Bullying is a pervasive problem facing students in our nation’s schools. In general, three out of four students report being involved in bullying as either a bully, bully-victim, victim, bystander, or in multiple roles.
Bullying Defined:
Bullying is characterized by repeated, unprovoked harassment of another individual in which that individual has difficulty defending him/herself.
Examples of Bullying include:
- Punching, shoving and other acts that cause physical harm
- Spreading rumors (including cyber-bullying)
- Excluding people from a "group"
- Teasing in a mean way
- Getting certain people to "gang up" on others
Bullying can take many forms, including:
· Physical bullying, such as hitting or kicking
· Verbal bullying, such as name-calling or teasing
· Relational bullying, such as social exclusion or relationship manipulation
· Cyber bullying, including sending mean text messages, email, instant messages, or blogs
Bullying involves more than a "bully" and a "victim":
- Bullying is broken down into 5 categories along a continuum of involvement:
- Bullies
- Victims
- Bully-victims
- Bystanders
- Those not involved with bullying
Bullying is a pervasive problem:
- 8.4% to 20% of children report being bullied multiple times per week (Nansel et al., 2001; Limber & Small, 2000).
- As many as 44.6% of children report being bullied at least once per year (Haynie et al., 2001).
- 9% to 13% of children report bullying others several times per week (Nansel et al., 2001; Limber & Small, 2000).
- 24% to 25% of children admit to bullying others at least once per year (Nansel et al., 2001; Haynie et al., 2001).
- 82.3% of students in grades 3 through 8 from three rural schools in Appalachia reported experiencing some form of bullying at least once in the past three months (Dulmus, Theriot, Sowers,
Blackburn, 2004).
- Among 192 students in rural elementary and middle schools, 31% reported being bullied, while 11.5% were identified as bully-victims (Dulmus, Sowers, & Theriot, 2006).
Bullying is a social-ecological phenomenon, which adversely affects many aspects of one's life.
As a result, those involved in bullying may experience:
- Poor academic performance and school failure
- Poor mental and psychological health (e.g., depression, anxiety, & behavioral problems)
- Delinquency
- Poor peer relationships
- Suicide risk
- Truancy
- Future crime and drug and alcohol abuse