Verbal Bullying


What is verbal bullying? – This is basically any form of verbal abuse such as name calling, spreading rumors and threatening someone. Verbal bullying is one of the most common types of bullying.

 

What are the effects? – Many victims of verbal bullying are affected in real life. Verbal bullying can affect someone’s self image and destroy someone emotional and can cause psychological issues. This type of bullying can lead to a decrease in self-esteem as well as leading some individuals to depression. In some cases verbal bullying can reach a point to where the victim is so depressed that they want to escape it more than anything that they turn to Drug Abuse, Alcohol Abuse, Self Harming Or In Some Cases Suicide. Overall words have a very strong power that’s hard to defeat. In reality verbal bullying can have very serious consequences that are sometimes even viewable. Even if the bully never touches the victim!

 

So How Can I Help? – Verbal Bullying can be very hard for teachers, parents and police to detect since no physical harm takes place, If you are a parent you should be aware of what is going on in your children’s life and be a person that they can turn to if bullying of any kind is taking place.

Some signs that the child might be a victim of insults from verbal bullies include reluctance to go to school, complaints that no one likes him or her, prolonged depression, a drop in school performance or drastic changes in eating and sleeping patterns.

It is difficult to deal with verbal bullies, but there are some things that the child can try in order to avoid bullies. It takes a lot of effort from the child and support from family and friends. Here are some things that may help the child deal with a verbal bully:

  • Ignore the bully: This is beyond difficult, but if you can shrug off insults and provide no reaction, there is a chance that eventually the bully will move on to someone who provides a more interesting and responsive target. This is not always the case but it should be one of the first things you try.
  • Tell an authority figure: A trusted teacher can make things a little easier, by being on the lookout for bullying behavior. Unfortunately, it is hard to catch verbal bullies, and even harder to punish them, since it is difficult to prove that they have been involved in such behavior. But telling someone at school can be a relief.
  • Remain civil: Do not resort to being mean yourself. Many bullies lose interest if you do not sink to their level. Also, if you act rudely and aggressively yourself, you may invite a physical confrontation, which could add physical pain to the emotional pain.
  • Try to focus on your friends: If the child has loyal friends, encourage him or her to focus on those friends so that they have some positive influences. Additionally, a victim that is surrounded by friends can stop a verbal bully from bullying them at that certain point.
  • Look for other sources of enjoyment: After school activities and other interests and hobbies can help you take your mind off of the verbal bullying.

In the end, it is quite difficult to stop verbal bullying. However, you can set a good example for the children by speaking kindly of other people and not resorting to being mean yourself. This is quite important, since many verbal bullies first learn to dominate others with words by listening to their parents, and how they interact with others.

 

Sources – http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/

­