Can bullying be good?
I’m feeling controversial today so I’m going to engage you all with a form of Lateral Thinking known as “Po”.
“Po” is a construct invented by Edward de Bono (The Inventor - yes inventor you read it right) of lateral thinking, which means Provocation.
The aim is to change or find new ways of thinking by approaching something from a provocative angle. (Kinda, but for a short description, that’ll do…)
Bullying makes people stronger.
Hmmmmm?
I once said this, to be provocative, but I actually believe it to be true.
Whilst bullying that causes severe mental (and sadly physical) trauma has its bad sides, Being able to stand up to bullying, I think, prepares you for later life.
Life can be savage, constantly changing and offering you challenges. How you cope with these challenges, determines who you are and how the world sees you.
I’ve met so many people in my life that are un-prepared, immature even in their dealings with life, being victims who constantly ask “why do these things happen to me?” rather than taking responsibility for their own lives.
Sure, we all get low sometimes, we all go through testing times… but to succeed in life, to be happy within yourself you need the strength to pick yourself up and say “How can I learn from this, or use this to my advantage?” the time it takes you to make that transistion varies from person to person.
Sometimes, you need help to overcome things, people to bounce ideas and feelings off, yes of course you do, but the strength and desire to change has to come from within.
Be in control of your own destiny my friends!
Yep!! Being bullied does make you stronger. Everytime someone has tried to bully me they have been the ones who end up looking stupid. It happened just today actually!!
Comment by Penny — September 6, 2005 @ 2:05 pm
I do think that altho bullying is a bad thing if it had never happened to me thru most of my childhood then i wouldn’t be who i am today.
I may not have done the crazy hair and not cared what people thought, i may not have been as quick with the comebacks and i may not have worked out that talking your way out of a situation is better than resorting to the physical answer!
Comment by Weatherman — September 6, 2005 @ 9:10 pm
[EDIT]I think bulling is BAD u r all wierd to think that it is good.[EDIT]
Comment by Sarah Hancock — October 4, 2005 @ 8:45 am
Everyone is welcome to their opinion on here, however, if I think your comments are just pointless and lacking in substance I may choose to amend them.
The other comments you posted, have been deleted as they pretty much all said the same thing. Please re-read the article in question, I was posing the possibility that learning to deal with bullying prepares you for later life.
Comment by Luke — October 4, 2005 @ 9:19 am
i have to do a speak on bullying (that it is good) am i bad..
Comment by Ape — November 1, 2006 @ 3:24 am
wow, this post… still getting googled hits? Hi Ape, no, as you can see from the rest of these comments I stand by my argument that in some ways Bullying makes you stronger. I’d add though that it’s more about gaining strength of character in the face of adversity and not the actual being bullied part.
Comment by Luke — November 1, 2006 @ 7:01 pm
I think bullying is part of human nature, it is in our primal instinct to single out people who are a threat to the gene pool.
Oh coarse it is illegal to just murder a person based on if there “weird” or not,but it is still embedded in our brains.
Comment by murphey — December 9, 2006 @ 1:07 am
elo,
my best mate bullies me!
i dont know what to do cos i wana be her mate .
all i know is that it has not made me stronger x
Comment by loz — November 15, 2007 @ 12:02 pm
Wow this posts still getting linked too from somewhere?
Hi Loz, A real best friend will never bully you, you deserve better. In my book list “recommended reading” there is a great book I suggest everyone (you included) reads called super confidence, stupid title
but fantastic book. It helped me, and loads of my clients understand that they dont need friends like that.
Comment by Luke — November 15, 2007 @ 12:35 pm
Hello there.Firstly i’d like to point out that bullying is a very subjective experience. Though i agree that one cannot expect things to go one’s way all the time and so a certain amount of aggravation is to be expected, bullying in it’s extreme form is tantamount to child abuse by children on children and so i cannot disagree strongly enough that this can have any over-riding positive effects. Though there is a great deal of scientific research out there which associates bullying with negative outcomes, such as depression, body dismorphia(to name but a few) it surely depends on the person(victim)as to whether it benefits them or not in the future. There are mitigating factors such as support of peers, support of parents, support of teachers, which affect the resilience of victim. Some people are not as fortunate as you obviously were, and there is a tendency to look back with rose tinted spectacles on the past in order to maintain a positive sense of well being now. Undoubtedly, overcoming challenges makes one stronger and challenges are easier to overcome with support. Some people, through no fault of their own, do not have this support. Does that make you a stronger person than them?(reference to the gene pool comment earlier) No- It just makes you luckier.
Comment by Darren — May 8, 2008 @ 4:55 pm