Bullying is the act of repeatedly and intentionally hurting someone who has lesser capability to defend himself. This act is very common not only in school but even at work and worse, at home. Bullying does not only crash it’s victim’s self-esteem but also has a lot more consequences which may not be readily visible but will surface only after so many years. It is important to understand the different types of bullying in order to put a stop to this unacceptable act and be vigilant in reporting these cases to the person in authority.
Know the Type of Bullying
Verbal Bullying
This type of bullying uses words to threaten, insult, intimidate, mock and put down the victim. This may also be done in the form of teasing, sarcasm, discriminatory remarks and even jokes. Other people may find this funny but for the victims this is emotional torture. They become self-conscious, insecure, embarrassed, anxious and most of all, their self-esteem is broken down into pieces. This kind of bullying should not be taken for granted because repeated verbal bullying may lead to physical assaults and violence.
Bullies choose victims whom they think are weaker. There are other types of bullying, but whatever type that a victim experiences, the victim is encouraged to speak up by using phrases like “I don’t appreciate..” or “I don’t like..” in order to let the bully know that what they are doing is wrong and they cannot mess with this person because he can stand up for himself unlike what the bully thought. Bullies bully other persons because deep inside they are insecure and it is also strongly advised to report all kinds of bullying to authorities.
Physical bullying
This form of bullying involves force or a threat to use force in order to get their victims do what they are asked to do. Examples of physical force are pushing, pinching, punching, slapping, spitting, pulling of hair, ganging up on the victim, locking the victim in an enclosed space, destructing the victim’s belongings, kicking and biting. Anything that involves hurting the victim physically is considered as physical bullying.
Persons who do this kind of bullying want to gain control over their victim and want to establish superiority. Bullying is a way for insecure people to fill in the emptiness and sadness within them. There are other kinds of bullying which you may not be aware that you are doing or you are a victim of so just keep on reading.
Social bullying
This kind of bullying is common among office mates, friends, classmates or colleagues wherein the bully makes statements or actions that offend the victim’s confidence. Some examples of these are excluding someone from group activities, spreading rumors, backstabbing, convincing others to alienate the victim in the workplace or classroom, impersonation because of racial discrimination, intimidation, hurtful stares, refusing to communicate with the victim and setting up the victim in order to make one fail.
Racial bullying
Racial bullying is directed to individuals who are discriminated because of their race, ethnicity, culture, beliefs and skin color. This kind of bullying may sometimes include physical, social and verbal bullying. Anyone may encounter this kind of bullying anywhere. Some forms of this type include refusing to seat beside or work with someone because of his race, making offensive graffiti which is directed towards a group, name calling, insulting, sarcasm, mimicking of gestures and accent and making fun of someone’s beliefs, culture, music, language, skin color and clothing. There are more types of bullying which you should be aware of in order to help stop this dilemma of almost everyone.
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is the use of social media platforms and other modern technologies in order to humiliate, harm, harass and destroy the reputation of the victim. Other common acts of cyberbullying are the use of instant messaging, emails and screenshots in order to threaten someone. Other forms also include intentionally ignoring someone online, posting screenshots or videos in order to gain sympathy and make others bash the victim, sexting, pornography and blackmailing.
Homophobic bullying
This form of bullying is directed to persons who are lesbians, gays, transgenders and bisexuals. Most of the time, persons with these kind of gender preferences are bullied verbally, but other types of bullying may also be encountered such as physical violence, damaging properties of the person, harassment and alienation or exclusion from social activities because they are “gay” or “lesbians”. This type of bullying is one of the most heartbreaking because a person is treated differently and sometimes rudely just because of being real and true to himself.
Sexual bullying
Sexual bullying is one of the most crucial and dangerous form among the different kinds of bullying. The usual targets are girls because of their physical appearance. They might be touched inappropriately or receive crude comments about their body shape. Girls may also sexually bully other girls in the form of name calling and slut shaming. Sexting or sending nude photos is also considered sexual bullying. Everyone must be extra careful in using today’s technology because nobody knows who might be the next victim.
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