Relational Aggression
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Bullying 

WHAT YOU should know
what you CAN DO



CLICK:  You Can't Sit With Us
    disenfranchised pain:
       
dis-en-fran-chahyz:  to deny someone a right

OFTEN, the pain and humiliation suffered by victims is disenfranchised.

  • Peers deny victims the right to Cry, get Angry, become Upset, Depressed, or to Tell Anyone about what is going on, and how they are suffering.
  •  LABELED a Cry-Baby, Gay, a Fag, or simply Pathetic should they do any of these things,  a victim  is not only ridiculed, humiliated, and ostracized, but is expected to be able to "take it" --to suffer in silence.
  • If s/he can't, it is cause for further humiliation.


What You Should Know:


  • Taunting, mockery, exclusion, gossip and rumors (whether on-line, in school, or the workplace) are forms of violence-- emotional and psychological violence.  The wounds they inflict can be deep, and fester for years.
  • These behaviors humiliate and stigmatize their targets, damaging current, as well as  future, relationships.
  • Bullying  often leaves its victim with few, if any, opportunities to explain their point of view, or make amends.
  • Tears or formal complaint legitimate the abuse that has been directed at her.  She "can't take it"--and her pain is "proof" that she is pathetic.  Unfortunately, admitting distress--even despair--often causes torment to escalate.
  • The pain  caused by social abuse is legitimate.  It  "lights up" the same pain centers of the brain as does physical harm to the body.  Would you tell someone with a broken arm to "get over it" or "not let it bother you"?  Social pain is real.  It hurts.  And it needs to be acknowledged, and given the opportunity to heal. 


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