By Peri Sualp……..
Bullying, either by words or action, is one of the most horrible experiences in life that a human being can go through. You may come across it at any age, yet it is more difficult to face in school ages when you are still naive and inexperienced.
Bullying represents a broken heart that goes along with pain! If you are bullied you are 
probably feeling ashamed. You don’t know what to do or say to the bully (and most probably to his/her gang). You feel totally helpless! There might be times that you don’t want to go to school due to these feelings and due to the fear of getting bullied. Bullies can turn your life into misery.
I know a couple of kids who had to change schools because of the bullying that goes around in their schools. But bullies are everywhere, you can’t escape them wherever you go therefore you need to understand why they are doing this act and learn how to deal with it.
So why do you think some kids bully?
Usually these kids are under-developed by nature and they lack empathy with others. Most bullies don’t understand how wrong their behaviour is and how it makes the person being bullied feel. They are mostly kids with lack of attention at home or having 
problems in their everyday lives so they probably take it out on other kids they realize as weak. They want to dominate, blame and use others so they can feel powerful. Some bully others just because they can’t tolerate anyone different around them. No-one deserves to be bullied, no matter what they look or act like.
What can we do to protect ourselves from bullying?
If you are aware that these kids actually have weaker personalities than who they seem you are halfway to the solution. First of all you can be straightforward – speak up and try to express your feelings to them from what they wrongly did or said and try to make them understand the results of their behaviour.
Secondly, you should stand up for yourself. Usually the common idea is to ignore them but ignoring never stops the bullies, on the contrary it encourages them to keep up with their actions. If you can respond back in a controlled manner, this attitude will eventually drive them away. They won’t find the guts to approach to you. But if they are still carrying on, you should seek your right and demand for justice! You should consult an adult, usually a school authority. They can stop bullying and create an environment where it doesn’t continue. At some point that person will have to stop bullying you right? You can’t just carry on the rest of your life getting bullied! Stand up for yourself! We keep learning something in life. Maybe now it’s time for them to learn their lesson in order to have a better personality. Help to teach them! But at the end, you decide whether to be the POWERFUL or the WEAK one!
PS: I think schools need to take better precautions and regulations on the bullying issue. I have some ideas but I would like to keep it for my article next week.
