How You Can Help Advocate for Victims of Bullying in Your Community
Bullying affects many Americans, and it’s important to end this cycle of suffering by showing community support for victims. The CDC highlights that bullying is a widespread concern that impacts even the youngest age group in communities. In fact, about one in five high school students have reported being bullied in academic institutions.
Unfortunately, school bullying is just the tip of the iceberg— there are even more bullying victims in workplaces and Internet spaces. Bullying can happen anywhere, which is why it’s important to stand up and empower victims as a whole through the following strategies:
Provide compassion and support for the victims
You can help victims feel seen and heard through small acts of kindness. While many people ignore and dismiss bullying, your support can provide hope to people who are suffering from abusive situations.
To illustrate, Stand for the Silent president Kirk Smalley provides compassion and support for victims by going to different schools to talk about his son’s experience with bullying. By speaking up about bullying, Smalley was able to prevent countless numbers of young students from taking their own lives. Similarly, you can change the lives of victims by checking in with them, listening to their stories, and showing them support and compassion.
Help the victims seek justice for their experiences
It can be challenging for victims to heal from their experiences, especially since physical violence, verbal abuse, and even social damage can be involved in bullying. As an advocate, you can empower victims and aid in their healing process by helping them attain justice and reparations.
Given that these experiences are traumatic, it’s critical to connect with crime victim advocates who can provide appropriate interventions for victims of bullying. These professionals strengthen the social ecosystem by providing medical and psychological care to victims while holding the perpetrators accountable at the same time. Through their knowledge of court regulations, you can ensure that victims will be properly assisted in their fight for justice.
Carry out mental wellness strategies for bullying victims
You may think that the suffering of victims will stop once the bullying incidents are over. Unfortunately, these experiences can be traumatic and painful to the point that victims experience long-term impacts on their health and their lives.
It has been discovered that victims are more likely to experience stomach problems, heart conditions, and headaches because of the stress and anxiety caused by bullying. Since these incidents have real and dangerous consequences on their health, you need to provide access to mental health counselors who can aid in their recovery process. Counselors can empower victims by reframing their negative thoughts and giving them the right tools to live healthier and happier lives.
Implement bullying prevention strategies in key areas
Aside from helping victims in their own recovery process, communities also need to carry out bullying prevention strategies. Making bullying a community issue rather than an individual issue allows you to work together and build structures that can put an end to the cycle of suffering.
There’s definitely power in numbers since community members can contribute their own skills and knowledge to prevent bullying in key areas. For instance, members may set up meetings with school teachers, sports coaches, and local businesses to educate them about the effects of bullying and ensure fair and just conflict resolution. After raising awareness, you can discuss prevention policies to ensure that the community will work together in ending bullying.
With the help of key community members, it’s possible to improve the recovery process of victims and prevent bullying cases from occurring within your area. You have the power to change the lives of victims for the better.
If you’re concerned about cyberbullying in particular, you can check out Social Bullets, our program on cyberbullying, for more information on education, intervention, and protection.
Hollie Trey is an aspiring writer who loves to write about mental health and community involvement. Having lived in a small town for most of her life, she actively spends her time doing community work. When she’s not writing, you’ll often find her strolling around the neighborhood and chatting with the locals.