Psy talk contd.....

Anmol Singh-Psychologist & Counselor, Chandigarh

Let us understand the cause of bullying, a heinous act. Why do students get compelled to indulge in such acts and why is it that the victims of bullying are unheard and ignored. Why do the guilty walk away freely and the foul cries still lurk in schools or colleges. Let’s discuss some of the main causes of bullying.

First and foremost is the urge to display power among peers and maintain that gap of seniority. Secondly, we often see that because of a student having materialistic worldly possessions, the other not having it, gives rise to jealousy factor. This jealousy might develop into frustration, another cause for bullying. Sometimes students come to school totally frustrated because of the negative environment at home. Maybe they don’t want to go school and are being forced, or they were scolded/had a quarrel with parents over some issues, or they had a fight with their close friend  or fear of facing the teacher or the need to escape punishment for not doing their work, or the student is negative about himself and others around. All these kinds of situations provoke anger and stress which is all then directed towards shy/meek students to release emotions. The fourth cause can be of seeking attention from other students who are a witness to the act of bullying. Everybody loves their popularity whether it may be for a good reason or a bad one. Students claim for instant fame which can prolong for a long time. Personality plays an important role. The moral values and respect for others emotions seems blurred as a result of negative and unsupportive parenting. This in turn speaks high volume for students having lack of empathy, another causal factor. They are not concerned with the fact that they might disturb others feelings which might leave a scar in the victims mind. Crowd cheering and appreciation from fellow and alike friends gives rise to bullying, it promotes the insanity act. This ‘getting to be known’ or becoming eye candy in front of others is called rewards, the last cause. The doer considers this bullying as an opportunity to be famous for all the wrong reasons. But what do they get out of this? ‘’Nothing’’. I see bullying to be just a way to hide emotions, display negative characteristics, to escape from reality, to present their upbringing to the world.

to be contd.....