Bullying Is Not Only Against Children
Adults are not immune
Bullying had become a huge problem in schools before the schools were closed due to the pandemic from Covid-19. Bullying was a big topic for discussion among educators, lawmakers, parents, and the public. It has been shown to be a major contributing factor in many suicides of young people.
Bullying does not happen when relationships between people are good. It should certainly not happen among friends. It usually occurs to people that the bully does not know. There may be some conflict or problem to cause bullying or people are just being mean. There is reason to be concerned.
Although bullying is generally thought of as something which happens to school children, adults also can be bullied. We see it being done by adults to other adults every day on the news.
The case of the school bus monitor in 2012 who was in her sixties in upstate New York was caught on video. She was harassed by middle school students on the bus. The video showed children bullying an adult. After the video of the incident was released and went viral, she received over $700,000 in online donations. The boys who did the bullying received death threats. The woman retired from the school bus job and decided to use some of the money to start an anti-bullying foundation.
Standing up to bullying and unfair treatment is not easy and may take a lot of courage. During World War II when Japanese Americans were treated unjustly simply because of their ethnic heritage and the fact that the United States was at war with Japan, a few of the people stood up for their rights. They were brave souls who tried to fight prejudice and discrimination (bullying) which targeted an entire segment of the population. They were arrested and imprisoned for their actions, but they were later pardoned. Some of those people who had been incarcerated in the camps during the period of the war said, in retrospect, that they wished they too had been courageous enough to stand up against the mistreatment they received.
A form of bullying against adults might include the treatment customers receive from persistent salespeople whom they may encounter. Some of the most notorious of these are car salespeople who are insistent and can be obnoxious. If they have any inkling that a person is in a position to buy a car, they usually push and push. It is difficult for a would-be customer to get away without purchasing a car. People who enter a car dealership are mostly people who are ready to buy. The salesperson knows that, and the form of bullying may begin. It will probably be difficult for the customer to get out of there without purchasing or leasing a car.
Salespeople in the financial area can be just as bad. They may ask people to invest money while indicating that they are “stupid” if they do not do follow their advice. Studying the facts and sticking to them is essential for the best result.
It was interesting that when looking for a photo for this story on Unsplash, there were 55 results for “bullies.” Most of them were of VW buses, sad dogs, and hockey players. There were 76,979 results for “mean people.” Some of the bullies' photos were also included in the mean people. Bullies are definitely mean people.
Bullying is a big problem in society today. Standing up for one’s rights and not caving into bullying may be difficult, but it could help to restore peace into a person’s life. Confronting those who do the bullying is not an easy thing to do. It often takes an intermediary to remedy the situation. Many people are affected by bullying.
When you see bullying done by leaders of the nation, it sets a bad example. Parents and teachers, family and friends, need to teach children to respect the rights of others and to treat everyone fairly. We should help and support those who are being bullied. Let them know they are loved. Make their day happy. Bullying is a terrible thing that must not be allowed to continue. Bullying is right up there with racism, discrimination, and prejudice. Bullies should know that their behavior is unacceptable and should be stopped.
