By Black Love And Marriage.com on October 1, 2012
In Inspiration,Living With Intention
October is National Bully Prevention Awareness Month. Special shout out to Tray “Poot” Chaney, Don Cox, and Lamar Tyler for putting together this video which drives home the point that we must stand up and speak out against bullying.
Contrary to popular rhetoric bullies are not necessarily abused at home and don’t always suffer from low self esteem. Many do have a low sense of self which drives their need for forced approval. However, some bullies do have a superior sense of self, are highly confident in their abilities and opt to assert themselves and their position in the social order with harassment.
Bullies feel in control when they intimidate others and they feel admired by peers when they act out. It is not so much the victim that gives a bully his or her sense of power, it is the reactions, or rather the inactions, of bystanders that feed the bully’s superior sense of self.
Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose.
Most people do not genuinely like bullies. They do not like witnessing another person being bullied. It is a very uncomfortable psychological state, a state known as cognitive dissonance, to witness a bullying incident and do nothing about it.Cognitive dissonance occurs when our actions do not match our internal code of ethics and morality; it is triggered when we don’t act in accordance with our internal moral code.Most people want to stop a bully but lack the courage to get involved for fear of becoming a target. When somebody else makes the first move others are likely to follow to alleviate their dissonance. Bullies always back down when more than one person confronts them.
Bullying can affect you in many ways. You may lose sleep or feel sick. You may want to skip school. You may even be thinking about suicide. If you are feeling hopeless or helpless or know someone that is, please call the LIFELINE at 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
BLAM Fam…LET’S STAND UP FOR OUR FUTURE…..Spread the word…let’s get this message out to our children.
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Tuesday, October 2nd 2012 at 10:03PM
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