What is bullying?
It can be difficult to describe bullying because sometimes it can depend on the situation and the people involved. Someone could do something to you and it wouldn’t bother you, but if they did it to someone else they would be really upset. On this page we give our definiton of bullying and some information about two particular types of bullying that are a big concern at the moment - cyber bullyikng and prejudice-driven bullying.
Children and young people in Warwickshire wrote this definition of bullying:
When a person’s or group of people’s behaviour, over a period of time, leaves someone feeling one or more of the following:
- Physically and/or mentally hurt or worried
- Unsafe and/or frightened
- Unable to do well and achieve
- ‘Badly different’, alone, unimportant and/or unvalued
- Unable to see a happy and exciting future for yourself
it could be bullying. When a person, or group of people, has been made aware of the effects of their behaviour on another person, and they continue to behave in the same manner, this is bullying.
If someone is made to feel like this, or if they think someone they knows feels like this, it should be investigated. This should happen straight away as it can take a long time to build up the courage to tell. However, lots of things can make us feel bad, sometimes it depends on the situation we are in, and it is not always bullying – so we think the following definition, adapted from one written by the Anti-bullying Alliance, is also useful:
Bullying is any behaviour by an individual or group that:
- is meant to hurt – the person or people doing the bullying know what they are doing and mean to do it
- happens more than once – there will be a pattern of behaviour, not just a ‘one-off’ incident
- involves an imbalance of power – the person being bullied will usually find it very hard to defend themselves
It can be:
- Physical, e.g. kicking, hitting, taking and damaging belongings
- Verbal, e.g. name calling, taunting, threats, offensive remarks
- Relational, e.g. spreading nasty stories, gossiping, excluding from social groups
- Cyber, e.g. texts, e-mails, picture/video clip bullying, Instant Messaging (IM)
Where individuals or groups bully different people, this should be seen as a pattern of bullying behaviour and treated as such.
All bullying is wrong but there are two things that people are particularly worried about.
Cyber bullying is bullying someone through the use of technology e.g. mobiles, email, etc. This type of bullying is growing as more people use mobile phones and the internet. Tackling cyber bullying will help to make sure that children and young people can get the best out of technology. Please click on the links below for more information.
Prejudice-driven bullying is bullying that happens because people make judgements about someone without really knowing them. This kind of bullying is particularly horrible and we all need to work together to stop it. Please click on the links below for more information.
If you are having problems with prejudice-driven bullyihng at school tell a member of staff, email us or contact the Race, Equality and Diversity Officer (Schools) on 01926 742068.
If you are having problems with racist, homophobic or disability related inccidents outside school go to Warwickshire Police’s website for information or ring 0845 129 2221 to report it as 'hate crime'.
