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Imbalance Of Bullying

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Bullying is a problem that is on the rise in society; however, many individuals have a distorted view of what bullying entails. Usually when someone thinks of bullying, they assume that it is a standard part of a child’s life. This view, on the contrary, is erroneous. Bullying is actually abnormal behavior, many times, leaving victims with a dismantled self identity. Since some people do not understand the consequences of bullying, the actions of the bully often go unnoticed and are perceived as “kids being kids”. The issue of bullying goes deeper than that nevertheless. Despite the erroneous views that many individuals hold towards bullying, it is still a distortion of normal behavior in children. There are many definitions that adequately define bullying; however, a simple definition is given by Kas Dekker, “Bullying is defined as a person being repeatedly exposed to negative actions on the part of one or more other persons and has difficulty defending him or herself.” (Dekker, 2013 pg 228) In this quote, Dekker is describing a power imbalance between the bully and the victim. In a power imbalance, the bully misuses their skills – whether strength, verbal, gestural, or relational – in order to either acquire their yearnings, or put another individual down. According to Ken Rigby, “Verbal bullying is the most common form of bullying, it involves talking down to a person by either insulting them or cruel sarcasm.” (Rigby, 2003 pg 10) In this form of bullying, the bully is

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