Victims of Bullies
If you have been bullied, you know how bad it feels. But you might not know how many other kids have felt exactly the same way. We were wondering what kids thought about this tough topic so we asked several boys and girls to answer some questions about bullying. Nearly half of them said they had been bullied before. Some said it was happening every day. Others said it only happened once in a while.
As you have probably guessed, some kids said they were both bullies and the victims of bullies. Because” Some kids learn to bully because they have been subjected to mean, unfair treatment themselves — by others or by their families. That’s sad, but it’s no excuse. Everyone can choose to act in new and better ways. It’s never too late.”
Most kids know what bullying is. It’s when a person is mean and hurtful toward someone else, often when that person has trouble defending him or her. The bully gets satisfaction when he or she gets a reaction out of the person being bullied. Like if a bully tells a kid, “You’re ugly!” and the kid cries and runs away, that’s satisfaction for the bully.
It can be hard for kids to know what to do if a bully bothers them. About half of the kids said they fight back. There are a lot of problems with this solution. First, one or both of the kids could get hurt. Unlike on TV, where actors are just pretending to fight, when kids punch, kick, and push each other, they can get real injuries, like bruises and cuts and broken bones.
Fighting is also against the rules (both in and out of school), so the two kids could get in trouble even if the bully started the whole thing by bullying. The most important reason not to fight is that violence isn’t a good way of solving problems. The bully still gets the satisfaction of seeing the picked-on kid get really upset.
But the good news is that more than half of the kids said they did something other than fight.
There are two keys to solving bullying, they are:
• Kids should tell adults when bullying is happening to them, a friend, or a classmate.
• Adults should take action to prevent bullying and discipline kids who are bullies.
• Grown-ups are important because they can discipline kids who are bullies, help kids who have been bullied to build their confidence and strength, and help kids who witness bullying to use their power to change things for the better.
• Without cooperation between kids and grown-ups, bullying can be a big problem that doesn’t get better. And when no one does anything, the bullied kid can feel worse and worse.