Bullying
Bulling is the use of force, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse and aggressively dominate. The
behavior is often repeated and habitual. Bulling is the activity of aggressive behavior to hurt
another physically, mentally or emotionally.
Bulling is not a normal childhood behavior and should not be dismissed as “Kids will kids.”
Symptoms of being bullied include:
o Moodiness
o Lack of friends
o A drop in grades
o Sleep disturbances
o Withdrawn behavior
o Lost or torn clothing
o Fearfulness
o Loss of appetite
o Asking for extra school supplies
In order to be considered bulling, the behavior must be aggressive and include:
Repetition: Bulling behaviors happen more than once or have the potential to
happen more than once.
An Imbalance of Power: Power imbalance can change over time and in
different situations, even if they involve the same people.
Bulling includes actions such as making threats and attacking someone physically or verbally.
There are four types of bulling:
Verbal bulling: Verbal bulling is one of the most common type of bulling. This is
any bulling that is conducted by speaking and does not involve any physical contact.
Verbal bulling includes any of following:
o Teasing
o Name-calling
o Taunting
o Treating to cause harm
o Laughing at someone
o Talking to someone in a rude or unkind tone of voice
o Making insults
o Mocking someone’s voice
In many cases, verbal bulling is common in both genders, but girls are more likely to
perform it.
Social bulling: Social bulling is also a common type of bulling. Sometimes referred
to as relational bulling, involves hurting someone’s reputation or relationships.
Relational aggression is a sneaky type of bulling that often goes unnoticed by the
parents and teachers. Social bulling includes:
o Leaving someone out on purpose
o Telling other children not to be friends with someone
o Embarrassing someone in public
o Spreading rumors about someone
o Insulting someone
In many cases, social bulling is also common in both genders, but the people who
have low status are more infected.
Physical bulling: Physical bulling is any bulling that hurts someone’s body,
Stealing, shoving, hitting, fighting and intentionally destroying someone’s property are
types of physical bulling. Physical bulling includes:
o Taking and breaking someone’s thing
o Making mean
o Kicking
o Spitting
o Tripping
o Punching
Physical bulling is the harmful type of bulling. It can lead to a detrimental ending
and therefore many try to stop it quickly to prevent any further escalation.
Cyber bulling: Cyber bulling is the use of technology to harass, threaten,
embarrass, or target another person. When adult is involved, it may meet the definition
of cyber-harassment or cyber stalking. This includes bulling by use of email, instant
messaging, social media websites (such as Facebook), text messages and cell phones. It
is stated that Cyber bulling is more common in secondary school than in primary school.
Where and when Bulling Happens
Bulling can occur during or after schools hours. While most reported bulling happens in
the school building, a significant percentage also happens in places like on the
playground or the bus. It can also happen travelling to or from school, in the youth’s
neighborhood, or on the internet.
Frequency of bulling
There are two sources of federally collected data on youth bulling:
o In 2017 School crime supplement to the national crime victimization
Survey indicates that, nationwide, about 20% of students ages 12-18
experienced bulling.
o The 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System indicates that,
nationwide, 19.5% of students in grades 9-12 report being bullied on
school property in the 12 months preceding the survey.
Anti-bullying laws
There is no federal anti-bulling law, although all states have anti-bulling
legislation, bulling is not illegal.
When bulling is also harassment, it does break federal law.
