Can You Define What Bullying is?

A normal day at work. The children are playing, laughing and everything seems to be under control.

A group of boys sitting at the very back of the room however acted strangely. 

One of them was running after another asking for his lunch back. 

I observed the scene and immediately asked the boys to stop and give the lunch back. 

My colleagues however, (who are working with these children in a regular basis) thought this was a normal behaviour. 

To me, it was not!  

When the break finished, I approached the boy and asked him: 

'Do your friends treat you like this often?' and my heart was broken when he replied 'yes'. 

So many thoughts crossed my mind at that moment.

How could the adults in that room not understand that this was not a game but an act of bullying?

How did they not understand that the boys were bullying the most vulnerable in their group?

How did they not see the silent call for help?

If we, as adults, are not able to define what bullying is, how do we expect the children to recognize it?

If we cannot understand that the vulnerable will rarely speak up, how will we be able to help ?

All of us, without exception, have been bullied as kids, teenagers and even adults. 

All of us know what bullying is and how it feels like.

So why do we still allow this to happen? 

#STOPBULLYING

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