In recent years, there have been increased cases of bullying in schools from primary to high schools.

The consequences of bullying have led to some of the victims dying while others are traumatized to some going to the extent of committing suicide.

An example of such a case is what happened in Kenya recently. A fresh-year student at a certain high school collapsed and was pronounced dead as a result of being repeatedly whipped, together with others to welcome them to the school which has been going on for a long time as part of the ritual of welcoming form-one students.

This becomes one of those rare cases of bullying to come out in the open, with many that take place, only that victims of bullying don’t report of fear of being punished as a form of revenge.And while programs are set at schools on how to deal with such cases as bullying it would be of immense importance if we know the reason as to why bullies behave in such ways and how they could be helped apart from victims of bullying being counseled.This would ensure there is a peace environment at schools where one is not molested or manipulated.

First let’s define what bullying is;

Bullying is whereby an individual(s) take the advantage of the power they have to inflict abuses on others physically, emotionally, sexually, or verbally.

Some of the ways children bully another child include: calling them names, stealing or damaging their things, not talking or leaving them out of activities, gossiping, lying, making sexist comments, intimidate or threaten them, force them to hand over their money or possessions, embarrass them, boss them around, make them do things they don’t want to, brag about being tough and act as if they rule the whole universe.

How They Become Bullies

It’s untrue that there are some children who become bullies as a result of inborn traits. A bully is not born that way. They are being cultivated through life experiences as opposed to being innate.

There are a lot of reasons why children bully:

• Some children bully to get attention, while others want people to be afraid of them. They might see it as a way of being popular, showing of, or make them look tough.

• They are likely to have adopted the behavior as a result of domestic violence in their homes where they are abused, or witnessed their mothers physically abused by their fathers.

• Research has demonstrated that viewing of violent behavior either on television, at home, schools, or other places, are more likely to lead to viewers/children acting aggressively.

• There are those who start bullying because they themselves have been bullied or to join that group.

• Also, where parents give in to an aggressive child, the child will learn to use bullying to get his/her way.

How They Could Be Helped

As a parent, if you find out that your child has been bullying others, you should try to find out how and why they have been behaving this way and try to explain to him/her why it’s wrong and how to stop that behavior.

It would also be good if you try to find if the child’s school has programs for such cases, bullying, and whether the school has a counselor.

It would be a helpful thing if schools came up with programs to address such cases as bullying. This would help students greatly not only at schools but also in their later lives.

Adults can help greatly in reducing aggression in children when they remind them (whether their own or not) that they are holding them accountable for their behavior and trying to teach them how to live a productive life from day to day without using bullying as a way of resolving.