Don't Forget: Bullies Are Victims Too
With all of the news about bullying floating around, I couldn't help but remember my time in high school. I was picked on, had been called names many times, and was hazed on occasion. However, there was also a period of time where I was the bully. I remember how it felt to be the name-caller, and to be honest with you, it felt great. Looking back, I realized that my behavior could have been damaging to my classmates, even if it didn't seem that way at the time.
One of the biggest complaints that I have about the 'war against bullying' is that we seem to be focused on how to prevent bullying instead of identifying the root cause of bullying. We feel sorry for the victim, and we denounce the bully as being the 'aggressor'.
If we as a society are trying to 'even up the playing field' for students, we should at least understand the underlying behaviors of bullies. Perhaps the bully is being abused emotionally or physically at home, or is having trouble learning in school. Perhaps the bully doesn't have anyone positive in their life to guide them in the proper direction.
Bullying behavior is wrong, but if parents, teachers, and other students look at bullies as potential victims, perhaps everyone would have a better understanding of how to eradicate bullying at the root cause level. Society needs to separate the bullying behavior, which is bad, from the bully, a potential victim acting out through bad behaviors.
Also, if victims of bullying behavior see the bully as a potential victim of something, they might be more inclined to 'seek help for the potential victim'. It is up to parents, teachers, and students to foster this idea and facilitate the ability for the victims of bullying behavior to report these behaviors and identify the root cause of why a person would resort to 'bullying behaviors'.
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