Quiet people are mysterious because they’re people of few words. Many of them are also stoic, which only makes it that much harder to peg them. Often bullies target these people for several reasons:

1. Quiet people are presumed to be easy targets. They think that if you aren’t loud and obnoxious, you must be weak, afraid, and least likely to fight back in an altercation.

 2. They’re are mistaken for being standoffish. Bullies will presume that quiet people are stuck up and think they’re too good to speak. And bullies can’t stand it if there’s a possibility that someone is ignoring them. So they target the person to get a reaction out of them. Or, they punish them for “being so stuck up.”

 3. They’re hard to figure out. People of few words strike fear into others. The less you say, the harder other people must work to figure you out. Remember that most bullies bully out of fear.

 4. A silent person is less predictable. And bullies hate it when targets are unpredictable. If they can’t predict the target’s next move, the least likely they are to be able to dupe them or set them up to get jumped or to be humiliated. Many bullies see this as a challenge and will rise to it by provoking the person to get a reaction.

Quiet people don’t show their cards, and bullies resent them for making them have to work so hard to pin them.

5. A quiet person puts bullies on the defensive. People often think that the silent are sneaky and have something to hide. So bullies will often target them to shake them up and make them slip up and accidentally reveal something out of nervousness.

Bullies often believe the stereotypes they’ve heard about people of few words:

“It’s the quiet ones you have to watch out for!”

“The quiet ones are the most dangerous!”

 If you’re a silent person and you’re a target of bullies. Don’t let them shake you. Continue to play your cards close to the vest. Your lack of predictability is what protects you. You must understand that silence has a power all it’s own. Use it.