Bullying is a persistent, deliberate attempt to hurt or humiliate someone. There are different types of bullying but they have three things in common:
- They involve deliberately hurtful behaviour
- They are repeated over time
- They involve an unfair balance of power which makes it hard for those being bullied to defend themselves
The three main types of bullying are:
- Physical: Hitting, kicking, taking belongings
- Verbal: Name calling, racist comments or jokes, threatening remarks
- Indirect: Spreading stories about someone or ignoring them
Bullying can be face to face or by phone, texting, email, letters/notes or in internet chat rooms.
It may occur for a variety of reasons:
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People may see it as just a bit of fun
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They may not have been taught that it is wrong to bully others
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They are unhappy at school or elsewhere
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They have been encouraged to bully by their friends
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They have been bullied in the past
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Racial prejudice
Schools, colleges and the LA (Local Authority) are determined to stop bullying behaviour because of the unhappiness and stress it causes to all concerned.
