‘Want to know how to handle bullying? Here are all the powerful defense techniques you need to know about.
Despite all the information available, many victims of bullying don’t know how to deal with it. And they continue to have their lives ruined by people who take pleasure from their pain.
Therefore, in this post, you will get powerful tips on how to handle bullying so that you can overcome it and emerge a winner.
Once you learn all these crucial moves, you will be able to face bullying with strength and, eventually, overcome it and move on to a happier and more peaceful life.
This post is all about how to handle bullying so that you can overcome and begin building a good life for yourself.
How to Handle Bullying
Many victims do not know how to deal with bullies. And one thing that gets them in trouble is becoming emotional. This is not good because it gives the bullies exactly what they want. Here are better ways to handle bullying.
1. Respond but don’t react.
Overreacting. Any overreaction to the taunts, insults, and attacks from bullies only brings more problems. Unfortunately, I learned this lesson through time-consuming trial and error.
It only gave my bullies what they wanted. Also, it could’ve gotten me either maimed or killed. But you don’t have to.
Overreacting can have a boomerang effect. If you get overly emotional, your bullies will only bully you more. Moreover, they could use your overreaction against you. Here’s how.
Bullies use your overreaction to play the victim role.
When you overreact, it can make you look like the aggressor. Therefore, your bullies may provoke you just to bait you into reacting. So why not use a different strategy?
2. Respond calmly.
When you respond calmly, you keep your mental shit together. Therefore, you look better to bystanders and witnesses. Moreover, staying calm drives bullies nuts. Your calmness can make them emotional.
Therefore, you’re turning their tactic against them.
How to Handle Bullying:
3. Fake a surrender or submission.
Make it look as if you’re giving in to your bullies’ demands. I realize this may feel a bit cowardly to you. However, you aren’t caving in, you’re only making your bullies think you are.
This works with physical bullies who have anger issues. So, remain calm and make them believe they have the upper hand. Doing so will stabilize their temper.
But wait! There’s another benefit! Your bullies probably expect you to react with aggression. But if you don’t, it will throw them off. When you remain calm and agree with them, it will shock them.
The element of surprise is a powerful weapon.
Use your fake surrender as part of a bigger plan once you fool them into thinking you care. On the inside, you continue to stand your ground. But on the outside, you give in to their desires.
Doing so can give you time to quietly plan a countermeasure that will bring the bullies down. Smarts will always trump aggression every time!
However, understand that this takes a truckload of self-control. And, as mentioned earlier, you may feel like a wimp when you use this technique. Just remember this.
play dead to save your life.
You’re not giving the bullies what they want. You only look like you are. You’re only playing dead to save your life!
And, by faking your submission, you also allow yourself time to study your bullies and carefully plot your next moves.
And when the bullies are satisfied and lay off you, you’ll finally have room to make your countermove.
So, go ahead—fake your submission. Get close to your bullies and learn their ways. Give them no reason to react, nothing to prepare for, and no cause for resistance. Then, when the time is right, BAM!
They won’t know what hit them.
Any time you make it look as if you submit to your bullies, you’re only mocking them. It’s silent disdain – like expelling a silent fart in their direction. Only they don’t know they’ve been farted on.
You turn their own power against them, making them look like idiots. But they can’t retaliate because you did what they told you to do. Right?
How to Handle Bullying:
4. Don’t fall into the explaining trap
Most things don’t need an explanation. Yet bullies are good at getting you to explain yourself for things you don’t have to.
Worst of all, most victims of bullying don’t know how not to get sucked into needless explanations. Therefore, they end up wasting their breath on people who aren’t worthy of their time or consideration.
As a result, they end up making themselves even bigger targets and get stuck in endless cycles of having to explain their every move.
This can become exhausting and, not to mention, dis-empowering! Therefore, you must realize that this is just another bullying tactic.
Don’t be that victim. You don’t owe them a damn thing. Refuse to explain.
5. Calmly call them out.
In other words, if they try to manipulate you, call out their behavior. But do it calmly.
And, if your bullies ask you, “What did we do?” you don’t have to offer any long explanations. All you have to do is tell them shortly and firmly, “You know what you did.”
Then, walk away before the bullies have time to fire off another curveball. Say what you have to say, in as few words as possible, then turn your back and start walking.
Or, you can insult them by saying, “What are you? Five?” This is a great comeback. You’re not only refusing to allow those creeps to manipulate you. You’re also adding a touch of shame and humiliation to it.
How to Handle Bullying:
6. choose not to respond verbally.
In other words, only use body language to get your point across. All you have to do is eyeball your bullies while standing straight and tall with your neck lengthened.
Show your bullies through your eyes and body language that you won’t put up with their crap. Then, walk away.
Silence usually screams the loudest. Therefore, if you do this, I guarantee you that they’ll get your point loud and clear!
7. Look the bully in the eye.
A hard glare works wonders, especially in the early stages of bullying.
Again, look the bully in the eye. If that’s too difficult, then look the bully between the eyes. I found that when I looked my bully between the eyes, I was less intimidated.
So try this, and I bet you won’t be as intimidated either.
Moreover, make sure you have a stone face or mirror the look on the bully’s face. By doing this, you’ll look less like a victim.
Do this, and others will take you more seriously. And bullies may think twice about messing with you again.
How to Handle Bullying:
8. Use Confident Body Language.
Avoid submissive body language, such as slouching or hunching. Instead, stand up straight with your shoulders back.
Also, refrain from self-protective behaviors, such as crossing your arms or looking down. Use open body language and make good eye contact with people. Smile.
9. Mirror the bully’s body language.
Most seasoned bullies like to intimidate you with death glares. And, sadly, many victims don’t know how to respond to nonverbal bullying.
Therefore, the best response is always to mirror the bully’s expressions back at them. In other words, if someone gives you a death glare, respond in kind.
An eye for an eye.
10. Fight if you must.
If the bully gets in your face or hits you, the gloves are off! This is when it’s time to haul off and punch the bully in the face as hard as you can.
If possible, hit the jerk so hard that you put them on the floor, but don’t stop there. This is your chance to give the bully a well-deserved ass-whipping! Beat them so bad that they won’t want to come near you a second time!
How to Handle Bullying:
11. Have a few comebacks handy.
Verbal bullies love to run their mouths. And the last thing you should do is stay silent when someone is verbally insulting you. You must stand up to them.
Therefore, you must be ready to fire off a good one-liner. For instance, if a bully tells you that your clothes look like they came from the Salvation Army, you can say, “Oh, you shop there too?”
If the bully tells you, “Nobody likes you,” you can respond with, “Who’s nobody? You?” Or you say, “You’re nobody. So, you’re right.”
There are all kinds of witty comebacks you can use. The trick is to know what they are. But here’s the thing. When you use these comebacks, you must do it calmly. Add a smile, and it’s even better.
Calm and cool is the rule. You can find more good comebacks here.
This post was all about knowing how to handle bullying so that you can overcome it instead of continuing to live with it.
Related posts you’ll enjoy:
1. Silent Treatment: Why Bullies Give It and What You Should Do
2. How to Respond to Darvo: 7 Powerful Ways to Shut it Down
3. How to Deal with Bullies: 7 Do’s and Don’ts You Need to Know
4. Standing Up to Bullies: 7 Ways Bullies React When You Stop Taking Their Crap