Blogpost # 2: Inferiority and Superiority Complex as an Indicator of Bullying

Are there any instances in your life where you dreamt of having superpowers? A superpowers that will gain you a big advantage to others? For example the ability to transform yourself into a ghost and being able to teleport, so that you can explore the farthest galaxy in the universe which is billions if not trillions of light years away from earth  or explore the deepest part of the ocean that is not habitable for  human? Or use this ability to cause mischief to others and reach your lustful dreams? In other words, did it ever occur to you that you wanted to be superior from others? Well, I’m pretty sure you do. Even I used to think that way sometimes, everyone does, and don't be conscious about it because it’s a part of being a human.

Alfred Adler

I've read an article entitled  “The Inferiority and Superiority Complex” by Alfred Adler From the site www.counsellingcentral.com  

Alfred Adler says “To be a human beings means to feel oneself inferior.” he also stated “Behind everyone who behaves as if he/she were superior to others, we can suspect a feeling of inferiority which calls for a very special efforts of concealment. It is as if a man/woman feared that they were too small and walked on their toes to make themselves taller.”

 So, the fact that you feel superior to others means that you have been undergoing some inferiority issues and most likely you feel useless and less important in some way and is attempting to compensate this by acting superior to others.

Having a superiority complex is not actually bad because it’s a psychological defense mechanism which allows us to overcome the feeling of inferiority. However, superiority complex can be an indicator of bullying when its developed the wrong way. People who had this complex tend to be hostile, unfriendly, selfish and insensitive. As a result, they just say what they want and don’t bother to listen when someone is talking; having a difficulty of maintaining close relationships; and pretends to be someone who is more intelligent or have an expertise in many areas but the truth is he/she is just an average person. Just by looking at it signs of bullying could be clearly seen. In the other hand feeling inferior sometimes can be a good thing. 

"A child is motivated by feelings of inferiority to strive for greater things. Which is the great driving force of mankind,” says Alfred Adler

In this article Alfred Adler mentioned some people who had a defect in their body or been through hardships since they were a kid like Demosthenes "who became a great speaker despite having early speech defects." people like them didn't think of their flaws as their weaknesses instead they employed it as their motivation to strive harder and became successful in their own lives.

Demosthenes

Stories like this are surely encouraging when someone has defied all odds just to be what he/she really wants to achieve his or/her golden dream. But unfortunately, it doesn't mean that when  you've been through inferiority complex you can be successful in life just like those people that Alfred Adler mentioned. It all depends on you whether you’ll see it as your weakness and blame life events or someone for whats happening in your life or you will accept the fact that you are inferior and used it as a motivation to strive harder in life. 

Just like what the title says inferiority complex can also be an indicator of bullying, according to an article written by M.Farouk Radwan entitled “Reasons why people bully others” from the site www.2knowmyself.com 

 “A person might become a bully in order to feel worthy,” says M.Farouk Radwan

  The reason is maybe in his family, he/she didn't get enough attention, for example his/her younger siblings is more favored or he/she is mistreated at home. When that happens the child might start to feel insecure or inferior and there is a possibility that in order to fill these emotional gaps he/she will bully someone. Bullies wanted others to see them as a person who is stronger than them. They also want respect so they will inflict fear or sometimes do some physical damages to others in order to get that respect because most of the bullies feel insecure, inadequate, and inferior in the inside.

“Just as we should help the people who are being bullied we should also work on helping bullies because they are as much in need of help as their victims,” says M.Farouk Radwan

I agree on what the author wants to express in this quotation. We just need to determine where the smokes came from and put it out before it became a real fire. But as long as there’s a parent who screamed at their children; parents who hit their children and established force to make their children listen to them, and the whole mindset is, “as long as you’re obeying me there will be peace in this household.”. I’m not actually against corporal punishment and I do believe that it is a good method to straighten up your Child's twisted behavior , but the parents should also know when to implement it and how to do it properly so that they wouldn't make their own Child's life miserable by living in fear.  Because it will only produce inferior children that will develop superiority complex and eventually became a bully.

 Being superior for me can be considered as a good thing, but once you abused it for your own good, to achieve something without even thinking about the consequences it can present to other people. I think that will be the time where it can be harmful. Exactly like what Uncle Ben once said in  the movie Spider-man “With great power, comes great responsibilities” so please keep it in your mind

Blogpost # 1: History of Bullying

 As a kid who grew up watching television shows that is portraying violence and abuse in many forms like WWE, DragonBallZ  and doing extreme things like playing war games and sometimes imitating arcade games like Tekken where we are really punching each other and just like on how many video games work  in order to become the champion we need to defeat each other in  order to advance to the next level and when the tournament is done, one of us will become the champion and he will choose on what are we going to do on that day or on that week as long as he is the champion. But if one of us disobeys, he will be given the right to challenge and prove that he is more worthy of becoming the champion. That scenario is going to continue until someone is disagreeing.  

We are all aware that anytime we can hurt each other, but for us it was just like playing hopscotch or any normal game because for us that’s how a real man should play. And because I thought that using violence is just a part of a game, I find it interesting whenever I see someone fighting or hurting each other and that also goes for bullying.  

For me it was all normal. Now, I need to admit that I’m one out of many people who believes that bullying is just a mischief and a normal part of childhood WHICH IS WRONG!!!

I read an article written in 2007 about bullying entitled “A Time Line of the Evolution of School Bullying in Differing Social Contexts" published in Asia Pacific Education Review, by Dr. Hyojin Koo of Woosuk University Korea from the site www.researchgate.net

Muban a high ranking official
on Chosun Dynasty

According to Hyojin Koo the first incidents where the victims of bullying commit  suicide occurred in Chosun-Dynasty Korea (1392-1910) where Myunsinrae is prohibited by King Jungjong (2nd king of Chosun Dynasty) and King Sookjung (19th King of Chosun Dynasty). 

Myunsinrae is " an official event for the new officer by the senior officer, but, in fact it involved misconduct by the senior officer," says Hyojin Koo

 Myunsinrae is similar to what we now called as "hazing" that is often used by most gang's and fraternities where the aspiring member needs to experience the same hardships and traditions that their seniors experienced and undergone for the sake of brotherhood. Myunsirae usually spans for one to two weeks, but Choon Hyun-Hwa's case is different he was exposed to a series of human indignation and maltreatment for over a year. And that causes him to take his own life.

" Although Myunsinrae had happened only between new and senior officers, when the nature of it is looked at, forms of bullying could be clearly discerned. First of all, for some new officers who did not do what they were asked to do, Myunsinrae took place persistently over a long time with the intention of harming the victim," says Hyojin Koo 

How disturbing it is to know that what happened during the Chosun dynasty is still existing in present time. Imagine yourself or your loved one being exposed into what they called as Myunsinrae wherein a certain person is being isolated to others, physically and psychologically harassed. I'm pretty sure that your heart will be filled with anger, and who knows because of rage you might do something unacceptable like killing those people who hurt your beloved one.

The term “Bully” dates back to the 1530s that time bullying is just commonly as seen as today. People are more familiar with the word aggression than bullying and what may seem as violent behavior today can be seen as a kid being kids back then.

According to Hyojin Koo, “In earlier times, according to description in old documents from 18^th to 20^th centuries, bullying was generally described as physical harassment usually related to a death, strong isolation, or extortion in school children.”

Older student bullying younger kids

In addition, bullying was thought of as innocent

 “misadventure”  among young schoolboys

 this type of bullying happened at the King’s Boarding School in Cambridge

  in the U.K. when a 12 year old boy was killed

 From bullying behaviors by his older classmates in 1885. The schoolboys involved were not

 Held accountable for his death because the school

 Viewed the behavior as a normal misadventure and also people from the council announced that this behavior could be a normal part of a boy's school life.  

It is sad that in old times, bullying is being seen as part of boy's school life. Kids who are involved in doing this kind of misdemeanor were not being punished. But still, we can’t blame them because during those times people are not really aware of what bullying is all about and how it affects the life of its victims.

Upon researching about this topic, I've found another article entitled "History of Bullying"  by Deborah Carpenter with Christopher J. Ferguson, Ph.D. from the site netplace.com

"Bullying isn't a new problem, but people are becoming more aware of its negative impact on kids," says Deborah Carpenter  

Its true that many people now have more knowledge about bullying. Thanks to all the people who worked hard and devoted their whole life just to understand what causes people to bully and what is the effect of bullying. But, how did they educate us about the true nature of bullying in the first place?. Well, some of them published books and created articles that became an eye opener to the public and some people create novels and movies that encourage people who got bullied to learn how to fight back.

One Examples is "The Karate Kid" directed by Harald Zwart. This movie is all about a young boy from America who is forced to move to Beijing because of his mom's job transfer. And there he will meet a young girl named Meiying and eventually develops a crush on her and will be bullied by a young rebellious kung fu prodigy and then Dre will eventually learns karate in order to defeat his tormentors.

Movies like this usually have a happy conclusion. Where the main character will learn something and defeat the bully and the bully will simply run away weeping and is promising that will come back to get revenge, and also in some movies after defeating the bully, the bully will just admit that he/she was wrong and will promise that will change, then became friends with the main character or sometimes they became the best of friends and then everyone  will have a big smile on their faces, then end of the story.

"Unfortunately, real life bullying situations rare end with this kind of Hollywood cinematic victory. The majority of children who are being bullied can't or just don't know how to fight back on their own. They need help, support, and, most importantly intervention. All children have the right feel safe from bullying, and not one of them  should be forced to face it alone," says Deborah Carpenter

Dan Olweus

And I also found out in in this article that the first person to ever conduct a research related to bullying was Dan Olweus, a psychology professor at the University of Bergen in Norway. In 1970s, where bullying is still not considered a social problem and many people still see it as a right 

Of passage, a normal, unavoidable part of growing up. Olweus

completed the first scientific study of bully/victim problems among school children and youth. Olweus study was published as a book in Scandalivia in 1973, and was published again in the United States under the title “Aggression in the School: Bullies and Whipping Boys”

The findings in Olweus’s study open the eyes of the public that bullying is becoming more prevalent in schools. In 1980s, Olweus conducted a systematic research that featured the positive effects of his “Bullying Prevention Program”. Even with his research. Bullying has become more prevalent and this capture the attention of other professional to conduct research about this phenomenon, most with good result and it expand the awareness and meaning of bullying.

Today, bullying is now recognized for the serious problems it can present and many countries is now conducting research on anti-bullying intervention and education program. But with our growing technology, bullying has transformed into what we’re calling now as cyber-bullying. It will make our fight against bullying difficult. But as long as we educate people on the effects of bullying and by making a high punishable laws that will hold bullies accountable for their actions. The case of bullying will surely drop and hopefully someday will go.