No one deserves to be mistreated despite the person's socioeconomic status. Everyone is worthy of love and respect. This is another special prompt by and it's my joy to share my thoughts on it.
Bullying is defined as a verbal or physical aggressive behaviour that is repeated over time by a person or a group of people. On the other hand, a bully is an individual who is physically or emotionally abusive to others on purpose, particularly to those they consider to be defenseless or to have less authority or advantage.
Bullying can come in different types viz: Verbal(when words are used to harm others like insults)Physical (using physical force on others like beating) Relational(when someone is excluded from a social group through intimidation) and Reactive (when a former victim of bullying does same to others).
My Sister's Victimisation Story
Though I've never been bullied before personally but my elder sister once was when we were in secondary school (high school).
She was a class higher than me and there was a particular set of persons in her class who were always picking up on her probably because of her body size and other inabilities she had then.
This made me so angry with those sect of persons because sometimes I'd find her crying at home or even in school or shouting at the top of her voice to those bullies in her class(since her class was just next to mine) as I hear them say hurtful things about her.
I told her many times that she shouldn't listen to what they were saying, her body size and weight was perfect and she was beautiful but she couldn't listen. She felt so victimised and soon began skipping meals in a bid to reduce her weight.
Then came the Wounds and finally Healing
Not too long after that, she'd pass out in class and my parents would have to leave work to come to my school take her to the hospital. Soon, she became Asthamtic because of this.
My parents were very worried about the situation and in addition to reporting to the school authorities about this, my Dad did the work of talking to her and teaching her to stand for herself when such things were being done to her.
Though it took some time but she began to understand her worth, recognize her abilities, purpose and eventually, she grew up to become a healthy, strong, bold, resourceful and resilient woman.
Say No To Bullying
Looking at what my sister went through, it helped me understand that people accord to you the value you give to yourself. You are a person of worth, blessed with numerous capabilities and worthy of love and care.
Bullies are just emotionally detached weaklings who see hurting others intentionally as a way of showing power, getting a reward, retaliating for being bullied themselves by others or responding to a perceived threat posed by someone or something.
They need healing, attention and love themselves that's why they do what they do.
I encourage parents, adults and care givers to train their children/ ward to be loving, respectful and bold. To be able to understand others, be strong and stand tall in the face of difficulties. This would sure go a long way in eradicating bullying in homes and societies.
Till next time, stand up and stand out 💪
Kindly feel free to be a part of the discussion here