Today I will discuss
some of the characteristics that according to “The causes and nature of bullying and social exclusion in schools”,
by Maria el Mar Badia Martin, are exhibited by bullies, victims, and
bully/victims. According to the text, victims of bullying are “often targeted
because they are considered different,” which usually entails being “overweight,
small, [having] a learning disability, or [being] overly sensitive.” However, I
think it is important to realize that victims may be equally targeted for having
the opposite traits, such as being underweight, being extremely tall, being
very intelligent, or being emotionally indifferent. As a result, I believe that
the key word found within Badia Martin’s description of victims is the word “different”.
There is no perfect category that encompasses all victims of bullying because
humans, especially children, are extremely creative, even if the creativeness
is not always used for good intentions. As a result, if children set their minds
to bullying, they will always find a way to make fun of another person who is
different or whom they dislike.
The text states that both boys and girls can be bullies
and victims. However, the text also notes that “there is a pattern to their
meanness.” According to the text, “girls generally mock others for their
physical appearance.” On the other hand, “boys tend to make more sexually
explicit comments.” The text offers no possible explanation for these findings.
However, it seems to me that in both cases there may be issues regarding self-conscious
awareness. It may be that bullies, both boys and girls, are trying to increase
their own-self esteem. Perhaps bullying originates as a form of retaliation to
bullying experiences of the past, or as a form of protection in which the bully
bullies others with the intent to appear as the dominant individual and to
deter other individuals who might try to bully them.
In regards to bully/victims the text states that
bully/victims “have irritative tendencies, are often hyperactive in [school],
often break rules in games, try to join groups in a heavy-handed manner and
provoke bullying behavior from others.” In addition, the text states that
bully/victims are “provocative, physically stronger and more assertive than
pure victims and have been found to be the least popular children in class.” The
awkward position in which bully/victims find themselves might be what forces
these individuals to act in the aforementioned manners. Just imagine the amount
of inner pressure bully/victims feel as they pass from being the victim to
being the bully, and vice-versa. It seems to me that most bully/victims begin
as victims only, but then because of social pressures and the necessity to “fit
in”, or in order to no longer be victimized, the victims start to bully others
who are weaker than them. As a result, bully/victims are left being the most
unpopular children in school, because they are hated by those who bully them
and are also hated by their victims. The text seems to support this viewpoint,
because it states that “bully/victims and their behavior problems appear to
match closely [to] the picture of the rejected aggressive pupil.”
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