Bullying in short, sucks. It is a traumatising experience for the ones at its receiving end, and a degrading one to the ones dishing it out.
By definition, bullying is an act of unprovoked, unnecessary and unprofessional assault by those who do not have any actual authority to do so but claim to have the right. The assault may be verbal, physical or otherwise. This may take place anywhere to anyone anytime and is more than a crime. It's a grave issue that may result in long term problems.
It is present in all parts of the society but is especially prevalent in schools. It is also seen in workplaces, neighbourhoods, colleges etc. Bullying among students is considered as the most widespread and dangerous form, as kids are more prone to be affected by this, negatively impacting their character build up and personality development. Bullies and those who are bullied are both affected adversely by bullying if not tackled properly. But this is still far from being able to be executed well as bullying has been and is still normalised by a lot of people as an act of "ice breaking" and "a joke". What they do not realise is that the effects of this apparently harmless act is fear, stress and abnormal behaviour of the victims in a variety of ways including rage, depression, seclusion, lack of focus, even fevers or headaches. The individuals who are subjected to bullying tend to have multiple psychological and even physical issues due to the trauma. The trauma doesn't necessarily need any kind of physical impact or contact at all. Insults and slurs are far more effective. Sticks and stones may break bones, but words leave a psychological wound in them that may never heal. The physical skirmishes and pushes amplify this embarrassment.
Different people react differently. As a victim, the main ways they react are by being sad or angry. Also, the victims shut themselves out and are afraid to make outside contact. They become secluded and insecure. Some may cry secretly and others hit back. Either way, Ninety percent of the time it doesn't bring any positive change to the situation whatsoever. Few hit back and get away, and the bullies become scared enough to stop. But that's just rare cases. And they may eventually turn into bullies too. Mostly, the anger just results in more violence and hurt the victim. And the sadness just cages their minds up. These people may grow up to be broken and fall short of their true potential, which is an incredibly sad thing to happen.
Also, the bullies. They have also broken angels who need help. Not everyone is born a bully. Some rare ones are, with inborn psychological issues. But they also need and deserve help. And helping a bully see the light is a lot more effective in tackling the problem of bullying than helping a victim escape. The bullies may be driven angry by the situations at home, wrong friends' circle, previously being bullied etc. By helping them, we can break the vicious cycle of bullying, where the hunted later becomes the hunter and more bullied victims are born.
What helps the most is realisation that the problem exists and pinpointing the source. Bullying escalates to a severe level due to the fact that people refuse to acknowledge it as such. The normalisation of Bullying is a great boulder in the path to destroying Bullying. This has to be overcome. The people around who are not necessarily authority, but of the same level can help in this. The friends of the victim and the bully can help change them. Especially in the case of students, it's miraculous what friends can achieve. No one can help as much as the same age group can because no one connects as much they do. Therapy, talking, group talks and in the case of students, Parents and Teachers can do a great deal too.
The issue of bullying exists. And it is BAD. Only someone who's been through that realises how bad it is. And the combined effort is needed to make sure that it dies and stays dead.
