Bullying speech – Lilly Reeve
Mrs. Kemp, Mr. Walls, members of staff and students,
Today I’m going to be speaking about an issue that will or has affected everyone in this room. Some
may get it worse than others, some might take part and not even notice. Overall I’m talking about a
matter that needs to be discussed. If you haven’t guessed by now, I’m talking about bullying. The
definition of bullying is to use superior strength or influence to intimidate someone, typically to
force them to do something. Bullying can come in many forms and it doesn’t have to stick to the
definition. Even something small like making a rude or insensitive gesture can be bullying. This
means a lot of people are bullies and don’t even realise it. So today I’m going to explain to you the
different types of bullying and how to stop yourself and others from doing it. Also if you find yourself
being bullied in any way, how to deal with that.
The first type of bullying is verbal. Verbal bullying is when a person says cruel, insensitive,
disrespectful or threatening things to another person. It could be about the person’s appearance,
personality, religion, disability, race among many other things. Verbal bullying is one that can be very
easy to accidently do. Sometimes you don’t know what people don’t like talking about or being said
about them. As long as you recognise their discomfort and apologise and don’t mention it in the
future, that’s not bullying. It’s different though if you know someone doesn’t like being called
something but continue to do it, that’s bullying. Name calling is often seen as a joke and people
don’t mean harm with it but if you don’t like being called a certain name speak up about it and let
them know. If they continue to do it after you tell them to stop that’s when you have to involve
people like teachers, parents or police. Don’t ever be afraid to do that because your health and
safety is way more important than some teenagers or adults opinion of you. If you don’t think
people will care about it, they do and good people will always listen to you if you’re being bullied.
The more serious side of verbal bullying is threats. Not saying the other stuff isn’t dangerous but
threats are more dangerous to your immediate health. Threats can come in varying levels of danger.
A starting threat might be just that they say they are going to say bad things about you. The next
step up is threatening to harm you in a small way. The final step would be threatening to end your
life or people that are close to your lives. Threats should always be taken seriously because you
never know when they are going to follow through with them. When they say threats to your face
that usually means they are pretty serious about it though because they are confident enough to say
it face to face. If you receive a threat, especially a death threat you should immediately contact the
police and never go anywhere alone. Overall it is good to remember “sticks and stones may break
your bones but words can never hurt you”. Unless you let them hurt you so don’t let some silly
letters strung together ruin your day.
Next is physical bullying. Physical bullying is the most well-known and affects everyone from small
children to the elderly. The definition is quite simple, using one’s body and physical strength to exert
power over peers. Physical bullying happens every day and is a serious problem in developing
countries where slavery is still a big issue. As we are developing as a race we are finally realising that
physical abuse is not okay to do to anyone or anything. In the end no one likes to be in unwanted
physical pain so why inflict it on others. If you are getting physically bullied sometimes you might
have to take action. There are ways to get out of holds and grips without hurting yourself or your
attacker which is the best way to escape the situation. If you do have to hurt your attacker it causes
a lot of legal issues, not so much as a teenager but when you’re an adult it can be hard sometimes to
justify self-defence. I know this sounds silly but unless you have evidence you can’t prove you
weren’t the attacker so it’s best to stay passive in a physical situation. Physical bullying is seen as the
most important one to look out for because it’s the most dangerous to your immediate health. This
is true but other forms of bullying can be just as harmful in the long term. Physical bullying can
include kicking, punching, scratching, biting, hitting and various other actions. Some attackers try to
trick you into thinking that what they are doing is normal. They will say sorry after they do it but
then continue to do it. If someone is truly sorry they will not keep doing the thing they said sorry for.
A lot of the time the physical bullies only bully people because of stuff going on at home or
somewhere where they spend a lot of time. If they come from a house where hurting people isn’t
seen as a bad thing they don’t understand why people get upset over it. Most bullies have a reason
why they bully other people, like how a villain or a hero in a story has a back story explaining why
they do what they do. Some people turn their anger to evil, some turn it to good. In the category of
physical bullying you could also include hand gestures or symbols as well. Giving some one the
middle finger or other such gestures can be really offensive if taken seriously and its physical bullying
because it’s something you’re physically doing. Overall just try not to make gestures because some
gestures considered friendly here are really offensive in different countries and cultures. Once
people start bullying they often get a power fix and get addicted to the feeling of having power over
people. People who bully don’t often have much control in their home life or parts other people
usually have control over so they bully to get that sense of power and control in their lives a
different way to what most people. An example of this is a lot of people with eating disorders
develop them because they feel like they have no control over their lives. So they then focus on their
eating because it’s one of the things they can easily control. If someone threatens you by saying “If
anyone finds out I will harm you further,” or something similar don’t listen to them. If you tell police
they can keep the person away from you forever and keep you safe. If you don’t tell anyone it will
just get worse. Finally if you notice someone with bruises or cuts ask them about it. If they don’t feel
comfortable discussing it with you watch them for a while and if it gets worse inform someone who
can help them like the police or maybe a teacher to begin with. Remember not to nag them though,
only ask them once, don’t make them feel uncomfortable about it. It’s not always wise to inform
parents in these situations because some parents are the ones inflicting violence on them. Stay alert.
Stay safe. Stay smart.
Next is Cyber bullying. A new type of bullying we can’t quite fully explain yet as it can come in so
many different ways. This type of bullying is the hardest to control and stop. People can
anonymously say whatever they want and it’s almost impossible to find out who they are. This type
of responsibility is too much for some people and they do things they wouldn’t do in real life. In my
opinion the internet can bring the worst out in anybody, given the right opportunity. Typing through
a keyboard sort of detaches you from any consequences or that’s what they think anyway. There are
ways to catch cyberbullies and bring them to justice. For example everyone has an IP address which
is unique to your Wi-Fi you’re connecting to, the police have access to that so if they really want they
could track down some serious cyberbullies. The only problem with this is some people might use
other people’s computers or block their IP address. So really, you really have to stay safe online. A
lot of the time people end up cyber bullying because they get in an argument with someone. Online
you can’t really express yourself properly so this can cause arguments to spiral out of control. If you
need to have a serious conversation with someone it’s always better to do it in person so the
meaning of your words don’t get mixed up. A major issue these days online is black mailing. I know
that’s a terrifying thought but it happens and more than ever on the internet. The blackmailing
usually consists of the threat of sharing unwanted photos or video to everyone they know. If this
ever happens don’t go along with what they ask or they will just blackmail you further. The best
course of action in this situation is to delete any accounts they have contacted you on, make
everything private on social media and ask police to help protect you. The best thought to go by
when you’re unsure about something online is if you wouldn’t do it in real life don’t do it virtually.
The most common type of bullying is mean or cruel messages. My best advice is to block or ignore
them because none of the stuff they are saying is true I guarantee and if you dwell on it you will just
get more upset. For some people going onto the internet is like being born into a new world so they
act like babies and toddlers and seem to not know any better. You use the same manners and
etiquette online as you would in real life, just because you’re typing it doesn’t mean you’re not
saying it. I hope this helps educate you on how to act properly online and not accidently become a
cyber bully. A difficult area is sarcasm. If you send someone a sarcastic message sometimes they
don’t realise it’s sarcastic and they take offence before you can say anything else. So probably steer
away from sarcasm, it’s a very grey area. I guess all that’s left to say is general safety stuff. Never
give out your address, phone number, full name, school or any personal information. Considering
anyone can go on the internet you just have to make sure no crazy people can track you down. Even
if it’s a survey or an ad saying you have won something never give away your information and you
will be safe from all the horrors of the internet. For example scamming, identity theft, weird
packages, telemarketers blowing up your phone and various other annoying or dangerous things.
That’s all I really have to say about cyber bullying. To sum it all up, use your manners, think before
you type and keep your information private. Onto our last form of bullying!
Our final type of bullying we are going to be talking about today is psychological bullying. I left this
one until last because it’s the hardest to define and explain to an audience. Psychological bullying is
the one that takes the longest to heal because it messes with your brain, your most sensitive part. It
can completely change you as a person if you exposed to it long enough and can leave you disabled
for the rest of your life. What psychological bullying is, is using words and sometimes actions to
reinforce a certain way of thinking onto a person while also damaging their psychological health. It
can also include tricking the mind into thinking something is right or wrong and generally confusing
the brain until they believe what you are saying is true or right. Examples include intimidation,
manipulation and sometimes stalking because it tricks the person into being paranoid even after the
stalker is gone or stopped stalking them. A simpler form which is more common is just pointing out
someone’s flaws or differences in front of a group of people or even alone. Hinting the fact to them
they should think these horrible things about themselves. Spreading rumours or lies about someone
is also psychological bullying because if they find out it can torment them and they are not sure
whether or not to believe it because they don’t know where it’s come from. Even if you are angry at
someone and want to get revenge it is never appropriate to spread rumours about them. Think
before you say something about someone else, always make it clear what you’re saying about the
person is positive. If the other person says something nasty about the person you’re praising make it
clear that’s wrong to do and change or leave the conversation. Never partake in talking behind
someone’s back, if you hear it don’t just listen, speak up and say that it is mean and rude. If you are
getting psychologically bullied make sure you keep close to family and people who you know you can
rely on. If you don’t have anyone close to you seek out a counsellor or someone similar to comfort
you and keep your mental health in order. If you hear rumours being spread about you just ignore
and deny them and show it doesn’t affect you because you know it isn’t true. Eventually they will
stop and everyone will forget it ever happened. Rumours are just the result of bitter emotions so
don’t react and the cycle won’t continue. You be the one to stop it and your life will change for the
better. That’s all I can really say about this type of bullying as it can vary so much from person to
person. There are so many different examples I could talk for days or even weeks. I think all of you
really need to know is that when you are going through tough times just know it will always get
better and someone always cares about you. You are an important part in someone else’s life so
don’t let that person down by giving up.
In conclusion, the terrible act of bullying will continue to become a bigger and bigger problem unless
we ALL change the way we think and act. Always think positively of other people no matter what
they have done because everyone has feelings and nobody deserves to be hurt or sad. People can
change too, if you give them an example to follow, a bad person could become a saint. All it takes is
your example and guidance of the correct behaviour and everyone could be living in a happier and
safer environment. This perfect life isn’t in the far future, it can start today and continue forever, all
you have to do is think more before you speak and type and always consider others feelings. If you
can be a bully you can stop bullying, simple as that. Just do the exact opposite of the wrong thing
and you will be doing the right thing. Now you are educated on the matter go out into the world and
share your knowledge so not only can Launceston be bully free but the whole world can become a
place of cooperation and freedom. Thanks for listening to me today and giving me respect while I
speak. Since you have done that you have taken your first step to living a bully and negative free life.