Intimidation

INTRODUCTION

Intimidation can be a gesture, a comment or intervention that seeks to hurt, humiliate or frustrate another person. A simple mockery? A quarrel between friends? Intimidation is more than that. It is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time.

Year after year, between 6% and 10% of young people are intimidated repeatedly. These figures are similar in several countries

TYPES OF INTIMIDATION

Intimidation is everywhere, in the streets as the sports center, on the internet as the bus. We have four types of intimidation:

verbal intimidation

This form of intimidation is: insult, mock, use nicknames, humiliate, threaten someone, make racist, sexist or homophobic or sexual harassment, etc.

It can be direct (eg: To treat his girlfriend "slut" before it) or indirect (eg : tell everyone the secret that your friend (e) hath assigned by specifically asking you to do tell anyone because it would be too embarrassing

physical intimidation

This form of intimidation is: hitting, punches, kicking, pushing, spitting, stealing, damaging the objects of the other, shoving or break into his personal space in a threatening manner, etc.

Social intimidation

This form of intimidation is: spread rumors, ignore or exclude a person, create a situation to ridicule or break friendships, isolating the other, etc.

It can be direct (eg. Shouting "Ouach, it stinks!" Every time you walk beside your friend (e)) or indirectly (eg. Get up and take you away with disdain every once your friend (e) approaches you or sits next to you as if he / she had a contagious disease).

cyberintimidation

This form is: harass and intimidate through email, cell phone, text messages (SMS), the Internet, social media, creating hateful Web pages, dissemination of compromising photos, etc. Cyberbullying can be direct (eg. Write threats and insults directly to the person) or indirect (eg. Spreading false rumors that attack your friend's reputation (e) anonymously or send embarrassing messages his name by hacking his account or stealing his digital identity).

CAUSES OF INTIMIDATION

To increase their popularity or power, intimidating turn their wrath on victims who are perceived as weaker than them. They will never zone in someone they feel will be able to challenge or stand up to them. In order to understand causes of intimidation you must realize that intimidation victims may:

• wear glasses
• be less popular
• be overweight
• be over or underweight
• be of a different race or religion
• be from a different socioeconomic background
• be gay or lesbian
• have a disability

Although intimidating may seem confident and sure of themselves, they are usually insecure and may feel inferior to others. In order to keep the feeling of power and prestige, the perpetrator has to continue the behavior. Some of the common causes of bullying are:

• intimadating come from dysfunctional families.
• intimadating need to be in control.
• Intimidation behavior gets rewarded.  
• intimadating don’t care how others feel.
• intimadating can’t regulate their emotions.

EFFECTS OF INTIMIDATION

A child victims are more likely to suffer from:

• Low self-confidence
• Depression
• Suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts
• Abnormal fears and worries
• Sleep disorders
• Nervous habits
• Frequent crying
• Bed-wetting
• Poor appetite or digestive problems
• School problems
• Rage

It is also noted "a high risk of school adjustment disorder" and "a high rate of suicide in children who intimidates, in the child who is the victim and child who is a intimidating and victim". Among the attackers, we see a higher risk of using drugs and alcohol and lay criminal acts later, "60% of boys who bully their peers in elementary school have a criminal record in 24 years"

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