“My child is completely fine!”, or is he?

The lives of people as children, more specifically as a student, are believed to be the best moments of their lives. They are full of vigor and energy, the most vibrant version of a person they could ever be.
But for some, these same moments prove to be the worst time of a person’s life. Why? Would you ask; the answer is simple; these people have been the victims of bullying and harassment, killing the creative life buds meant to sprout inside them. Scientific studies show that childhood is a crucial stage in anyone’s life as it is the time when the connections between different sections of a brain are made, and any early trauma or shock can heavily impact this process, rendering the individual hampered in one or more aspects, in this case, they are hampered emotionally.
Now you might be curious about why bullying is a thing and who are its agents of deliverance. Let me tell you. The causes are as simple as jealousy and indifference to diversity. The individuals subjecting this cruelty are none other than the fellow members of the age groups of the victims. These little ones are unaware of the long-term effects of, let’s say, a mean joke cracked at the quiet and shy kid in class. How this little act of fun can impact that kid’s entire life is thought of by none; from that point onwards, that little incident will define what kind of person he’s going to be in the future. In some fortunate cases, these victims take strength from these snippets and become something completely different; from quiet to bold, from shy to extrovert, but in most cases, these introverted qualities take hold of these victims, amplifying their anxieties and insecurities.
These small activities of fun and games sometimes take a turn for the worst; to escape their living nightmares of being the targets of bullying, these young victims take extreme measures to do so. Now the concept of school shootings isn’t new to anyone, which is a big issue; these extreme cases of violence are considered favorable by the victims in the absence of any counseling or therapy. As the self-defense laws are getting more and more lenient in the wake of growing crimes across the globe, these children easily get ahold of firearms, either from their homes or from street dealers, and the worst thing about school shootings is that it is not only ruins the lives of the bully and the victim, but also the people around them are prone to serious injuries, either physical or mental or both.
Bullying is not only restricted to the physical world anymore. Post-pandemic, the world has more or less shifted completely to the online world, a world crawling with online bullies and trolls, ready to eat on your mental peace. The authorities work day and night for making the online medium a free and safe space for every user, but it is still very far from being what is desired.
What is needed in society is empathy, a lot of empathy, towards your fellow members of society. We need to teach the coming generations how crucial it (empathy) is and that they don’t have to repeat the mistakes we made and that they can truly be the beacons of peace and sustainability.

By Lakshya Parnami