According to experts, peer bullying, which threatens young people, occurs in four forms: physical, verbal, social and cyber bullying, and informing about peer bullying and safe friendship can be effective in terms of prevention. A safe relationship must be established with the child or young person. Among the symptoms are not wanting to go to school, avoiding getting together with schoolmates outside and avoiding talking about them.
According to a report released by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), one out of every two young people between the ages of 13 and 15 worldwide is exposed to violence at or around school.
Üsküdar University NPISTANBUL Hospital Child Adolescent Psychiatry Specialist Assist. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Emel Sarı Gökten said that peer bullying occurs in four ways.
There are four types of bullying
Defining peer bullying as "some continuous and repeated disturbing or damaging behaviors between children with power inequality between them", Assist. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Emel Sarı Gökten made the following evaluations:
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"When we say bullying, we see that there are four different forms; physical, verbal, social and cyber bullying. In physical bullying, we are talking about a type of bullying that is mostly done with physical actions such as hitting, pushing, kicking, spitting. In verbal bullying, there are verbal behaviors such as humiliating, belittling, nicknaming, insulting the child. In social bullying, we are talking about a type of bullying that has social consequences such as excluding the child, pretending that the child does not exist. Finally, in cyberbullying, as we all know, we are talking about sharing some disturbing articles or photos on the internet or social media."
Bullying and safe friendship should be explained
Pointing out that children should be informed about bullying, Asst. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Emel Sarı Gökten said, "Children should definitely be informed because many children may not understand that they are actually being bullied. Therefore, children should definitely be told which behaviors are considered bullying or how a normal, healthy and safe friendship relationship should be. When they are exposed to a behavior other than this, they should be able to understand that it is out of the norm."
Safe communication should be established with the child
Pointing out that in order for children to be able to share this with adults when they are exposed to bullying, it is important for them to first be in contact with some adults with whom they have a safe and good communication, Gökten said:
"For this reason, one of the most important issues in raising a child is to establish a healthy and safe communication with them. When this is the case, the child can easily open up to an adult about a negative behavior they have experienced. Sometimes children are subjected to bullying but they are extremely reluctant to share this with adults. There may be many reasons for this. First of all, the child may be ashamed of the bullying or think that it is his/her own fault. Another reason may be that they are worried that they will be harmed again by the bullying child. For this reason, it is necessary to pay attention to some warning signs that children may give before telling us.
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Watch out if he/she doesn't want to go to school!
For example, if a child does not want to go to school, avoids getting together with friends outside of school, or does not tell his/her parents anything about his/her school friends, these can be important clues. Apart from that, if the child makes some negative statements about himself/herself, or if some damage is noticed on his/her belongings or on his/her own body from time to time and the child has difficulty in explaining these to you, or if there are changes in his/her sleep and appetite."
Sleep problems can also be a precursor
Stating that the sleep pattern of the child who is bullied by peers may also change, Assist. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Emel Sarı Gökten said, "Symptoms such as frequent awakenings or difficulty falling asleep, nightmares may occur in children who can sleep comfortably before. Sometimes some fluctuations in mood can be seen in some children. A child who was calmer before may become more angry and may have anger attacks from time to time. Frequent unexplained crying spells should also be warning signs for us."
