Bullying is more than often a major issue that young people have to contend with and most often dread! Essentially anti-bullying legislation states that each child has a right to walk, learn and play in a safe and harmonious environment…..but this is not always the case!!
SO, What is bullying?
Bullying is when someone or a group of people with more power repeatedly and intentionally causes hurt or harm to another person or group of people who feel helpless to respond. Bullying can continue over time, is often hidden from adults and will probably continue if no action is taken.
Bullying has also been described as “as a systematic abuse of power, … and more specifically as intentional aggressive behaviour that is repeated against a victim who could not readily defend him or herself” (Rigby 2002: 51)
What Bullying is not:
- single episodes of social rejection or dislike
- single episode acts of nastiness or spite
- random acts of aggression or intimidation
- Mutual arguments, disagreements or fights.
These actions can cause great distress. However, they are not examples of bullying unless someone is deliberately and repeatedly doing them to you.
There are 4 types of bullying!!!
1. Physical bullying
Physical bullying includes hitting, kicking, tripping, pinching and pushing or damaging property.
2. Verbal bullying
Verbal bullying includes name calling, insults, teasing, intimidation, homophobic or racist remarks, or verbal abuse.
3. Covert bullying/Indirect bullying
Covert or indirect bullying is often harder to recognize and can be carried out behind the bullied person’s back. It is designed to harm someone’s social reputation and/or cause humiliation. Covert/Indirect bullying includes:
- Lying and spreading rumors
- Negative facial or physical gestures, menacing or contemptuous looks
- Playing nasty jokes to embarrass and humiliate
- Mimicking unkindly
- Encouraging others to socially exclude someone
- Damaging someone’s social reputation or social acceptance.
4. Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is overt or covert bullying behaviors’ using digital technologies. Examples include harassment via a mobile phone, setting up a defamatory personal website or deliberately excluding someone from social networking spaces. Cyberbullying can happen at any time. It can be in public or in private and sometimes only known to the target and the person bullying.