The Law

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Bullying is Illegal.

Some forms of bullying are illegal and should be reported to the police. These include violence or assault, theft, repeated harassment or intimidation, (e.g. name calling, threats and abusive phone calls, emails or text messages), hate crimes.

Policy By law, all state (not private) schools must have a behavior policy in place that includes measures to prevent all forms of bullying among pupils. This policy is decided by the school. All teachers, pupils and parents must be told what it is.

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Anti-Discrimination Law

Schools must also follow anti-discrimination law. This means staff must act to prevent discrimination, harassment, and victimization within the school. This applies to all schools

Bullying: boys vs. girls

Anyone can go through bullying no matter your gender, race, religion, sexuality, or disability. However, there is one big difference between bullying of girl or boy.

Girls:

• Use emotional violence

• Malicious verbal interactions

• Bullying is influenced by jealousy and self-esteem issues

• Most often bully in packs and can be harder to recognize

Boys:

• Use physical violence

• Will use peer pressure

• Bullying is influenced by “boy code” which is a set of rules and behaviors in which it means to be masculine

• Most often bully one on one and is quicker to recognize and take action

Statistics

• One fourth of students report that they have been bullied or harassed on school property because of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or disability.

• Preteens are the most likely age group to experience bullying.

• Those that are bullied tend to grow up more socially anxious, with less self-esteem and require more mental health services throughout life.

• A recent Iowa State University study found that childhood bullies may very well grow into adult bullies. Of the participants, those with a history of childhood bullying were six times more likely to get in a fight and two and a half times more likely to threaten someone than those without a bullying past.

• Adult bullies tend to be opinionated, judgmental, and coercive," says Katherine Krefft, PhD, a practicing psychologist in Buzzards Bay, Mass. “If a person repeatedly makes you feel intimidated or humiliated, you are probably dealing with a bully.”

Tips

​Remember, being bullied is not your fault, and there is nothing wrong with you. No one deserves to be bullied.

• Tell a trusted adult about what you are going through. Adults can deal with the situation much easier as well as faster. (Family member, pastor, teacher, therapist, etc.)

• Do not bully the bully back. Using insults or fighting back will make the problem worse. Be the better person and walk away.

• Tell the bully to stop. You must use the word “stop”. It lets them know that they have crossed the line.

• If you don’t feel comfortable confronting the bully alone, go with one or two people. The bully is less likely to bully while others are around. Again, this is not your chance to gang up on them, but to have a sense of security.

• Don’t think of it as acting scared - think of it as acting smart! Refuse to bully others and stand up for those who need it.

• Treat people the way you want to be treated. Remember, you have the right to be treated with respect.

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