por What is verbal bullying?
He verbal bullying It is bullying where the aggressors and their accomplices insult and humiliate their victim with words. Some examples are nicknames, insults, insults or rumors. It is the most frequent type of bullying and one of the most harmful.
The most common signs of verbal bullying are nerves, fear, reluctance, lack of appetite, isolation, drug use, not wanting to go to school or preferring to be alone, among others.
In recent decades, the media and the Internet have highlighted news related to adolescent and youth violence and, specifically, violence that occurs in schools.
This, together with the recent suicides of minors due to bullying both in Spain and in other countries, has increased the traffic of information between education professionals and family members on how to identify and deal with this problem.
Characteristics of verbal bullying
– It is the most common bullying in schools, regardless of age, although it is true that it can occur more frequently in adolescence.
– It usually appears in the form of threats, mockery, nicknames, etc., by a group of people or their leader.
– The victim is normally a person who could be considered defenseless or weak, since they do not have the necessary tools to face this situation.
– It occurs face to face, so frequently, all the classmates close to the environment or who are part of their class group are aware of these actions.
– A kind of factions are generated: on the one hand, the “popular” or those who commit bullying, and on the other, the victims, the unpopular, the “different”, etc.
How does it manifest?
On many occasions from the educational centers these events go unnoticed, even going so far as to identify it when the bullying has claimed the life of the victim or has already caused irreparable damage to their psychological and physical well-being.
Therefore, having the right tools to know how to identify it in its early stages is essential. Next, we present the main signs of the most common verbal bullying:
aggressive body language
It can give us a great clue about what is happening on the playground or even in class. Believe it or not, some gestures can become a form of verbal bullying.
frequent screaming
If we see that a group of students or one in particular always yells at a classmate or speaks in a derogatory way, it can be another great indicator that something is happening.
Ignorance towards the victim
Another indicator is ignoring a partner or not speaking to them during group activities and excluding them from them. These gestures will make the victim feel guilty or outraged, since she does not know exactly why her companions behave.
Use of derogatory comments
Bullies often make derogatory comments about their victims, whether it’s because of their skin color, gender, or religion. They often make fun of them anywhere and insult their ideas, behaviors or beliefs. Normally, they always deny the facts.
Jokes constants tasteless
The victim usually receives constant jokes in bad taste from the aggressor or his group. Phrases such as «you are a four-eyed», «eared, stubborn or glasses», are usually «jokes» that they use and that can have a very negative influence on the victims.
Makes the victim feel uncomfortable
Either through the exclusion he receives from his bullying peers in class or the insults and jokes he receives.
She will feel very uncomfortable, so she will be sitting at the end of the class, where she will avoid participating and having contact with any classmate for fear that these events will repeat themselves.
How does it affect the person who receives it?
1. Decreased food intake
Victims of this type of bullying begin to lose their appetite. Normally, they pretend to eat and when they are alone they throw the food away or hide it so that no one can see them. This may be due to the great tension they feel.
2. Daily nerves and stress
They tend to be nervous all the time and on alert for what may happen or may be done to them by both their cronies and their main aggressor. This constant uncertainty creates insecurity and makes it impossible for them to live a normal life.
3. Fear
All the previous points lead to the fearfear of what they may say, fear of the joke that they may play or even start to suffer physical bullying.
4. Avoid social networks or the internet in general
They do not want to connect to social networks or the internet, since on many occasions verbal bullying is the basis of all types of bullying that exist.
For this reason, on many occasions, profiles on social networks are even deleted in order to prevent attacks from increasing.
5. Does not want to participate in activities
For fear that they might play pranks on him in the presence of the teacher and that his classmates, both cronies and those who allow this type of act, will laugh at him and publicly humiliate him, he will avoid participating in all kinds of activities that require talking. or go out to the blackboard.
6. He prefers to be alone
One way of escaping your suffering is to be alone. In this way, he thinks that there will be no one to threaten him or make him feel inferior and weak. This is a mistake that most young people who suffer this type of bullying tend to make.
7. You feel anxiety when you have to go to school
He will do everything possible not to go to school, even pretending that he is sick. For victims, having to face the school can even cause anxiety attacks due to the stress they suffer.
8. Drug use
Another way to escape their suffering is drugs. When bullied in adolescence is suffered, many young people decide to lean on them to avoid their thoughts and their discomfort.
9. He does not want to go out
For fear of meeting their attackers outside of school, many victims do not want to go out alone or accompanied by others, so they will always be at home.
10. Continual fouls to the center
On the other hand, due to the great anxiety that going to school causes him, he will try to avoid going to school at all costs, thus increasing his absences in the center.
11. He doesn’t want to go out for recess
In class, due to the presence of teachers, verbal bullying may occur to a lesser extent.
However, at recess, even if there is supervision by teachers, they cannot easily control this type of bullying. It will be at that moment, when the stalker and his cronies are merciless with his victim.
Why happens?
Although it is difficult to understand exactly why there are aggressors and they carry out this type of action towards other colleagues, there are some reasons that help explain this type of behavior:
– To impress your friends or build some kind of reputation. On many occasions, bullies also tend to be victims because they have low self-esteem and need to feel loved and accepted by their peer group. Therefore, one way to do it is to attack a partner who is weaker than him.
– They may have been intimidated. Another reason why they decide to carry out this type of harassment may be because they were even harassed at another time. It is not the most common, but it can also happen and it is a way that he has to rebel against the world and against his own stalker.
– to receive care. On many occasions, the aggressors have not had a happy childhood or have not seen their needs fully covered by the style of upbringing or education that their parents have given them. Therefore, one way to get attention, even if it is not the most appropriate, is to harass a partner.
– as a way to escape. Due to the problems that may exist at home, they use bullying as an escape route to feel better.
References
Cardona Gaviria, A and others (2012). Determination of risks and consequences caused by verbal bullying in the educational institution Loyola College for Science and Innovation.
Gomez, A., Gala, F., Lupiani, M., Bernalte, A., Miret, M., Lupiani, S. (2007). Bullying and other forms of adolescent violence. Forensic medicine notebooks.