Bullying and labelling as communication tools of control and domination

Good communication skills are vital for success in life. In any conversation, involved parties may feel their personality is vulnerable and under attack. Likewise, we may quite often initiate a discussion with others about anything and unexpectedly find ourselves under attack by someone. The main reason is that someone began to feel insecure. Any time we feel insecure in a discussion we use one of the following strategies: fighting through bullying, labelling, name-calling, cynicism, antagonism; or dodging via the use of silence, avoiding others, or hiding our feelings. Consequently, effective communication retreats and the dialogue moves away from the subject matter towards protecting the self by resorting to defensive communication. Interacting defensively might look like we are still conversing over the subject matter; however, in reality, we are fighting about each other’s worries; yet we conceivably do not even comprehend ourselves or others in the process. In addition, we may not grasp what one says that triggered the other person’s vulnerability. This article looks at the extent to which Middle Eastern people use labelling and bullying as communication tools of control and domination along with the effects of using these tools on themselves, their parents and the wider societies. An exploratory survey was conducted to collect data. Key findings reveal that males and females using labelling and bullying derive satisfaction of that use. About 21.4 per cent of males and 11.1 per cent of females revealed that they were never taught or trained on ethical behaviours or about avoiding labelling and bullying others in their lives at home and/or in school. Moreover, the study shows that a great majority of bullied and labelled subjects reported to have refrained from informing their school administrators, teachers and parents that they were bullied and labelled by other classmates or peers. Due to the significance of these results, this study recommends that parents and educators should take urgent measures in order to prevent the negative effects of these communication tools on vulnerable individuals in society.