Hello everyone, I wanted to share with you a podcast episode that I think is interesting. You can find this episode on a website called OC87 Recovery Diaries if you want to check it out. The website is an incredible initiative that strives to tell stories about people who deal with mental health problems. It is a platform that encourages people to be able to speak about their experiences and show some light to these stories that a lot of times are hidden from society, helping to reduce stigma. There are many episodes you can find on the website, but the one that I am going to talk about is related to bullying.
The podcast explores the impact of bullying on students' mental health, specifically during the high school years. At the start of the episode, Laura Farrell, the podcast co-host, talks about her experience of being both the victim and the bully. Showing us both sides, which I find interesting, because it is a great example of how we can have different roles depending on the situations and the people we are around with. It highlights the complexity of bullying, helping us understand that behavior is often shaped by our environment and context. It challenges the usual black-and-white view of “bully vs. victim” that is often used when talking about bullying.
The podcast also features a conversation between a school counselor and a high school student. They both share their perspectives on how bullying impacts mental health during high school. The student, Noah Glickman, shares his experience by explaining that he suffered bullying and bullied others too and then became the president of the student association at his school. He mentions that a factor that feeds bullying is that we normalize being mean, making jokes and awful responses. Many of the conversations between young people are based around jokes. However, he believes that we end up saying a lot of mean things in order to be friends with other people. The need to be liked can make students use mean words just to fit with others, because it is considered the social norm. This mean behavior has been normalized.
And when we try to have healthy dialogues and to change these kinds of conversations, nobody sees it as a problem. I totally agree with his view, because I see it pretty often around me, even though I am in my twenties. So many people speak badly about each other, but they always cover it up by saying it was just a joke. For example, groups of friends use words like “slut”, “stupid” with each other all the time. Without thinking that it can end up being harmful.
One of the main points of the episode is the power of being heard, since it helps the person deal with their experience. They encourage students to speak out if they suffer bullying or have suffered. They talk about how adults need to listen with empathy and without judgment. Compassionate adults can have a positive impact in a young person’s life when they are struggling with a bullying situation. They discuss how a strong relationship between students and school staff can be essential in preventing and addressing bullying.
That is the reason why the role of Amy Grolnick, the guidance counselor, is truly important in helping students feel safe and understood. She explains that a lot of times the students that come to speak with her tell her that they do not want her to get involved. They just want to be heard. She says that when she thinks the situation is getting out of hand, she asks for the permission of the victim to intervene. In spite of that, she understands that some students just want to talk to someone, and she focuses her intervention on strengthening them so they feel empowered and strong in order to deal better with the situation they are facing. This feeds into the fact that school support systems need to understand that they have a much bigger role in preventing and fighting school bullying than they think they do. A big change starts by just listening to their students.
Farrel, L. & Clayman, B. (2020, November 18). Episode 7 – The effects of Bullying on Mental health in high school. OC87 Recovery Diaries. https://oc87recoverydiaries.org/mental-health-podcast-7/
Hi, thank you for posting this blog. The podcast sounds very interesting. It's good they had people both discuss about the point of view as victim, but as the bully as well as this isn't talked about often. I agree that in the modern age people often don't see how hurtful words can be. Even if you're just joking around, calling someone a bad word, even as a joke, can be very mean and be damaging. The main point of "being heard" is in my opinion something very important. Victims of bullying should be heard and should be able to get help when they need it. If there's a strong relation between school staff and students, it's easier for students to make the step of talking to someone about being bullied.
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