
Verbal Bullying: The most common form of bullying, it can include mean-spirited teasing, gossiping about another, name calling, embarrassing jokes, and actual threats.Įmotional/Social Bullying: This form is harder to define, but generally involves the assertion of social power to cause pain or exclude the target from the social crowd. It can also involve pretending or threatening to inflict harm, making the target terribly uneasy. Physical Bullying: Involves actions like hitting, kicking, pushing, throwing objects or damaging property. Often bullying is portrayed as an act of intimidation of physical violence, but there are several types of bullying: They can have diminished self-esteem and need to build self-confidence.They might not assert themselves in a bullying situation and,.They might give a vulnerable response to being bullied.While anyone can be bullied, targets of bullying tend to have one or more of these common traits: Differences do not automatically lead to bullying, but do tend to be noticed by youth who are seeking targets. This may mean that they belong to a non-majority culture such as being on the autism spectrum, have unique physical characteristics, practice a different religion than others, or have a different form of disability. In general, targets of bullying tend to be different in some way. Still, targets of bullying tend to share certain traits. Bullying advocates prefer the term target because it suggests that a person who is bullied, and those around that person, have the power to change the situation. The word victim implies that a person is powerless to change their circumstances, or then even they are somehow to blame for what is happening. It may be common to hear the person being bullied referred to as the “target” rather than “victim.” There is a reason for this. Power in this instance can be defined as physical strength, social status, or intimidating behavior.

Bullying involves a real or perceived imbalance of power.Bullying is an oppressive or negative act intended to hurt somebody else. Bullying involves hurtful acts, words, or other behavior.Although it can take place in a single incident, bullying is generally carried out repeatedly over time. Bullying behavior is often repetitive.The target does not knowingly provoke the bully and may have made it clear that the behavior is not welcome. In fact, disagreements among friends, families, or co-workers are a normal part of social functioning and can help develop needed interpersonal skills.Īlthough definitions of bullying vary, most agree that bullying involves the following characteristics: Those types of situations usually involve persons of equal social power, and the conflicts can be resolved with apologies. But what is bullying? If you get into a disagreement with a friend that results in a shouting match, is that bullying? No. Bullies come in all genders, shapes, sizes and even can be well dressed.īullying is carried out by males and females, and can cause harm that lasts a lifetime.

Even today, many television shows and movies aimed at youth feature a bully as a cartoonish main character. The word bully brings images of tough teenagers clad in leather jackets, threatening to settle the score behind the stadium bleachers, or stuffing helpless kids into school lockers.

25% of teens age 11-18 report having been cyberbullied at some point in their lifetime and.

