related to bullying. Don't be bothered
about them because it's how you look at yourself that matters, and
find someone to share your problems with. I thought this answer would
be helpful, and it is to a certain extent.
But I know that an answer like that
will never be enough for the person him/herself who is the victim of
bullying. It's not so easy just to ignore the remarks of others,
especially when the words spoken can be really nasty and hurtful, and
it can go on for a long period of time. Over time the person suffers
really badly, both mentally and physically. Their mood changes, they
get scared really easily, and they become a totally different person.
It's scary how a person who is usually hyper and cheerful can turn
into someone who is totally quiet and afraid of being sociable
anymore. The damage someone can suffer because of continuous bullying
is not just being hurt emotionally for that one or two days, it can
change the person totally.
Whatever I've said up to this point
will not make the person feel any better or make the bullying stop.
It won't help the person overcome his/her fear of being bullied in
school or at home. But I just want to let people know how serious
bullying can get. The reason for the huge number of teenage suicide
cases is getting higher and higher every year, if you remember who
Amanda Todd is, she is just one of the hundreds of thousands of
people who commit suicide every year. And the reason for many of
these suicides? Bullying, both face to face, or through being
anonymous online, yes I'm referring to ask.fm.
In Singapore itself, we already have
that many cases of bullying. Just look around in your school, the
people who are “weird” are the ones who get bullied. I'm talking
about the special needs students, who may be autistic, or physically
disabled. Not only that, people get bullied cos of their looks and
size. What was that about not judging people, society? On the
outside, the victims keep quiet and are timid, but on the inside
they're being torn apart bit by bit and sooner or later they reach
the breaking point and then...
BUT, there's is a way to stop bullying,
both in school, out of school, or even online. Most bullies are
pretty timid inside, they bully others to feel strong and all mighty.
But deep inside they too are scared of being bullied by others, so
instead of being the victim, they choose to be the culprit. What we
can do to help those being bullied is to stand up for them. I'm not
asking you to fight the bullies or even bully them back. By just
saying something like “Hey! Stop bullying him/her, it's not
funny!”, the person being bullied knows that he/she is not facing
the bullies alone. That alone make them feel better, and the more
people who stand up against the bullies for them, the more they will
feel that they're not in this fight alone.
Sure, one person standing up against a
group of bullies will not make much of a difference. But the more
people join in, the more the bullies will feel like they're being the
ones bullied instead. Of course, there's is no need to start bullying
the bullies. Bullies target people who have no one to stand up for
them, like friends. The moment others start to stand up for the
bullied, the less courage the bullies will have to continue. You
don't have to go to the extent of threatening them, but just tell
them off. One person may not make a difference but a group of people
can.
And lastly, to the bullies who are
reading this, if there are any. How would you feel if you were the
one being bullied and had no one there to help you?
(Sorry for the long read, it's not easy
to say everything I want to say in such a short post, but I hope I
got the point across :D)
