What is bullying?
Bullying is repeated verbal, physical, social or psychological aggressive
behaviour by a person or group directed towards a less powerful person or group
that is intended to cause harm, distress or fear.
types of bullying
There are some specific types of bullying behaviour:
What is not bullying?
There are also some behaviours, which, although they might be unpleasant or distressing, are not bullying:
- verbal or written abuse - such as targeted name-calling or jokes, or displaying offensive posters
- violence - including threats of violence
- sexual harassment - unwelcome or unreciprocated conduct of a sexual nature, which could reasonably be expected to cause offence, humiliation or intimidation
- homophobia and other hostile behaviour towards students relating to gender and sexuality
- discrimination including racial discrimination - treating people differently because of their identity
- cyberbullying - either online or via mobile phone.
What is not bullying?
There are also some behaviours, which, although they might be unpleasant or distressing, are not bullying:
- mutual conflict - which involves a disagreement, but not an imbalance of power. Unresolved mutual conflict can develop into bullying if one of the parties targets the other repeatedly in retaliation.
- single-episode acts of nastiness or physical aggression, or aggression directed towards many different people, is not bullying
- social rejection or dislike is not bullying unless it involves deliberate and repeated attempts to cause distress, exclude or create dislike by others
the facts about bullying
Did you know?
(Source: Cross, D., Shaw, T., Hearn, L., Epstein, M., Monks, H., Lester, L., & Thomas, L. 2009. Australian Covert Bullying Prevalence Study (ACBPS). Child Health Promotion Research Centre, Edith Cowan University, Perth).
- Approximately one in four Year 4 to Year 9 Australian students (27%) report being bullied every few weeks or more often (considered to be frequent) during the last term at school.
- Frequent school bullying was highest among Year 5 (32%) and Year 8 (29%) students.
- 83% of students who bully others online, also bully others offline.
- 84% of students who were bullied online were also bullied offline.
- Peers are present as onlookers in 87% of bullying interactions, and play a central role in the bullying process.
- Hurtful teasing was the most prevalent of all bullying behaviours experienced by students, followed by having hurtful lies told about them.
- Cyber bullying appears to be related to age (or access to technology), with older students more likely to engage in cyber bullying than younger students.
(Source: Cross, D., Shaw, T., Hearn, L., Epstein, M., Monks, H., Lester, L., & Thomas, L. 2009. Australian Covert Bullying Prevalence Study (ACBPS). Child Health Promotion Research Centre, Edith Cowan University, Perth).
the impact of bullying
Bullying has a negative impact on everyone involved; the target, the bully and the bystanders.
Impact on students who are bullied
Students who are bullied are more likely to:
- feel disconnected from school and not like school
- have lower academic outcomes, including lower attendance and completion rates
- lack quality friendships at school
- display high levels of emotion that indicate vulnerability and low levels of resilience
- be less well accepted by peers, avoid conflict and be socially withdrawn
- have low self-esteem
- have depression, anxiety, feelings of loneliness and isolation
- have nightmares
- feel wary or suspicious of others
- have an increased risk of depression and substance abuse
- in extreme cases, have a higher risk of suicide, however, the reasons why a person may be at risk of suicide are extremely complicated.
Impact on bullies
Students who frequently bully others are more likely to:
- feel disconnected from school and dislike school
- get into fights, vandalise property and leave school early.
In addition, recent research has shown that bullying perpetration in Year 10 is associated with an increased likelihood of theft, violent behaviour and binge drinking.
Impact on bystanders
Students who witness bullying may:
- be reluctant to attend school
- feel fearful or powerless to act and guilty for not acting
- have increased mental health problems, including depression and anxiety
- have increased use of tobacco, alcohol, or other drugs.
Impact on schools
When bullying continues and a school does not take action, the entire school climate and culture can be negatively affected. This impacts on student learning and engagement, staff retention and satisfaction and parental confidence in the school, which can lead to:
- the school developing an environment of fear and disrespect
- students experiencing difficulty learning
- students feeling insecure
- students disliking school
- students perceiving that teachers and staff have little control and don't care about them.
activities
Task 1: Watch the video below. How does it make you feel? What type of bullying is occurring? What emotions or characteristics are the people in the clip displaying? Do you have a message for any of the people in the video? Use the Padlet below to jot down your groups thoughts.
Please complete the bullying survey below. All responses are anonymous and can not be linked back to you.
Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.
Task 2
Carina and Steven's Story
Read the stories and discuss the questions. Answer the questions in a ____________________.
Read the stories and discuss the questions. Answer the questions in a ____________________.
BE POSITIVE
Let's cover our windows in positive affirmations (comments)
You can write a comment to someone in particular. What are they good at? Why are they a good friend?
Or
You can write a positive/ nice comment that will make anyone who reads it feel good.
You can write a comment to someone in particular. What are they good at? Why are they a good friend?
Or
You can write a positive/ nice comment that will make anyone who reads it feel good.