BULLYING AND PEER PRESSURE

Bullying and peer pressure occur at all ages – at school, in the workplace and in homes. Here’s everything you need to know

Bullying is a fact of life and whether it’s at school, college, uni, or in the workplace, very few people go through life without witnessing bullying some way or experiencing it first-hand. Bullying takes many forms, including name-calling, physical assault, spreading rumours, stealing, excluding people, or turning someone’s friends or colleagues against them. Anyone can bully – a classmate, colleague, a family member, or a stranger.

If you’re a victim of bullying, you need to put an end to it. Here’s what to do:

Keep a diary: dates, times, places, who was there and what happened. If you’re being cyber-bullied, save messages, screen grabs and call records –but don’t respond to the bully.

Tell someone right away: if it’s at school, get in touch with your tutor. If it’s at work, tell your boss. If you’re being harassed outside of a formal setting or by a family member, call the police on 101 (or 999 if it’s an emergency).

Positive peer pressure

When we think of peer pressure, we often think of it in a negative light – of someone, or a group of people, pressuring another person into doing something they don’t want to do, such as smoking, or taking drugs. But we don’t often think about positive peer pressure. Sometimes peers can influence behaviour in a positive, rather than a negative, way. Associating yourself with people who are committed to their studies, or who spend lots of time volunteering, can have a positive outcome on your life and can influence your decision as to how to approach your own studies and how to spend your time.

If you find yourself hanging out with a group of people who constantly pressure you to do something you don’t want to do, it might be time to find some new friends that have similar interests. If you find it hard to connect with new people, pluck up the courage to join a club where you genuinely enjoy the activity. This will mean that you have at least one thing in common with every single person there!

Our own actions

The line between banter and bullying is completely different for everyone, and sometimes we might not even realise that the ‘harmless teasing’ towards another constitutes bullying. Think carefully about what you do and say to others – both to their face and behind their back – and how it might be received. Influencers aren’t only on social media. You can influence the thoughts and behaviour of those closest to you – friends, siblings, and peers. Think about how your actions and attitude towards life can influence others and how the example you set can inspire them to make positive lifestyle changes.