Be a hero, stop a bully! Be a hero, love a bully!

Hey guys, Xavier here again…

Last time I talked about what to look for when someone is being physically bullied and how this tends to be more common with guys than girls. 

Today I want to take a more in-depth look at what type of student a bully usually targets, and why this occurs. In order to do this, let’s take a look at Mike’s story from the Acception film. 

Mike is one of the older and bigger students in his school, which gives him an advantage when it comes to physical strength. Combine this with the fact that he comes from a badly functioning family and is being physically abused at home, and this explains perfectly why Mike is picking on others. It’s the concept of “hurting people, hurt people.”

When someone has done something negative to you, it can affect the way you see yourself, and if you don’t deal with it, a deep wound develops inside of you. You can either get help by talking about it with a friend, teacher, or counselor, or keep it hidden inside. In Mike’s case, he didn’t talk about it or get help from anyone, and ended up taking his frustration out on other students so that he could feel better about himself. 

By the end of Acception, Mike starts to figure out why he bullies others, and we see a change in him. I think if all the bullies out there were able to recognize what’s going on inside of them, this problem wouldn’t be so bad. 

By the way, there are things you can do to help: “Be a hero, stop a bully! Be a hero, love a bully!” Talk with your teacher or another trusted adult if you see something like this happening and maybe together, you can help a bully and stop a bully from hurting others, all at the same time!

For more information on Acception’s solution-based approach to bullying prevention in the classroom, visit www.Acception.info