“Look at her!” said one of the popular girls while pointing at the quiet girl. “She looks like a fly with her shades!” (eyewear) said another while they were laughing at her. This group of popular girls were making fun of someone who was just by herself while falling in line.
The quiet girl grew up not wanting to wear eyewear because of the way they made fun of her until she had to because of her poor eyesight. That’s how bullying begins. It starts off as a joke until it gets way out of hand that they are already hurting somebody, whether psychologically or physically.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines bullying as “any unwanted aggressive behavior(s) by another youth or group of youths who are not siblings or current dating partners.” There is an intervention by CDC because bullying has become a public health problem according to stopbullying.gov site.
It should not be accepted as a part of growing up. By simply calling somebody as panget (ugly) or taba, baboy (to rudely describe those who are heavyweight) is already bullying. A boy challenging a girl to a fist fight is part of threatening someone who is less vulnerable.
More than four years ago, there was a scandalous bullying incident that happened at a prestigious school in the Philippines. The fighting was captured on video and went viral, leaving the public in shock and outraged. The victim was told by the bully to choose whether he would like bugbog o dignidad (beat up or dignity).
Without replying, the victim was physically beaten. Even though the victim was taller than the bully (smaller stature), the bully abused his know-how of taekwondo to physically harm and humiliate the victim. This recorded incident of bullying did not only happen once by the same person but became a repetitive behavior with two more videos of him bullying fellow students that surfaced on social media. As a consequence of the bully’s violent actions, he was dismissed from the school.
Cyberbullying
With the innovation of the internet, bullying has evolved to cyberbullying. According to a report issued in 2019 by UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) that works toward children’s rights, cyberbullying has become more rampant, affecting those who are 13 to 17 years old, 44% of whom are males and 43% females.
They have experienced verbal abuse and sexual messages through the internet or cellphone. To address this mounting social problem, we need to implement policies by the government and organizations to protect children and young people from both online and offline bullying. Bullying could progress to hate crimes. As reported, there is a prevalent number of hate crimes. For example, on July 27, 2022, a hate crime occurred in SoHo, Lower Manhattan. As per his Instagram, a Filipino American MMA (mixed martial arts) fighter Ro Malabanan (IG: rotheshow) used his blackbelt skills in Jiu-Jitsu to stop and subdue Samuel Frazier from further attacking and unwarrantedly assaulting people in the streets of New York. When Samuel’s victims wanted to take revenge on him, Malabanan pacified them by calling the police. Malabanan did right by calling the authorities and applying “see something, do something” when it came to witnessing bullying.
Instead of being just a bystander, he became an upstander, to stand up against bullying. This is one of the effective tools and approaches to bullying prevention and response as described in stopbullying.gov.
Don’t be a bully! Bullying does nothing good but leave scars on the perpetrators and its victims. If you are a target of a bully, speak up and seek help. Stop Bullying is encouraging schools to have policies against bullying and know what action to take. The long-term side effects to a victim can lead to mental health problems. When the bully is stopped, it prevents having a repeat offender. Bullying should never be considered as norms of a society.
Instill understanding and empathy. These are good qualities and characteristics that prevent someone from becoming a bully. When a person has empathy towards another, he does not turn to an aggressive behavior nor provoke somebody into a fight. Love. Don’t hate.
