Bullying Continued

 I personally discovered that being bullied can have a drastic affect on your life. It can make you want to avoid school or work and it can also make you seriously ill and depressed.

Bullying affects a lot of people in many numerous ways. It can also occur in many different places too, such as at school, work, in sports teams, as well as in other groups or organisations.

Bullying might be defined as any repeated action that is intended to either cause physical or emotional harm to another person. It may come in such ways as name-calling, teasing, pushing and shoving, stealing things, and of course physical violence.

Today, cyber bullying is also another aspect that can have far reaching affects on a person. This can happen through mobile text messages or certain online sites like Facebook etc. Cyber bullying can be as upsetting as normal bullying and may also have serious consequences.

If you are being bullied in any shape or form, it’s important to tell someone. Please don’t do what I did – suffer in silence for many years. These-days there are lots of people out there who really do care and many that are willing to listen. Tell your teacher, best friend, parents, other family members, doctor, or even your martial art instructor / group activity leader.

I’ve often been asked the following question; if a child is being bullied at school should they fight back.” My general answer to this question is – only if it’s absolutely necessary and only as a last resort.  Sometimes violence only creates more violence. In many cases of repeated bullying it’s really important to play-by-the-book.

What I would suggest to anyone who is currently being maltreated, is to keep a log or diary of anything that occurs. Keep track of details, dates and places. Photographic evidence may also be important of any injuries that you may have sustained. Also make sure that you ‘save’ any text message or emails. Once you have sufficient evidence, then you can present your story and your case to those willing to listen.

I believe that the most important thing to remember in this instance; don’t stop informing people until you get a response back from someone.  Keep going and never give into bullying. It’s your right as a human being.

Standing your ground is sometimes necessary. If you do have to fight to protect yourself than it’s important to defend yourself using only the appropriate force necessary.  The law is on your side but only to a certain point.

Many martial art systems do actually teach some very good self-protection techniques, but like most skills they do require a considerable amount of practice to make these self-defense drills effective.

When asked, what’s the most important aspect when learning self-defence? My answer is always the same – DEVELOP AWARENESS. It’s always best to try to avoid any situation before it actually occurs. Look out for any signs of trouble beforehand and then take appropriate action to avoid it. Prevention is always better than the cure.

If you are having problems with bullying, please accept this piece of writing as a very simplistic approach, much more in-depth information can be found by looking at the following websites: www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk or www.bullying.co.uk