Absolute Guide to Bullying

Part VI - What're Some Ineffective Ways To Prevent Bullying?

Believe it or not, there are plenty of things NOT to do to prevent bullying, and I've actually been on the receiving end of this as well. Of course, I've made mistakes. Everyone does eventually. Personally, the #1 way that I tried to stop a bully and ultimately failed; trying to do what they do.

Never follow a bully's footsteps. It just leads to more hurt in the end. Don't bully someone else to just stop a bully from bullying you. Honestly, I'd rather be bullied than do the bullying. At least I can stand up for myself, and not worry about hurting anyone else in the process.

Bullying is difficult to fight. It truly is. For anyone that has been bullied and/or still being bullied; I'm sorry for you. You don't deserve it. No one deserves to be attacked by another human like that. It's uncalled for. Although, I've always said things happen for a reason, and I believe bullying happens for reasons; albeit bad or good ones at that.

Whether the bully was provoked to attack you or anyone else is a reason, but never do what they do to get on their good side. Two wrongs don't make a right, and it never will. Yes, I will admit that I've bullied before to get a bully off of me. I was that tired of it. I didn't realize the damage I caused until it was too late, and I still beat myself up over it from time to time. There are plenty of ways to prevent bullying, so don't let this chapter give you ideas. It's what not to do.

Another thing I've seen people do is bully the bully that is bullying them. Let me tell you why that's NEVER a good thing to do.

One, they will continuously taunt and attack you if you attempt to fight back like they are. It just gives them reasons to knock you down, because you leave yourself wide open for a fatal blow. People like that are merciless. They won't care what you think about it if you fight back like they do. You got to make a big introduction about it. Make them feel bad. That is the ONLY hard part about bullying; is making them see the faults in what they're doing.

Back to the topic at hand though.

Don't make friends with the bully's friends. Now, this isn't always a bad thing, but most of the time; you'll just be lead on. The bully has their friend(s) wrapped around their finger and can manipulate them in any way, shape, or form. Either out of fear, or because the friend worships the bully. I've seen it happen many a time before. However, I never made this approach; so I can't really put my two cents in anywhere.

My honest opinion; At the top of the list: NEVER let the bully underestimate you. That has to be the most ineffective way to prevent bullying out there. You have to be strong.

Just because bullying may not be happening to you; that doesn't mean it's not happening at all.