Bullying is a social phenomenon related to teen agers. Bullying is a form of abuse. It comprises repeated acts or actions of aggression or violence.

 

 

The power imbalance may be social power and/or physical power. The victim of bullying is sometimes referred to as a target.

Bullying consists of three basic types of abuse - emotional, verbal and physical. It typically involves subtle methods of coercion such as psychological manipulation.

Bullying can occur in any context in which human beings interact with each other. This includes school, church, the workplace, home and neighborhoods. It is even a common push factor in migration. Bullying can exist between social groups, social classes and even between countries (see Jingoism)

Bullying is an act of repeated aggressive behavior in order to intentionally hurt another person, physically or mentally. Bullying is characterized by an individual behaving in a certain way to gain power over another person.

Bullying behavior may include name calling, verbal or written abuse, exclusion from activities, exclusion from social situations, physical abuse, or coercion. Bullies may behave this way to be perceived as popular or tough or to get attention. They may bully out of jealousy or be acting out because they themselves are bullied.

The types of physical aggression include shoving and poking, throwing things, slapping, choking, punching and kicking, beating, stabbing, pulling hair, scratching, biting, scraping and pinching.

Indirect bullying is characterized by threatening the victim into social isolation. This isolation is achieved through a wide variety of techniques, including spreading gossip, refusing to socialize with the victim, bullying other people who wish to socialize with the victim, and criticizing the victim's manner of dress and other socially-significant markers (including the victim's race, religion, disability, etc). Other forms of indirect bullying can be name calling, the silent treatment, arguing others into submission, manipulation, gossip/false gossip, lies, rumors/false rumors, staring, giggling, laughing at the victim, saying certain words that trigger a reaction from a past event, and mocking.

The effects of bullying on the victim - Victims of bullying can suffer from long term emotional and behavioral problems. Bullying can cause loneliness, depression, anxiety, lead to low self-esteem and increased susceptibility to illness.

Adults who bully have personalities that are authoritarian, combined with a strong need to control or dominate, self-esteem of bullies has produced equivocal results. While some bullies are arrogant and narcissistic.

Envy and resentment, depression, personality disorders quickness to anger and use of force, addiction to aggressive behaviors may be motives for bullying.

School bullying
Law prohibits bullying of students

In schools, bullying occurs in all areas of school. It can occur in nearly any part in or around the school building, in PE, recess, hallways, bathrooms, on school buses and waiting for buses, after school activities. Bullies taunt and tease their target before physically bullying the target. Targets of bullying in school are often pupils who are considered strange or different by their peers to begin with, making the situation harder for them to deal with.

One student or a group can bully another student or a group of students. Bystanders may participate or watch, sometimes out of fear of becoming the next victim.