What is Bullying?

Bullying is rampant amongst children and teens in America. It can happen at school, the park, church-anywhere people gather. This is the first in a multi-part series of posts about bullying. Studies show that the effects of bullying on both the bully and the victim can be far reaching. Approximately 1 out of every 3 US school children are involved in bullying either as the victim or the bully. That is an outstandingly frightening statistic.

Sometimes as parents, we aren’t sure if our child is being bullied or if it is just kids being kids. A basic definition of bullying states, “Bullying is the use of one’s strength or status to intimidate, injure or humiliate another person of lesser status.” Bullying falls into three categories of behaviors; physical, verbal and social. Physical bullying includes hitting, kicking, any activity that is a physical assault or the threat of physical violence. Verbal bullying includes, name calling, insulting, or teasing. Social bullying includes peer rejection, exclusion to isolate or humiliate the victim, gossiping about the victim, and making prejudice comments. A bully’s acts are usually intentional and often repeated.

Who bullies? People who bully often have domineering and controlling personalities. They are quick to anger and usually have low self-esteem. Both boys and girls can be bullies. People who bully often have a need to dominate another person.

Continued bullying can have long-term effects on both the bully and the victim. 60% of young men who were bullies in middle school had at least one criminal conviction by the age of 24. We must put and end to this trend. Children who are victims of bullying may see their grades slack off, begin self-injurious behavior and even commit suicide. On any given school day in the United States 160,000 children stay home from school because they fear bullies.

Later in this series we will discuss a proactive approach to bullying, what to do if your child is being bullied, and what to do if your child is a bully. This is a serious topic and it needs to be addressed. I want to thank @polkadotpatch on twitter for suggesting I write about bullying.