What is bullying?
Bullying is when someone keeps doing or saying things to have power over another person.
Some of the ways they bully other people are by: calling them names, saying or writing nasty things about them, leaving them out of activities, not talking to them, threatening them, making them feel uncomfortable or scared, taking or damaging their things, hitting or kicking them, or making them do things they don't want to do.

Have any of these things happened to you? Have you done any of these things to someone else? Really, bullying is wrong behaviour which makes the person being bullied feel afraid or uncomfortable.


Why do some people bully?
There are a lot of reasons why some people bully.

They may see it as a way of being popular, or making themselves look tough and in charge.
Some bullies do it to get attention or things, or to make other people afraid of them. Others might be jealous of the person they are bullying. They may be being bullied themselves.

Some bullies may not even understand how wrong their behaviour is and how it makes the person being bullied feel.


Why are some young people bullied?
Some young people are bullied for no particular reason, but sometimes it's because they are different in some way - perhaps it's the colour of their skin, the way they talk, their size or their name.
Sometimes young people are bullied because they look like they won't stand up for themselves.


Why is bullying harmful?
Some people think bullying is just part of growing up and a way for young people to learn to stick up for themselves. But bullying can make young people feel lonely, unhappy and frightened. It makes them feel unsafe and think there must be something wrong with them. They lose confidence and may not want to go to school any more. It may make them sick.


What can you do if you are being bullied?
Coping with bullying can be difficult, but remember, you are not the problem, the bully is. You have a right to feel safe and secure.
And if you're different in some way, be proud of it! Kia Kaha - stand strong. Spend time with your friends - bullies hardly ever pick on people if they're with others in a group.

You've probably already tried ignoring the bully, telling them to stop and walking away whenever the bullying starts.
If someone is bullying you, you should always tell an adult you can trust. This isn't telling tales. You have a right to be safe and adults can do things to get the bullying stopped.
Even if you think you've solved the problem on your own, tell an adult anyway, in case it happens again.
An adult you can trust might be a teacher, school principal, parent, someone from your family or whanau, or a friend's parent. If you find it difficult to talk about being bullied, you might find it easier to write down what's been happening to you and give it to an adult you trust.


What can you do if you see someone else being bullied?
If you see someone else being bullied you should always try to stop it. If you do nothing, you're saying that bullying is okay with you.
It's always best to treat others the way you would like to be treated.
You should show the bully that you think what they're doing is stupid and mean. Help the person being bullied to tell an adult they can trust.


Are you a bully?
Have you ever bullied someone else? Think about why you did it and how you were feeling at the time. If you are sometimes a bully, try to find other ways to make yourself feel good.

Most bullies aren't liked, even if it starts out that way. Remember, it's best to treat others the way you would like to be treated.

Definition of Bullying

Bullying can be defined as the use of one's strength or status to intimidate, injure, or humiliate another person of lesser strength or status. Bullying can be categorized as physical, verbal, or social. Physical bullying involves physical injury or threat of injury to someone, while verbal bullying refers to teasing or insulting someone. Social bullying refers to the use of peer rejection or exclusion to humiliate or isolate a victim. Bullying must be distinguished from other forms of peer aggression or conflict; bullying always involves a power imbalance between the bully and the victim (Besag, 1989; Olweus, 1993).

Prevalence of Bullying

Bullying is increasingly recognized as a serious problem in schools throughout the United States and other countries. A national study found that 29.9% percent of students are involved in bullying either as a bully (13.0%), a victim (10.6%) or both a bully and a victim (6.3%) (Nansel, Overpeck, Pilla, Ruan, Simons-Morton, & Scheidt, 2001). A study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development estimated that 1.7 million U.S. children in grades 6 through 10 can be identified as bullies (Nansel et al., 2001). This study found that 10.6% of students reported bullying others "sometimes" (moderate bullying ) and 8.8% admitted to bullying others "once a week" or more (frequent bullying). Bullying occurs most frequently from 6th to 8th grade, with little variation seen between urban, suburban, and rural areas (Nansel et al, 2001).

The 2003 National Center for Education Statistics report on school violence reported increases in the percentage of students victimized by bullying in 2001 as compared to 1999. While crime at school as a whole has declined in recent years, bullying is one of the few problems to increase in prevalence. In 2001, 8 percent of students reported that they had been bullied at school in the last 6 months, up from 5 percent in 1999. This report also found that both males and females were more likely to be bullied in 2001 than in 1999. Nine percent of all males and seven percent of all females surveyed (ages 12-18) reported experiencing bullying during the past 6 months. The percentage of students who reported that they had been bullied increased between 1999 and 2001 for each racial/ethnic group except Black students. About 6 percent of Black students in both years reported they had been bullied. Between 1999 and 2001, the percentage of students bullied increased from 5 percent to 9 percent for White students, from 4 percent to 8 percent for Hispanic students, and from 3 percent to 7 percent for other, non-Hispanic students (NCES, 2003).