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 isn't:

• 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're not examples of bullying unless someone is deliberately and repeatedly doing them to you.

Types of Bullying:

Bullying can take a number of different forms. The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development’s Building Respectful and Safe Schools (2010) identifies four types of bullying.

1. Physical bullying includes hitting, kicking, tripping, pinching and pushing or damaging property.

2. Verbal bullying includes name calling, insults, teasing, intimidation, homophobic or racist remarks, or verbal abuse.

3. Covert 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 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 is overt or covert bullying behaviors using digital technologies.