Students involved in Bullying

Bullying is a phenomenon that results from a complex interaction between individuals and their social environment, including their families, peers, community, and schools.

The three main groups that are affected by bullying are:

• Students who are bullied - those who are repeatedly exposed to negative actions from peers
• Students who bully - those who repeatedly hurt another person on purpose
• Bystanders - those who see the bullying or know it is occurring

It is important to avoid using the terms bully or victim. Labeling students can stereotype and be harmful. When students are involved in bullying, there are many roles they can play. Rarely will a person play only one role in all social contexts or with all different groups.

While there is no single factor that puts a child at risk of being bullied, there are some common characteristics that may be both contributing factors and consequences of victimization. These include:

• Withdrawn, low self-esteem
• Cautious, quiet
• Anxious, insecure
• Lower school achievement
• Absenteeism
• Social isolation

Similarly, there is no one factor that puts a student at risk of bullying others, but these students may exhibit some of the following characteristics:

• Positive attitude towards violence
• Need to dominate and subdue other students to get their own way
• Impulsivity
• Low tolerance for frustration
• Easily angered
• Lack of empathy toward students who are bullied
• Defiant and aggressive toward adults, including teachers and parents

A lack of supervision and overly permissive or overly harsh parenting styles are family dynamics that can play a role in increasing the risk of bullying others.

Friends with positive attitudes toward violence and exposure to models of bullying are peer influences that may also increase the risk of a child engaging in bullying behaviors.

Attitudes, routines, and behaviors of school personnel can also make schools a risk factor for bullying. A lack of awareness, a nonchalant attitude, insufficient supervision, ignoring bullying behavior, or implementing inappropriate interventions can all be contributing factors. Even if individual, family, peer, and community factors are present, if schools have structured the learning environment in a way that reduces opportunities and rewards for bullying, teaches pro-social behaviors, and creates a sense of community, bullying is less likely to happen.