Bullying is when someone intends to inflict harm, intimidate, or control someone otherwise vulnerable. It is such a destructive event that no child should ever go through bullying.
According to research, intense bullying where the victims are children causes trauma - specifically traumatic stress. It has been found that those who are experiencing trauma from bullying show symptoms of child traumatic stress.
Symptoms include withdrawal, distress, repression of feelings, and moments of re-experiencing the event from intrusive thoughts due to the bullying event. Children who experience bullying may also become hyperaroused - where their body is always on alert for any imminent threat.
In many cases, too, victims of bullying will grow and become bullies - as they externalise their emotions from their experience as a victim. They may display signs of aggression, hyperactivity, and delinquency.
Not only that, victims of physical bullying will get injured, too - and in some cases so severe that it may even be life-threatening.
These are all the effects of bullying on our children, which is painful to write about. That pain is exemplified when I learned that at least one in four children is a sufferer of bullying.
It is horrible - but should our child be the unlucky victim of bullying, what can we do to help support them moving forward from the event?
For firsts, we can protect our children from future bullying incidents. Ensure that the victim is separated far from the bully with no contact and space for any future bullying events from happening.
We can help to teach them is to teach them how to be assertive. This includes telling those who are being bullied into saying no and stand up for themselves, ignore and walk away, and tell a trusted adult. Teach children not to retaliate and pretend not to be bothered by the incident.
We can also provide counselling sessions that involve expressive activities for them to have a safe outlet to express and label their feelings from the bullying event, which then provides additional space for discussion on what happened. Expressive activities can be drawing, painting, storytelling - any activities that give room for labelling emotions and discussing events.
Finally, to help them move on from this bullying event, we can help connect victims with others and build friendships with them.
Having a safe group of support makes it easier for the victim to move on, as the victim will have someone to lean on should he be in any distress again. Furthermore, it will reduce the chances of the victim being bullied again, as bullying cases are typically isolated to one person. Resilience is also quickly built when there is a safe group of support for the victim to lean on, allowing the victim to have a more substantial capability to build immunity and tackle should, touch wood, another bullying case happens to him.
Were you a victim of bullying when you were young? Do you happen to know any other coping methods to help the young who are victims of bullying? Share it in the comments below or on our Instagram post!
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