Don't Feed The Trolls

Everybody I know has experienced bullying in one way or another. There are so many degrees of bullying; who is affected, whether it is physical or mental (or both), where and when it takes place, why did it happen, and what was the final result.

Most commonly, there is a lone victim with a single bully. Sometimes that bully has multiple targets, but it’s usually isolated confrontations. This is the typical situation that most people think of when they hear about bullying.

These cases sometimes involve physical abuse (whether violent, or just crude interactions), and can happen any place or time that an authority figure is not present. Typically, there is not much of a lasting impact from these bullies.

Another serious form of bullying is generated once a group gets together. A gang of bullies can have devastating and lasting impacts on an individual. It doesn’t matter if they are focused on single or multiple victims, they can be extremely harmful. A group will have more confidence, more incentive to impress the others, and be far more difficult to reason with.

Group bullying is not always physical, but will most certainly have a mental impact on anybody that becomes a target. These groups are usually noticeable to anybody paying attention, and need to be reprehended immediately. If anybody witnesses a group of people treating someone badly, please do the right thing and take action. With everybody using the internet these days, cyberbullying has increased drastically. When a group gets together to hurt somebody on the internet, the results can be tragic. The scariest part of that, is there are so many “trolls” (internet bullies) with no restrictions.

These trolls will seize any opportunity to get a reaction from somebody. The other frightening thing about cyberbullying, is that we all put our lives out there for the world to see. We are all vulnerable targets, to anybody who chooses to take aim.

Trolls don’t need to know you personally to be able to crush your self esteem, or your life. And when these trolls get together, they are nearly unstoppable until their mission is accomplished.

So, what do we do about these problems? Well, there is a famous saying on the internet “don’t feed the trolls”, and that means: don’t give them any kind of reaction. The minute you engage with a troll, he’s ready to sink his teeth in.

The same goes for real life bullies, although they aren’t always that easy to ignore. These people just want to see you be bothered, so try not to give them the satisfaction.

Also, parents, please talk to your kids more about these issues. Make sure your kids know that they should stand up for anybody being victimized. What if they were the victim? Ask them if they know of anybody being bullied, or if they themselves are.

And a very important matter, is to monitor your children's internet activities. With everybody on social networks, it’s very easy for bullying to occur, even right under your nose. Teach your kids to understand the effects that bullying can have on somebody. We all need to treat others the same way we would like to be treated. Sometimes, people may be damaged to the point that they may begin to contemplate suicide, and the thought of that should strike your heart whenever you treat another person poorly.

If you, or anybody you know has ever been pushed to that point, please keep in mind the Suicide Prevention Hotline ( 1-800-273-8255) and the Crisis Text Line (TEXT 741741) where

they have trained crisis counselors ready to talk, listen, and aid anybody who needs them.