Bullying

2.      Bullying is a topic that I could not stop reading about in chapter 13! I have been a victim of bullying throughout my childhood and have always wondered what had caused the bullies to start attacking other children. Bullying is defined to be repeated, systematic attacks intended to harm those who are unable or unlikely to defend themselves. Bullies are also known to pick certain types of personalities as victims. For boys, bullies target the smaller and weaker children. For girls however, they target the shyer and soft-spoken girls. I don’t believe that I fit the criteria completely to be bullied because as a child, I was very friendly, nice, and slightly shy. It shocks me even today that kids would bully even those who are friendly and kind.

As an adult, I still wonder the motive behind my bullies’ actions. I had always felt like they had no reason to since they were known to come from rich families, wore trendy clothes, and were also very popular. If one has everything, why attack someone who doesn’t have as much? But reading on in the chapter, it was interesting to find that bullying can originate from genetic predispositions, brain abnormalities, insecure attachment in the family, hostile siblings , and even failed discipline! So in my opinion, I suppose that bullying can arise depending on one’s environment, genes, and also social group (siblings who are aggressive).