How to identify and avoid toxic people | Teen Ink

How to identify and avoid toxic people

September 12, 2022
By BananaFana69 BRONZE, Umm Salal Muhammad, Other
BananaFana69 BRONZE, Umm Salal Muhammad, Other
2 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
“Hey, former president Obama here, just wanted to say, did you know I know how to beatbox? Spoumachmaboomboomachuma” -Obama


Toxic people, you know, the type of people who’ll take advantage of you to feel more superior, smarter, or just make you feel bad about yourself, while still appearing as friendly or nice people. I had to deal with those kind of people last year, I went through some real stuff, like emotional abuse, bullying, stress and depression. It took me the entire summer vacation to heal. Anyway enough about me, let me tell you how to identify and escape toxic people.
1.     NEVER ignore red flags
When I was in that friend group, I knew something was off since the first week. I ignored it, and, of course, I regret it. They kept on abusing me. It took me the entire school year to tell myself “hey! I think something’s wrong here!”.
2.     ALWAYS try to identify favouritism
One of the major red flags in that group was favoritism. Which meant, if I did something, it was considered wrong, if someone else did it, it was fine. I also overlooked this one, but it really damaged me, I never knew what was right and wrong.
3.     PLEASE tell someone if things really go off the rails
Once it actually started getting physical, as in they wanted to beat me up, I told my dad at once. Of course, the dad he is, told me I should beat THEM up. But I didn’t listen. Instead I went to the principal, and told him about it. It ended then and there, and we didn’t talk since.
And now, Here’s how to ESCAPE toxic people
1.     IGNORE them
Just start by setting boundaries, then try to not talk to them, then cut them off completely. That was the thing I did, and it worked. Now I have better, non-toxic friends to talk to.
2.     NEVER be afraid to be alone when you leave them
I wanted to leave that friend group SO many times, but I was too scared to be alone. Just the thought of going to school just to not talk to anyone scared me. But now, I made so many wonderful friends, so remember, DON’T BE AFRAID TO DO WHATS RIGHT!
3.     NEVER fight back (aggressively)
Its never wrong to fight back, but, don’t be more aggressive that the opponent, or you’ll be the one to blame. Make sure to stand for you’re rights, peacefully!
And that’s it! It was fun writing my very first article, I might write some more, so if you enjoyed this one, stay tuned for the next magazine, bub-bye!


The author's comments:

Wanted to help out people pick their friends correctly this new school year!


Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 0 comments.