Stop Bullying

g ' day fellas ! my name is Dearni, here i will explain to all readers about Bullying. So yap, lets get start it ! 

What is Bullying ?

        Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Both kids who are bullied and who bully others may have serious, lasting problems.

       Bullying is not the same as conflict between people (like having a fight) or disliking someone, even though people might bully each other because of conflict or dislike.

        The sort of repeated behaviour that can be considered bullying includes:  

• Keeping someone out of a group (online or offline)
• Acting in an unpleasant way near or towards someone
• Giving nasty looks, making rude gestures, calling names, being rude and impolite, and constantly negative teasing.
• Spreading rumours or lies, or misrepresenting someone (i.e. using their Facebook account to post messages as if it were them)
• Mucking about that goes too far
• Harassing someone based on their race, sex, religion, gender or a disability
• Intentionally and repeatedly hurting someone physically 
• Intentionally stalking someone
• Taking advantage of any power over someone else like a Prefect or a Student Representative.

        In order to be considered bullying, the behavior must be aggressive and include:

• An Imbalance of Power: Kids who bully use their power—such as physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity—to control or harm others. Power imbalances can change over time and in different situations, even if they involve the same people.
• Repetition: Bullying behaviors happen more than once or have the potential to happen more than once.

Types of Bullying

• Verbal bullying is saying or writing mean things. Verbal bullying includes:
  • Teasing
  • Name-calling
  • Inappropriate sexual comments
  • Taunting
  • Threatening to cause harm
• Social bullying, sometimes referred to as relational bullying, involves hurting someone’s reputation or relationships. Social bullying includes:
  • Telling other children not to be friends with someone
  • Spreading rumors about someone
  • Embarrassing someone in public
• Leaving someone out on purpose
• Physical bullying involves hurting a person’s body or possessions. Physical bullying includes:

• Hitting/kicking/pinching
• Spitting
• Tripping/pushing
• Taking or breaking someone’s things
• Making mean or rude hand gestures

• Cyberbullying is bullying with the use of digital technologies. It can take place on social media, messaging platforms, gaming platforms and mobile phones. It is repeated behaviour, aimed at scaring, angering or shaming those who are targeted. Examples include:

  • sending hurtful messages or threats via messaging platforms.
  • impersonating someone and sending mean messages to others on their behalf. 

How can bullying affect you ?

    Bullying affects everyone in different ways. But there are common feelings that come up when you are being bullied. 

How bullying can affect individuals ?

• Feeling guilty like it is your fault
• Feeling hopeless and stuck like you can’t get out of the situation
• Feeling alone, like there is no one to help you
• Feeling like you don’t fit in with the cool group
• Feeling depressed and rejected by your friends and other groups of people
• Feeling unsafe and afraid
• Feeling confused and stressed out wondering what to do and why this is happening to you
• Feeling ashamed that this is happening to you

How bullying can affect other people ?

• Bullying can have a negative impact on everyone – it is not just a problem for victims and bullies. If you see or know of others been bullied you may feel angry, fearful, guilty, and sad.  
• You may feel as bad as those who are being bullied.
• You may also feel worried that the bullying could happen to you.  

    When bullying isn’t stopped or challenged by anyone it can create an environment where bullying is accepted and where everyone feels powerless to stop it.

How to Stop Bullying ?

    You can take steps to help stop bullying. First, make sure kids feel secure enough to say something if they’re bullied. And encourage them to speak up if they see others being bullied. Ask them to report any bullying to school staff, or if they’re able and feel safe, to step in and stop the bully. 

    Some people call this being an “upstander” instead of a bystander. Bullying often happens where adults can’t supervise kids, like the playground, hallway, or school bus. Kids who speak up can help stop the problem where it starts.