Friday, October 24, 2008

Bullies, sickness

A lot of sickness stems from allowing bullies to run your life. This happens from childhood on up to adulthood. Often years of bullying manifest in chronic illnesses like fibromyalgia. And adult bullies can come in all forms, including alcoholics at home who threaten violence if you tell on them.

I just got through reading a long letter from a school psychologist saying that bullying programs in schools are making bullying worse because all the focus is on the bully not the victim. That's sad. And this only gives the bully what he/she craves: attention. the answer is to focus on the victim response.

This is what he writes:

Get ready for this! The real reason you are being teased is because you are getting upset!

This probably doesn't make any sense to you. After all, first the kids tease you, and then you get upset. You aren't making them tease you, you are only making them stop.


I like that. But from working in public schools as a sub, where all kinds of bully behavior takes place, I really think the person being bullied has to give back just a little bit more than what they have recieved and then ignore the offender. If not, the act of ignoring is attention getting to the bully.

There is a lot more to the website. wwww.bullies2buddies.com, if you want to read it.

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