BULLYING

A child suffers from many different types of circumstances and hurdles in their life until they attain the age of an adult.They undergo many unassertive things during this period, like confrontations surface while playing with friends or mates, exasperating, teasing etc may also be associated but these types of trifle matter is not the matter of concern.[1]      

Teasing, fighting, confrontations all of these are part of positive and negative situations of growing years of child life. These situations are not considered as bullying, but these situations get a serious one or matter of concern when it takes an or a guilty turn or hide ousone. Like excruciating, abusing verbally or intentionally trying to threaten the younger or the weaker child. If this kind of distressing act repeated or reduplicated often to hurt, then it is considered as bullying.            

Bullying can be verbal, physical or psychological. It can be abusing one to spreading rumours or even extorting money or any other types of economical torchers. Bullying has evolved as a big abuse. Bullying behaviour can be seen generally in many children and it can be seen almost in all sections of society, it is common concerned among them, It might start at an age when they are not able to understand the evil mind I;e as early as preschool and continued till teenager years. Bullying can be caused due to many reasons, there are various reasons behind this kind of behaviour,like shyness of victim, introvert nature of the victim, a weak inbuilt as compared to bully. Due to these types of behaviour, they don’t even tell their parents or guardians about this kind of distressing act, so the accused takes the advantage of these types of behaviour of bullying victim and repeatedly do this activity with the victim.    

Among the children, bullying is a grave concern and it should be dealt with seriousness and on the priority basis. In some cases the children  who are suffering from bullying don’t even know that they are suffering from bullying due to lack of their knowledge regarding it ,and are unable to share their problems with their parents due to their shyness and introverted nature. So,it is an important duty of parents & guardians to explain them about such prevalent behaviours in the society and also, the ways to tackle it.[2]

According to a survey jointly conducted by UNESCO, UIS and SDG,almost one-third of young teens worldwide have recently experienced bullying[3].

Approx 42% students of class 4-8 and 36%students of class 9-12  said they are subjected to bullying by peers in school campuses.

It is difficult to identify the children who are bullied in school or society. They don’t usually discuss their problems with their parents, due to which parents are unable to identify & rectify the same. At times, the problems, they don’t notice have such a gravity that it may lead to serious consequences. There are lots of mental and physical effect of bullying on children, like they get depressed ,suffer from anxiety ,get withdrawal symptoms, & begin to perform poorly in academics. They appear upset and alone, they also lose interest in their favourite things. All these are the results of bullying. In some cases it has been seen that due to bullying children also tend to commit suicide.[4]

In the modern and developed era of world cyber bullying also exist. In cyber bullying, Bullying done online, it means that bullying is done through virtual means like the internet. In India approx 46%of young people including children and teenagers have been affected by cyber bullying, So, it is also a matter of concern[5].

Bullying should be a tackle, if it will notbe tackled then it leads to serious concern and grave situations. Parents should take an appropriate step to defend their children from the effect of bullying. Bullying can mentally affect the children in such a manner that the children can suffer for a lifetime. So, parents should talk to their ward regularly and discuss their daily life situations and ask them about the problems if they are facing in society. If the children are suffering from bullying in the school then school administration should take an appropriate step like in the college or university there is anti-ragging cell so it should be an anti-bullying cell in the school for tackle the problems of bullying among the student, and school should conduct counselling with the students regularly to identify the problems and resolve the problems regarding bullying.

In Indian law, there are many penal provisions for bullying under the Indian Penal Code and Information &Technology Act.

For general bullying there are many sections under I.P.C like Section 294,section 339,340,341,342 etc. and for extreme bullying,Section 323,324,325,326 can be applicable. For the life threatening bully,section 304,306,307 would be applicable.[6]

So, bullying is a serious concern for the whole society, Early remedial measures must be taken by everyone.                                

[1] Shortessay on bullying,Preservearticles,available at https://www.preservearticles.com/short-essays/short-essay-on-bullying/20733 seen on 25/06/2020.

[2] AFAMILIAR FACE Violance in the lives of children and adolescents,UNICEF,37,(Nov 2017),retrieved19/11/2019 from https://www.unicef.org/publications/files/violence_in%20_the_lives_of_children_and_adolescents.pdf

[3] NewSDG4 Data on bullying,uis.unesco.org,retrieved25/06/2020 from http://uis.unesco.org/en/news/new-sdg-4-data-bullying

[4] MASTERSIN PSYCHOLOGY GUIDE.com,Psychologicaleffect of bullying on kids and teen,retrieved 26/06/2020 from https://mastersinpsychologyguide.com/articles/psychological-effects-bullying-kids-teens/

[5] BullyingUK,What is cyberbullying,retrieved 26/06/2020 from https://www.bullying.co.uk/cyberbullying/what-is-cyberbullying/

[6] Anti-bullyinglaws in India for Schools,Colleges & Cyber World ,iPleaders,retrieved 26/06/2020from https://blog.ipleaders.in/anti-bullying-laws-in-india-schools-colleges-cyberworld/

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