Verbal Bullying – Words are Powerful
Words are powerful. They can encourage or they can hurt. They can make a person laugh or reduce them to tears. Verbal intimidation can make an individual self-assured and helpless in their effort to appear unaffected.
In any public or parochial school across the United States, there are thousands of students who are verbal bullies. His methods of hurting others include racial comments, sexual comments, name calling, and name calling. It is so common in schools that not much is being done about it. This particular form of abuse can escalate to more damaging methods such as physical abuse.
As a child, can you remember a time when some verbal bullies called you nasty and hurtful names? Do you remember how you felt? Bullies embarrassed you in front of your friends? These acts of verbal bullying are byproducts of a home environment where words are used to humiliate and hurt. Kids don’t suddenly decide to use a racial slur. It has to originate somewhere. Studies indicate that it originates in the home.
In a high school in New York City, there is a population of 900 students who speak 35 different languages. Consider the effects of name calling on these students who emigrate from other countries in search of a quality education, only to be subjected to verbal taunts and verbal bullying by their peers. These students arrive at a school unaware of the culture that exists in the school itself. It is a culture full of children who are abused at home, angry at the world, left to fend for themselves because both parents work, and are considered children living with one parent, grandparent, or guardian. They are hell-bent on hurting others in order to feel more powerful and in control, because school is the only place where they can be in control.
Verbal bullying is often done without thinking. The words just pour out without regard to the person who is being victimized. Verbal harassment and verbal intimidation can be more devastating than physical abuse in that they strike at the heart of an individual’s innermost feelings for themselves. It leaves long-lasting scars that, in some cases, can never be healed.
Verbal bullying is an insidious and disgusting display of ignorance on the part of those who use it. While studies show that verbal bullying can be inflicted by those who suffer from low self-esteem, it is quite difficult to tolerate this verbal bullying, although it seems that the bully may have their own self-confidence issues.
Think about it for a moment. Did you yell at a driver who cut you off unexpectedly? Did you use verbal epitaphs? Is this the same as verbal harassment? Here’s another question: Was your child in the car at the time? Did he or she witness this display of verbal abuse? The point to note is that verbal abuse begins in the home. Whether consciously or not, children learn what they hear and see. They equate this as the norm, rather than the exception. Maybe it’s time to re-examine why kids use bullying and how it can be dispelled.
