Bullying is whack-get on the right track.

bully/ˈbʊli“to seek to harm, intimidate, or coerce (someone perceived as vulnerable).” Bullying has taken many forms over recent years. Traditionally bullies are perceived to be the big kid in class who would beat one up for lunch money. The behaviour is considered juvenile and expected to finish past school. The idea of an adult bully is considered alien to many. The phenomenon seems to be locked away to the school grounds and no further. With our new proverbial ‘Global Village’ we have seen many an improvement in the way our daily lives are led. Technology has shaped our lives (for better or worse) beyond imagination. With it, all peripheral activities have morphed in adjusting to the ‘new way’. Bullying is no different. Over the year’s technology has broken the so-called playground walls within which bullying was limited to. Internet trolls and bullies have become the bane of many lives, celebrities, children, women and men alike.

Many youths have taken their lives over internet bullying. Often the bully finds some reason (online or otherwise) to make their lives quite difficult – leading to the ever dreaded. Bullying has become one of the biggest problems for our youth. Bullying has been present in Pakistan for a long time, and it is increasing quickly with new ways of bullying others. With every child having access to the

internet and a mobile phone they are constantly connected to the outside world, making it difficult to tuck one away from the cowardice of said bullies.

Threatening someone verbally, on their mobile phones or over internet through various social networks such as Facebook Instagram, is very common nowadays. This, also known as cyber bullying, is a grave concern for parents. Prompting them to keep an eye on who their child is conversing with or connecting with over social media. Women, unfortunately are prime targets for bullying in Pakistan. Men often get a hold of their mobile number leading to graphic texts as well as threats unless they comply. In a country like Pakistan, where family’s honour is perceived to be upheld by a woman, her behaviour often comes under close scrutiny. By the time it is too late, if the woman doesn’t seem to finish the job herself,

she is subjected to the worse by her own family. We have multiple examples of this, not only in rural areas but now alarmingly growing within the urban the social order as well. Bullying, as mentioned before is not bound to a particular place like a school, college, university, workplace or the internet. It transgresses across all cross-sections. The question that then beckons is why do bullies bully. There have been many attempts at answering this question, whether It is because of the various issues of our society, social issues, cultural issues, familial issues or even

social stature. These all seem to play a part. Some studies however show that families which are not warm and loving towards their children, the families which do not share feelings with each other are the one which produce bullies in our society. Having an esteemed social stature (although it is not a bad thing per se) has some cause and effect to this phenomenon as well. Children always look up to their parents. When their parents who are at high levels in society treat others with contempt and disrespect, this often rubs off on to the child.

Bullying often starts with domestic abuse, where children mistreat the working staff they have at home. If this goes unnoticed or unpunished boundaries are almost always stretched out to the outer world. Parents need to keep in check how their children treat the help as not only does it cause issues later on, rather it is also the right thing to do! Every life has value. To stop this problem, we need to spread awareness about the problem by understanding the roots of the problem because there is little difference between the bully and the victim since they are both victims in their own ways.

​Bullying in schools leads to several mental health issues. Bullying is the least discussed social issue in Pakistani society and is often considered taboo. There are no studies on adolescent bullying in the country and so very little attention is paid to this sensitive issue. Childhood memories shape a child’s personality. Having some unwanted memory or incident often leaves an eternal mark on the child’s consciousness and severely impacts his/her behavioural patterns.

We all need to come together to tackle this issue whether it is our child who is the bully or the victim. All relationships have issues and people do fight, but mutual respect should never be a fabric that is broken within a society.