Young People Dying Young
Invisible bullying is one of the most insidious forms of psychological violence — and it’s often ignored by adults and institutions.
What Invisible Bullying Really Looks Like
There are topics people prefer to avoid. Not because they don’t exist, but because exposing your own point of view feels uncomfortable.
Everyone has their own perspective. They experiences things differently. And lives in their own reality.
And yet, we are still — and have always been — dealing with the same problem: bullies.
Single-celled organisms without opposable thumbs who need to tear others down just to feel like they matter. And they usually go after the most vulnerable.
I’m not talking about the obvious kind — the ones who show up in groups to beat someone up outside their house.
I’m talking about the invisible kind. The ones you don’t see.
The ones who send passive-aggressive messages, mock you behind your back, try to discredit you, or hide behind fake profiles to say things they’d never dare say to your face.
Those people. Failed versions of what a human being should be.
I’ve talked about bullying before, and we read about it every day. But the truth is: it’s incredibly hard to protect our children from an enemy you can’t see.
School isn’t enough. Teachers aren’t enough. Everyday life isn’t enough.
Because these situations often stay hidden — out of shame, fear, anger, or something else entirely — and never reach our attention.
And then we act surprised.
Then we cry.
Then we try to fix the damage someone else caused… or we just learn to live with it.
Why Awareness Alone Isn’t Enough
As Rodari pointed out almost fifty years ago, when something goes wrong in a young person’s behaviour, it often starts with the parent.
All these awareness campaigns, anti-bullying projects and inclusive initiatives are useless if we don’t first give our children the tools to defend themselves.
An anonymous message — or not — means nothing. Zero value.
Not being invited to a party, being left out of a game at the park — none of this should become shame, anger, resentment, or guilt.
What we need to give them is critical thinking.
Don’t worry: they are never too young or too naive to understand. They just need to be shown how to see things for what they are.
If someone does something wrong, it should be reported, confronted, or simply ignored.
Like the ones who mock you for your ears, for your tics, for shouting in class, or just for being who you are.
Ignore them. Move on. Focus on your life. The results will come — for you, not for them.
They are, and will remain, irrelevant.
Yes, I know. A child who thinks critically, who questions everything, is exhausting.
You have to explain everything. You have to reason constantly. And most of the time, they’re smarter than us. They outplay us with words.
But that’s the point.
We are raising them for the world — not to surrender to it.
Keeping them under a glass dome won’t save them when they grow up and we’re no longer there.
So better to raise critical thinkers — even annoying ones — who can take a hit, brush it off, and keep going…
rather than raising fragile kids who believe everything will magically get better.
Because that’s a lie. To them. And to ourselves.
And sometimes… they die.
Or the bullies die.
Or we die.
Either way, the system wins.
And those who remain… remain alone.
