One thing I've learned: It's important to make certain that when defending yourself from bullies, you don't end up BECOMING a bully in the process. You lose the moral high-ground and slowly but surely become more and more jaded and unpleasant to be around.
Considering some of my recent experiences with bullies, and past experiences with friends turned those-who-bully-or-at-least-try-to-bully me, I've come to realize that there are just some people who just NEED to feel in control, (usually because they felt small and helpless and were bullied to extremes in their own past) and when someone takes that control away from them, they have no recourse but to lash out.
These same people, can start off super nice and sweet but once they get a taste of how it feels to 'LULZ PWN' someone on the internet just escalate and escalate until they became an entirely different person; a person that isn't very nice to be around.
There are also the types that just like to hop on the bandwagon and be part of the 'in crowd' that is doing the bullying because they feel it will increase their own social acceptance.
"OH PEOPLE DON'T LIKE ~THIS~ PERSON?!? THEY ARE JUMPING ON THEM?!? I SHOULD TOO! THAT MEANS I'M PART OF THE GROUP!"
They think that making themselves part of the group will make them immune from it ever being THEM that gets attacked, but that isn't the case at all, either.
When you see a group behaving like that, and you chose to associate with them, you could be the target at any time.
It's sad.
Bullying in general is sad, and bullying others speaks to deep insecurities and feelings of helplessness in those who bully. It also speaks of immaturity.
It's one thing to be youthful. It's another to be pushing 40 (or in some cases over 40) and still act like a teenager (in some cases ON PURPOSE!); it isn't cute, it's just sad. Like the mom who dates her daughter's immature 19 year old guy friends or something.
Those who ARE bullied really can't win; once it gets going there is no stopping it, so my advice is to just keep being yourself and doing what you do because no amount of changing yourself will ever make a difference to anyone ANYWAY.
I'd rather be myself and happy than spend my life trying to be what other people want or expect me to be and being constantly miserable and second guessing myself, because 'WHAT WILL ~THEY~ THINK?'.
I'm me. I have interests that make me a target for bullies, but no amount of bullying is going to change the fact that I have those interests, just like no amount of bullying is going to stop the kid who likes to play D&D or something. Just because it makes him a geek, should he stop doing something he likes? No.
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Considering some of my recent experiences with bullies, and past experiences with friends turned those-who-bully-or-at-least-try-to-bully me, I've come to realize that there are just some people who just NEED to feel in control, (usually because they felt small and helpless and were bullied to extremes in their own past) and when someone takes that control away from them, they have no recourse but to lash out.
These same people, can start off super nice and sweet but once they get a taste of how it feels to 'LULZ PWN' someone on the internet just escalate and escalate until they became an entirely different person; a person that isn't very nice to be around.
There are also the types that just like to hop on the bandwagon and be part of the 'in crowd' that is doing the bullying because they feel it will increase their own social acceptance.
"OH PEOPLE DON'T LIKE ~THIS~ PERSON?!? THEY ARE JUMPING ON THEM?!? I SHOULD TOO! THAT MEANS I'M PART OF THE GROUP!"
They think that making themselves part of the group will make them immune from it ever being THEM that gets attacked, but that isn't the case at all, either.
When you see a group behaving like that, and you chose to associate with them, you could be the target at any time.
It's sad.
Bullying in general is sad, and bullying others speaks to deep insecurities and feelings of helplessness in those who bully. It also speaks of immaturity.
It's one thing to be youthful. It's another to be pushing 40 (or in some cases over 40) and still act like a teenager (in some cases ON PURPOSE!); it isn't cute, it's just sad. Like the mom who dates her daughter's immature 19 year old guy friends or something.
Those who ARE bullied really can't win; once it gets going there is no stopping it, so my advice is to just keep being yourself and doing what you do because no amount of changing yourself will ever make a difference to anyone ANYWAY.
I'd rather be myself and happy than spend my life trying to be what other people want or expect me to be and being constantly miserable and second guessing myself, because 'WHAT WILL ~THEY~ THINK?'.
I'm me. I have interests that make me a target for bullies, but no amount of bullying is going to change the fact that I have those interests, just like no amount of bullying is going to stop the kid who likes to play D&D or something. Just because it makes him a geek, should he stop doing something he likes? No.