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Bullying
Definition: Bullying is continual harassing, intimidating, tormenting, browbeating, humiliating, terrorizing, oppressing and/or threatening words spoken to another person.
Problem: Bullying can be harmful physically, sexually, verbally or emotionally and it is one of the most serious concerns in schools today.
Examples of bullying:
- Physical: Includes punching, poking, strangling, hair pulling, beating, biting and excessive tickling.
- Verbal: Includes such acts as hurtful name-calling, teasing, and gossip.
- Emotional: Rejecting, terrorizing, taking personal items or things, defaming, humiliating, blackmailing, rating/ranking of personal characteristics such as race, disability, ethnicity, or perceived sexual orientation, manipulating friendships, isolating, and peer pressure.
- Sexual: exhibitionism, voyeurism, sexual propositioning, sexual harassment, and abuse involving actual physical contact and sexual assault.
What is bullying?
Doing or saying things to another person to have power over them. Examples:
Name calling, saying or writing nasty things, leaving them out of activities, ignoring, threatening, teasing, use of violence, making them feel uncomfortable or scared, damaging possessions, hitting or kicking them, or making them do things they do not want to do.
Why do bullies do it?
To be popular or to look tough and in charge, or scared of being picked on, so they do it first. Perhaps they do not fit in or are bullied by family or adults at home. It could be that bullies do not like themselves, so they bully and hurt others to make themselves feel better.
Why does it happen?
Bullying happens for a variety of different reasons:
1. It happens to kids who have difficulty making friends or fitting into groups
2. It happens to kids who look, speak, or walk differently than others.
3. It happens to kids who are shy, or unable to stand up for themselves.
Why is bullying harmful?
Bullying causes unhappiness, fear, loneliness, feelings of being different, loss of confidence, and illness.
What can you do?
Putting up with a bully is not easy. Always remember, you are not the problem, the bully is. Stay in a group, ignore the bully, walk away, tell a friend or an adult.
How to stop the bullying:
Tell a friend or a teacher or an adult. Practice what you want to say. Keep notes or a diary about what is happening and don't give up. If it continues, ask your parents to contact the school.
Are you a bully?
If you are, get help, speak to a teacher or your parents and remember to treat others as you would like to be treated.
For Bullying Resources in Arizona Schools:
http://bullystoppers.com/bullying_prevention_tools.htm
Resources
Bullying.org Where You Are Not Alone
Teens Health: Dealing with Bullying
