Bullying and Poverty

Now, I’m sure we have all seen this before. A person, child or adult, gets made fun of because they don’t have that much money. It is a tale as old as time. Why do we do this?

This can be easily explained. For many cultures, it is perceived that if you have more money it makes you superior to people who have less money. This idea is even seen in some religions. For example, within the Christian religion of Calvinism it is believed that if you have more wealth, then God is blessing you, while if you are poor then you did something to make God upset with you and thus he took away your wealth through various means.

Even though children may not understand this idea fully, it is still taught to them from a young age. They see it in television, magazines, and celebrities. Kids dream of having high paying professions when they get older so that they can have all the things they saw other people had that they wished they had.

If a child is being made fun of for not having as much money as the other children, have them reply with something like this. “Why are you making fun of me for that? It’s not like you made that money, it’s not even your money, it’s your parents money. You’re just showing off about something that isn’t yours.”

Sometimes it is important to remember that we can only really show off about what we have earned in life, not what is given to us.