Combatting Bullying at Every Age

Bullying is something that can happen anywhere, to anyone. As we get older, bullying becomes more complex and harder to point out. The main objective of a bully is to make himself or herself feel superior to an individual. To combat a bully, certain steps can be taken to make sure no one gets hurt. The steps will make sure the bullying stops.

Step 1: Define the bully

Take a step back and examine the situation. Define who the victim of the situation is, and who the bully is. After you’ve found the bully, examine if what they did was actually hurtful.

Step 2: Get feedback from peers

Before approaching the bully, get feedback from peers that have no prior knowledge of the situation, as well as peers that might be involved as well. Getting different perspectives on a situation can allow you to approach a situation more carefully and handle any situation smoothly.

Step 3: Confront the bully

Approach the bully in a safe and relaxed setting. Be sure not to make a scene, unless the situation calls for it. make sure the bully knows that you did not like how the situation that upset the victim played out. Address the problem clearly and confidently, and be sure to use examples of how the situation affected him/her.

Step 4: Resolve the issue

The last step is to resolve the situation. Now that the bully knows that they did something to upset someone,  go about discussing solutions to the problem. Don’t insist that they apologize, but if they do than that’s a bonus. The main point of resolving the issue is to make sure a similar situation doesn’t happen again. Most of the time bullies don’t know that they’re bullying until someone confronts them, so the most important thing to remember is that the approach to combat a bully doesn’t always have to be aggressive. Take a step back, examine the situation, and approach the issue with an open mind,