The 20 myths about bullying

Bullying or school harassment is a social phenomenon that unfortunately is frequent in the school environment and is characterized by an intention direct physical or psychological abuse by one or more people towards a classmate, inside and/or outside the center educational.

This is one of the most studied social dynamics of abuse in the field of child and social psychology, which is why Psychology and education professionals have developed various intervention strategies to prevent and eradicate acts of bullying in the workplace. classroom.

However, part of the solution to combat bullying is to disprove widespread myths about bullying. Let's see what are some of the most harmful.

The most common myths about bullying

Although it is a common problem in the lives of many boys and girls, bullying continues to be an unknown subject for many people, and from which many people continue to maintain harmful ideas or myths that do not correspond to the reality of the problem.

Here you will find the main myths about bullying that still exist in today's society.

1. They are children's things

Considering that an act as serious as bullying is normal at that age and even that it is a game is a irresponsible way of downplaying a social dynamic that can end up generating mental health problems in the victim.

Saying that they are children's things only removes responsibility from the abusers and make the victim believe that his anguish and her suffering are not really that bad.

• Related article: "Child psychology: a practical guide for fathers and mothers"

2. That experience makes you stronger

Saying that bullying strengthens character or makes those who suffer it stronger is not knowing the great consequences that bullying can have on the victims, both in childhood and in Adults.

Most people who have been through bullying situations tend to develop cases of anxiety, depression, traumas, stress, obsessive-compulsive disorder and a long list of possible psychological disorders.

3. It's part of growing

Again, normalizing bullying to the point of considering it to be a normal stage of school life or natural growth, all it does is downplay the importance and seriousness of the problem.

Instead of normalizing it, what adults, both teachers and parents, should do is identify this type of bullying dynamic as soon as possible. and solve them as soon as possible, in a planned manner and through effective protocols.

Similarly, the responsibility of classmates is to report whenever they see a case of bullying against any student.

4. It is bullying when there is physical aggression

As indicated at the beginning of the article, there are many forms of bullying: the most visible are aggressions but there are also forms of psychological harassment, which are more difficult to identify but equally harmful.

Psychology professionals believe that some forms of psychological bullying can be worse than certain physical assaults, since they cause damage to the personality or self-esteem of the victim and can leave a permanent mark on the mental health of the affected person.

• You may be interested in: "Examples of psychological violence (explained)"

5. words don't hurt

Thus, we can come to the conclusion that both words and insults and violence psychological are forms of psychological aggression that can do more damage to the victim than punching or the kicks.

The insults uttered systematically against a person can permanently erode both the person's mental health, as well as their personality and level of self-esteem.

6. The victims are weak people

The victims of bullying almost never obey the same pattern and are usually people from very diverse social, cultural, gender and physical constitution backgrounds.

Contrary to popular opinion, the victims are not always weak, short or timid children, and they do not always come from disadvantaged or unstructured backgrounds.

7. Cyberbullying is not that serious

Cyberbullying is the form of harassment that occurs in the digital sphere and in which the perpetrators exercise the harassment of a victim from their social networks and using all kinds of images of the victim, memes or messages hurtful.

Although some people consider that it may be a milder way of harassing, the truth is that It can affect the mental health of the victim to the same or greater extent than with bullying classic.

8. Any discussion is bullying

Some educators may come to consider that any display of disagreement or angry discussion between peers can be considered bullying.

Bullying is carried out with the intention of humiliating and hurting the other person and usually pits several people against just one; while a normal discussion is motivated by a divergence of opinion.

9. girls don't bully

There is an unsubstantiated option that affirms that girls do not bully and that this is exclusive to boys.

The reality is that bullying is carried out by both girls and boys and that when it comes to bullying, neither the gender nor the personal circumstances of the victim matter.

10. It's a fashion

Because more and more cases of bullying are known, some people may come to consider that there is more bullying today than decades ago.

This change in social and school dynamics is simply explained by the fact that bullying was not previously reported and there was not as much social awareness as there is today.

11. Does not cause long-term damage

Bullying can cause many consequences in the people who suffer it, both physically and intellectually and psychologically in cases of more serious bullying.

Systematic insults, threats, humiliation and permanent harassment can lead to cause serious mental health problems in victims, that is why you should not frivolize with the aftermath.

• Related article: "Mental health: definition and characteristics according to psychology"

12. There are people who deserve it

No matter how bad someone may fall for us or no matter how much we think someone deserves it, no one is deserving of going through a situation as serious as bullying. Among other things, because these situations aggravate relational problems that already existed before.

The basis of coexistence is respect among all the people who coexist in a school or educational center, without going to the extreme of harassing anyone or wishing bullying for anyone.

13. Bullying is easy to recognize

Although physical bullying is easily recognizable, bullying or psychological harassment is more subtle and difficult to identify, a task for which both teachers and parents must take responsibility.

Even if the bullying is sneaky and mild, professional educators must implement the best techniques and strategies to detect when bullying is taking place.

14. Ignoring it will make it go away

Despite the fact that many people may believe this, bullies do not follow a rational logic and no matter how much they are ignored, they will not always cease their efforts to harm the victim; sometimes the lack of negative repercussions encourages them more and they even compete with each other to see who can go the furthest.

That is why, in order to end the bullying dynamics, it is necessary to intervene as soon as possible, both by teachers and by classmates and parents.

15. Violence is answered with violence

Although on many occasions there is a temptation to teach the victim that they must defend themselves with violence and paying the harasser or harassers in the same coin, the truth is that it cannot always be resolved So.

On many occasions, violence only triggers more violence and can cause the victim to also end up getting into trouble and being punished for violent acts.

16. children who complain are weak

Associating children who report their case with weakness or immaturity is a big mistake that what it does is revictimize the victim.

Rather, it is important to recognize the courage of children who report and reassure them that they are doing their best to overcome the problem.

17. Victims always tell an adult

Unfortunately, victims do not always seek help from an adult and many times they keep the bullying situation to themselves, due to the self esteem problems and the shame they suffer.

The best thing to do for anyone who finds themselves in this situation is to report the bullying they are receiving from teachers and parents as soon as possible.

18. Bullying is impossible to stop

Bullying can be easily stopped as long as standardized protocols based on scientific evidence are applied.

By placing the case in the hands of professionals and parents, teachers and students rowing in the same direction together, bullying can be overcome and the harassment stopped.

19. Cyberbullying starts in high school

Cyberbullying usually appears at 14 or 15 years of age and up, however it can also occur in younger children and adolescents, such as 13 or even 11.

This type of bullying only requires a user connected to the internet or to certain social networks, since it can affect any boy or girl.

20. Parents and teachers don't know anything

Teachers are often aware of the situation of abuse but sometimes end up not doing anything about it.

On the contrary, the role of parents is also to identify this type of problem in their children, which they often do successfully.