Bullying

Many people think that bullying happens only to helpless schoolchildren, but it can happen to anyone,
anywhere and at any age. Unfortunately, it isn’t a problem that disappears when our schooldays end. 1
_____
A bully’s goal is to hurt another person physically or emotionally and to make their target feel afraid,
ashamed and anxious. The only thing that changes as bullies grow older is that their bullying becomes
more subtle. 2 _____

While adults suffer from bullying as much as children do when it happens to them, a large number of
adults who were bullied at school feel the consequences of bullying well after they have grown up. A study
by Duke University suggests that more than 25% of teens reported being bullied at school, and the same
study showed that those who were bullied as children ended up becoming more anxious and insecure as
adults.

What is more, it can be argued that victims of bullying, both children and adults, are in a worse situation
today than in the past because of technology. Bullies at school would push around their victims in the
school playground, whereas adult bullies at work would resort to old-fashioned methods like verbal abuse
or office file-stealing. 3 _____ Their victims could still go home and relax.

These days, cyberbullying means that bullies can stalk1 their victims around the clock with just a computer
and a mobile phone. Even people who would have remained passive bystanders are more likely to join in
the bullying. 4 _____ This is known as the Online Desinhibition Effect.

Furthermore, Internet trolls2 who think it is funny to use their own anonymity to upset people sometimes
worsen an already painful situation for the bully victims. 5 _____ In this way, flamers3 and trolls post cruel
comments online without even knowing the person they are criticizing.

Once again, the effects of cyberbullying are more hidden in the workplace. Employees may receive
threatening email and text messages, and this has a huge impact on their health and job satisfaction.
Furthermore, witnesses to the bullying are less likely to sympathise with the victim because of the remote
nature of cyberspace.

Strangely enough, people keep finding new ways to bully each other as society and technology develop.
They use bullying to establish their own position in the social hierarchy of their community. 6 _____
Studies have found that even primates, especially baboons, display bully-like behaviour and sometimes
gang up on other baboons to put them in their place.

Perhaps the reason why anti-bullying programmes enjoy only short-term success is because they address
bullying without getting to the roots of its very nature. To truly stop bullying we need to understand it at a
deeper level and see it as primitive behaviour that causes us to act irresponsibly.
1
follow another person everywhere in order to intimidate them
2
sb who deliberately posts messages in forums/discussions to upset other people
3
sb who behaves in an offensive and aggressive manner on the Internet