We have all come across bullies in school and during our teenage years. Yes, some of us still face bullies at workplace or in the family. However, after one attains adulthood, he or she is more capable of dealing with bullies and standing up to them against unfair treatment. During the teenage years, and in the years before, bullies can have a deep impact on formative minds. Yet, you must understand that bullies themselves require psychological counselling and not just their victims.
Psychological Counselling – How Normal Children Starts to Bully Others
Let’s understand what makes a normal student in school a bully. There are several reasons. For example, the child may be mimicking the bullying behaviour of parents or tutors at home or in school. Children are easily affected by the behaviour of the adults around them. As a result, they try to imitate or replicate that behaviour on less intimidating victims, which are usually their meeker classmates. More often than not, the bullies themselves may be at the receiving end of such treatment at home from abusive adults, even parents.
Now let us turn our attention to the victims. A child who is suffering at the hands of a bully, or bullies, may find it increasingly difficult to seek help. They are unlikely to open up to parents or even teachers in school. But there are tell-tale signs of a child tormented by bullying. Low self-esteem, rock-bottom self-confidence and unusually quiet nature all of a sudden are some signs that a child may be reeling under a bully. Identifying such students and leading them to psychological counselling is the job of the school, especially the teachers.
Professional psychological counsellors can address the issue of bullying at its head: the genesis of this kind of behaviour. Rebukes and reprimands are not advisable to deal with bullying, even with the perpetrators. Students on both sides of the coin, the oppressor and oppressed, need a patient hearing so that they can talk about their problems. When the root cause of the problem is addressed, bullying behaviour usually subsides. A case in point is how teenage bullies often end up being normal, sensitive human beings. This is because they are able to deal with their inner demons psychologically.
That is exactly what psychologists need to do in schools.
We will share more in future on how psychological counselling can help children to stop being bullied and to stop bullying at the same time.