It seems like everywhere I go I see bullying. Amanda Todd committed suicide after years of relentless bullying after being targeted by a pedophile. Reddit has been a haven for bullies for years. A highly celebrated bully who got tremendous karma and prestige had his real life identity revealed. If you have the stomach for it, google violentacrez and prepare to be disgusted and horrified. He created forums devoted to posting creepy photographs of young girls that were taken and posted without consent. At school I am dealing with many young bullies who treat each other terribly. People are spreading memes on Facebook promoting corporal punishment as the cure for unruly children. TV and movies seem to glorify bullying. It is clear to me that it is a pretty big deal and a problem that needs to be dealt with. So what are we going to do about bullying?
I am going to start off by saying that bullying seems to be too mild of a term to describe the behavior of many perpetrators. The name-calling that children do does not compare to what goes on on the Internet. It doesn’t just happen on reddit, it happens on any unmoderated comment section. YouTube comments are completely unreadable and are infested with unintelligible garbage. I feel myself getting dumber if I attempt to consume this junk food for the brain. Bullying is a catch-all term for a lot of harmful behavior which includes posting non-consensual porn, promoting child-beating as the cure for bullying, gossip, spreading rumors behind other peoples’ backs, name-calling, sexual harassment and physical abuse. But for now I suppose I will have to content myself with the term bullying. At any rate, there are a lot of things that can be done to deal with bullying. Here is my list of ways to combat bullying. Are you ready?
1. Talk to kids about bullying. Explain to them all the different ways it can manifest. Repeating gossip and rumors about people is a form of bullying. Saying “OMG do you know what she said about you?” is bullying. If you repeat trash talk that other people are saying, you are part of it. If someone tells you a nasty story, tell them that you aren’t going to hang out with them anymore. This applies to adults as well. Don’t spread rumors.
2. Stop entertaining yourself with mindless trash. Here comes Honey Boo Boo promotes hate against poor people. The entertainment comes from feeling better than them. You aren’t better, you are just luckier. Watching Hoarders seem to encourage people to look down at others for being mentally ill. It’s obnoxious. Cut it out already.
3. Be a good role model for your kids. Little pitchers have big ears. If they hear you gossiping they will do it too. If they see you watching trash tv they will watch it with you and think it’s cool.
4. Apologize when you catch yourself acting like a jerk. We have all participated in bullying. I have done it and you have done it. Learn from your mistakes and do your best to be better. Don’t be a bystander.
5. Support people that are being targeted.
That’s all I have for right now. I will add to this list if I think of anything else. I feel a lot better getting that off my chest. It sure did sound awfully school marmish, didn’t it?
nettleburn 
One Comment
All excellent ideas!