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 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: