A mere intention can make any event a crime or just a playful act.
But if a person causes vandalism or any kind of physical injury or mental damage, he is without any exception a sort of criminal and should be punished by law. Bullying and Joking are also two such terms that are often mistaken for each other.
Bullying vs Joking
While joking can be a positive and enjoyable form of social interaction, bullying is always harmful and unacceptable. Bullying is intended to harm or control another person, while joking creates a positive atmosphere. Jokes targeting a particular individual or group can be considered bullying.
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Bullying is a process in which a strong person delivers physical and mental damage to the person weaker than him. This is one of the major problems in modern society commonly found in schools.
If the action of bullying gets serious, it can cause serious damage. There are also some laws and regulations that have been imposed to prevent bullying.
Joking is something that involves doing or saying funny things. It is generally done with friends and family. A person can lie to introduce certain things to make them funny.
Joking generally is not a negative process since the intention behind it is to make people laugh. Since it is making fun of things, there are certain things a person is suggested not to make a joke about.
Comparison Table
| Parameters Of Comparison | Bullying | Joking |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Bullying is an act with malicious intentions to deliver mental and physical damage to the feeble person. | Joking is an act with playful intentions to make fun of certain things or people to entertain everyone. |
| Other words | Other words that are used to denote bullying are mobbing, abusing, harassing, etc. | Other words that are used to denote joking can be making fun, kidding, comedy, sarcasm, irony, etc. |
| Scope | There is no scope for bullying since it is a disgusting act that should be removed from society. | ‘Joking’ is also adopted as a form of art where a person can make a career in the field of comedy. |
| Consequences | The consequences of the behavior Known as ‘bullying’ are always negative and they are always harmful. | The consequences of the behavior Known as ‘joking’ are more pleasant and sometimes a little harmful. |
| Structure | The structure of the action bullying is distressing, aggressive, harmful, abusive verbally and physically, etc. | The structure of the action ‘joking’ is fun, playful, friendly, amusing, entertaining, etc. |
What is Bullying?
Bullying is considered to be an unwanted behavior, it is an abuse of power. Bullying is typically seen among school-aged children. This behavior of bullying gets repeated if once started.
A person who becomes a victim of bullying should reach a related school or some other kind of authority, or he should talk to reliable adults such as older siblings, teachers, parents, etc.
If a person keeps getting spontaneous behavior of bullying, the person or group that is bullying him gets more encouraged and stronger over time. Hence necessary steps against bullying should be taken as soon as possible.
Getting bullied can make someone mentally ill causing several types of psychological disorders.
In some cases, a person might be traumatized for their entire life. So never avoid taking a step forward to stop this heinous act.
Bullying can have several types such as physical bullying, social bullying, cyberbullying, verbal bullying, etc. Bullying can occur with anyone at any place.
The most common place where an individual gets bullied is the school building, playground, bus, internet, etc.
When more than one person participates in the process of bullying, it’s called mobbing and in some particular circumstances is also designated as peer abuse.
What is Joking?
The process of joking is a part of humor, in which sentences or words are delivered in a specific narrative way that triggers a person to laugh.
Jokes are made only for fun and they are not true, in other words, they are not supposed to be taken seriously. There is a whole field out there where people have adapted ‘joking’ and have turned it into their career as a comedian.
Joking is considered to be a short humorous action. But there might be people who try to offend others under the guise of joking.
The process of joking involves making fun of friends and family, saying funny things, setting up pranks, teasing people, making weird and funny body gestures and facial expressions.
Joking is not harmful but it provides entertainment. Joking is used for jokes, a joke is a particular type of story that can have dialogue and it ends with a punchline.
Jokes have multiple meanings that the audience is aware of. Other words used for jokes are puns, sarcasm, irony, hilarious, comedy, etc.
Joking is a significant part of oral literature, it is also considered a form of art where a person says or does funny things to make his audience laugh. The art of comedy or joking can not be mastered by anyone.
Main Differences Between Bullying and Joking
- Bullying is a social disease that ruins the connection between people. On the other hand, joking is an amusing activity that can build a relationship stronger.
- The main reason or cause of bullying is causing distress and harm to other people while the reason for joking is to make other people laugh and be entertained.
- Bullying is always considered to be a negative and illegal behavior that can cause depression while joking is indifferent and positive behavior that can cure depression.
- Bullying is considered to be a crime and punishable by law. On the other hand, joking is an act to provide fun activities and is not punishable by law.
- Bullying most certainly takes place in places like school, office, in the middle of the way while joking is a versatile act that can be pulled off anywhere.
- https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4757-9116-7_5
- https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=n3jgCwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT8&dq=joking&ots=iAAtjJsuwb&sig=-dH2kpPWzOIcstGFAB3dUAHPMrU
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Emma Smith holds an MA degree in English from Irvine Valley College. She has been a Journalist since 2002, writing articles on the English language, Sports, and Law. Read more about me on her bio page.
