Bullying
What is bullying?
Bullying is repeated verbal, physical, social or psychological aggressive behavior 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 behavior
There are some specific types of bullying behavior:
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 offense, humiliation or intimidation
homophobia and other hostile behavior towards students relating to gender and sexuality
discrimination including racial discrimination - treating people differently because of their identity
cyber bullying - either online or via mobile phone.
What is not bullying?
There are also some behaviors, 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.