Why Do Some Kids Bully?

I just met a group of parents the other day; they were discussing among other things how bullying was very common among the children today. Those parents whose children were bullied were quite upset why the parents of those kids that bullied were not able to correct their children. This made me think over the various factors that lead to bullying; there were various factors that lead to a child being a bully.

Some reasons why a child bullies:

The first important reason that a child bullied is that he/she is not receiving love and warmth from one’s family; childhood is the base to an adult’s life and it is very important that parents give their children love and affection that makes them feel secure and safe. Known as uninvolved parenting the child could also be in a home that has no rules.

Next a child could be a bully due to the aggressive atmosphere at home; he/she may be beaten by older sibling and parents or even be given physical punishments. Also parents could be aggressive against each other. The child then models this aggressive behavior in school and society.

Peer pressure or lessons learnt from peers could make a child bully; it is found that children become bullies just to gather importance or be in the lime light, with those children that are bullied also becoming a bully themselves. Again bullies are admired for their toughness and many try to imitate them.  

Next as it is said, “birds of a feather flock together”, children who are bullies like to make friends with those that bully. They in turn encourage another’s bullying behavior.  

Bullying is lesser in schools that have anti-bullying rules than in schools that don’t; so it is best for all schools to punish physical and emotional bullying to cut at the root of bullying. Similarly bullying also happens due to poor supervision in schools; this bad behavior in schools can only be stopped by having good supervision in classroom, hallways and cafeteria during recess.

Social aggression or emotional bullying that is more common among girls can take place when a group of girls gossip and spread rumors about another child to just gain attention and feel good. Victims of such bullying could be either shy or withdrawn or may be a new girl in school or one that does not have a friend. These situational factors explain why there are more temporary than chronic victims of bullying.

Lastly children are influenced by television, movies and video games that are aggressive and start bullying. So it is best to not allow children to see such shows and play such games.  

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