What is Bullying?

Bulling is intentional behaviour that hurts someone else. It includes: name calling, hitting, pushing, spreading rumours, threatening or undermining someone. 

It can happen anywhere - at school, at home or online. It is usually repeated over a long period of time and can hurt a child both physically and emotionally. 

Types of Bullying:

Bullying can take different forms. It could include: 

• physical bullying: hitting, slapping or pushing someone
• verbal bullyign: name calling, gossiping or threatening someone
• non-verbal abuse: hand signs or text messages
• emotional abuse: threatening, intimidating or humiliating someone
• exclusion: ignoring or isolating someone
• undermining: constant criticism or spreading rumours
• controlling or manipulative behaviour
• making silent, hoax or abusive calles

The following types of bullying are also hate crimes: 

• racial, sexual, transphobic or homophobic bullying 
• bullying someone because they have a disability.

Types of cyberbullying

Cyberbullying can include: 

• sending threatening or abusive text messages
• creating and sharing embarrassing images or videos
• trolling - the sending of menacing or upsetting messages on social networks, chat rooms or online games
• excluding children from online games, activities or friendship groups
• shaming someone online 
• setting up hate sites or groups about a particular child 
• encouraging young people to self-harm
• voting for or against someone in an abusive poll
• creating fake accounts, hijacking or stealing online identities to embarrass a young person or cause trouble using their name
• sending explicit messages, also known as sexting
• pressuring children into sending sexual images or engaging in sexual conversations.

Below are some links to bullying guides for parents