This document defines bullying and its characteristics, including that it is deliberate, repeated, and involves a real or perceived power imbalance. It describes the four main types of bullying: physical, verbal, social/psychological, and cyber. Statistics are provided on the prevalence of bullying among school-aged children. Potential signs that a child is being bullied and potential reasons why children bully others are outlined. The negative impacts of bullying on both the bullied child and the bullying child are described. Suggested steps for parents to take if their child is being bullied and ways to prevent bullying are provided.

1. Lydia Greene
Youth Education Services
Specialist
InterAct

2. Bullying is a form of emotional or physical abuse that has three defining
characteristics:
• 1. Deliberate—a bully’s intention is to hurt someone
• 2. Repeated—a bully often targets the same victim again and again
• 3. Power Imbalanced—a bully chooses victims he or she perceives as
vulnerable
• Bullying can be defined as an unwanted and aggressive behavior that
involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is usually
repeated or has the potential to be repeated over time.
• The imbalance of power can range from physical strength, embarrassing
information and popularity.
*Stopbullying.org
www.eyesonbullying.or
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4. • Physical – Any behavior that hurts a
person’s body or their possessions (hitting,
spitting, breaking someone's things).
• Verbal – Saying or writing mean things
(Teasing, taunting, name calling)
• Social/Psychological – Hurting someone’s
reputation or relationships (Excluding
someone out of a group, spreading rumors,
intentionally embarrassing someone in
public.
• Cyber - bullying that takes place using
electronic technology (cell phones,
computers, tablets, social media sites, text
messages etc.)

5. wvbullyfree.com

6. • “Nearly 1 in 3 schoolchildren experience some level of bullying
between grades 6-12
• 83% of all girls claim to have some sort of harassment growing
up, while 79% of boys experience the same harassment
• 6 out of 10 teens say they see bullying happen at school at
least once a day
• 1 out of 10 children who drop out of school do so because of
bullying
• 75% of all school shootings can be linked to some sort of
bullying & harassment
• There are a total of 444,000 suicide attempts in the country a
year
• Bullying is the third highest cause of death in young people
throughout the country”
Nobullying.co
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7. • Gets into physical or verbal fights
• Has friends who bully others
• Increasingly aggressive
• Competitive and worry about their reputation
• Get sent to the principals office or to detention frequently
• Have unexplained extra money or belongings
• Blame others for their problems
• Does not accept responsibility for their actions

8. • Uninvolved parents
• Aggression in family
• Peers & friends who bully
• Lack of school rules
• Poor supervision- location of incident
• Social Aggression
• Self Esteem issues
• Media Models
Education.co
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9. • Revenge/Retaliation
• Believe the victim deserves it
• Boredom/Entertainment
• Peer Pressure
• Power and Social Status
• Believe they will not be caught
• Lacking Empathy
Abouthealth.com

10. • Unexplainable injuries
• Lost or destroyed clothing, books, electronics jewelry etc.
• Frequent headaches or stomach aches, feeling sick or faking illness’
• Changes in eating habits- binge eating or skipping meals
• Changes in sleeping patterns- difficulty sleeping or frequent nightmares
• Decline in grades, loss of interest in school work or not wanting to go to
school
• Sudden loss of friends or avoidance of social situations
• Feelings of helplessness or decreased self esteem
• Self destructive behaviors such as running away from home, harming
themselves or talking about suicide

11. Questions to Ask Your Child
Questions following a Indirect Variations
• Did the child hurt you on purpose?
• Was it done more than once?
• Did it make you feel bad or angry?
or How do you feel about the
behavior?
• Did the child know you were being
hurt?
• Is the other child more powerful
(i.e. bigger, scarier) than you in
some way?
• How was the bus ride today?
• Who did you sit by at lunch?
• I notice that you seem to be feeling sick
a lot and wanting to stay home: please
tell me about that.
• Are kids making fun of you?
• Are there a lot of cliques at school?
What do you think about them?
• Has anyone touched you in a way that
did not feel right?
www.poehealth.or
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disclosure:

12. Child who is bullied:
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Increased feelings
of sadness and
loneliness
• Decreased
academic
achievement
• Loss of interest in
activities they used
to enjoy
• Difficulty sleeping
Child who is a bully:
 More likely to abuse
alcohol and other
drugs in future
 Get into fights,
vandalize property
and drop out of school
 Engage in early
sexual activity
 More Likely to
become abusive to
future spouses,
partners & kids
Each day, 160,000 children in the United
States stay home from school for fear of
being bullied.
eyesonbullying.org

13.  Contact school administrators – written form is best!
 Include how the bullying incident/s affected your child
 Encourage the presence of anti-bullying clubs, workshops, etc
 Request that the school enforce a no tolerance stance on bullying
 Report to law enforcement if severe acts are intended or have occurred
 For Cyberbullying
• Contact the website administrators/report and block the user
• Keep/print emails, texts etc. as evidence of the bullying
• If the cyberbullying was initiated by a school peer, contact the school
administrators with the evidence

14.  Talk about bullying
• Read stories related to bullying
• Discuss recent events in the news
• Call it out! Discuss bullying incidents on TV, movies and music
 Help kids understand what bullying really is
 Encourage child to be an Upstander
 Empower children to make positive change in their schools- promote self
esteem and advocacy
 Model positive behaviors
 Set cyber safety rules
 Know what kids are doing online!