Can You Pick Out a Bully?

       

          Can you pick out a bully from the other children? Sometimes it can be hard to figure out who is who. Not always is the bully aggressive in a noticeable way that’s easy to spot. This poses a problem when trying to fix the bullying problem in schools. It’s very important to know the signs that can point out a bully from the rest.

What is considered signs of bullying? The National School Safety Center came up with a list of what they consider bullying tactics. The following is that list: poking, punching, strangling, suffocating, pinching, shoving, hitting, biting, spitting, hair pulling, finger bending, ganging up and cornering, stabbing, excessive tickling, burning, poisoning, theft and shooting (Bullying, 2009). So, now we have an official list to help with picking out the bully.

In most cases boy bullies will take a direct, physical way of bullying, while girl bullies most likely will take an indirect way of bullying (Bullying, 2009). But that’s not always the case. Also with the times changing you can’t rely on gender to help you recognize a bullying child. In some cases a child with a personality disorder can be a bully because of the disorder not allowing them to understand normal social emotions (Dealing with Bullying, n.d.). What bullies do share in characteristics is the enjoyment in dominating others while making the focus on them; they most likely have poor social skills and/or poor social judgments (Dealing with Bullying, n.d.).

When I was picked on in school the girls would push my around and threaten to beat me up. They also were mostly very verbally abusive. So the gender characteristic isn’t always true. The guys that would pick on me were not physical, but verbally abusive as well. But sometimes words hurt more than being hit.

            So what we conclude is that bullies can either be direct and aggressive or indirect and non-aggressive; and gender of the bully is no longer a way to help with characterizing a bully. Bullies can have personality disorders that could cause them to be bullies. They do share the fact they like to dominate others and put the focus on themselves.

Bullying. (2009, June). Facts on File News Services.  Retrieved March 25, 2011, from the Issues & Controversies Database.

Dealing with Bullying. (n.d.). Teens Health: Kids Health.Org. Retrieved March 27, 2011, from http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/problems/bullies.html.