What is Bullying?

Bullying involves aggressive, intentional behavior where an individual or group repeatedly causes harm or distress to another person—often someone who is perceived to be weaker or more vulnerable.

The Core Components of Bullying

To better understand and recognize bullying when it happens, it’s important to know the three defining characteristics of bullying. These components separate bullying from other conflicts or disagreements that might occur between students. They include:

• Intention: The action is deliberate and meant to harm, not accidental.
• Repetition: The behavior is repeated over time, not an isolated incident
• An imbalance of power: there is a real or perceived power imbalance between the two parties. This could be due to differences in physical strength, social status, access to information or other factors.

For more information on how to define what bullying is, check out our resource on building your school’s definition of bullying.

Effects of Bullying on Children Who Are Bullied

Bullying can cause lasting harm to all parties involved. Many people who experienced bullying in childhood remember it as a difficult period of their life, often still recalling the impact it had on them many years later.

For a person being bullied, bullying can lead to emotional distress, low self-esteem and academic problems. They can also experience anxiety and depression, and in some cases experience long-term psychological issues. In extreme cases bullying can lead to self-harm or suicidal ideation.

Effects of Bullying on Children Who Bully Others

While it is widely acknowledged that those who experience bullying will be negatively impacted, we don’t always talk about the effects bullying has on the student causing harm or the students who witness bullying behavior. Those who bully others are at a higher risk of engaging in delinquent behavior, substance use and violence later in life.

Effects on Children Who Witness Bullying

Students who witness bullying can experience fear and stress and become unable to trust that their school environment is safe. They may also develop feelings of guilt or helplessness if they do not intervene when they witness bullying behavior. Every child’s reaction to bullying will be different, depending on the child’s life experiences, temperament, support system and history. What we do know is that children who do not experience bullying have greater mental health and are better able to learn and thrive. [1]

Bullying affects everyone. Whether your child is being bullied, witnessing the bullying, or engaging in bullying behavior, understanding how to identify it and recognizing the underlying causes is the first step toward preventing it in the future.

[1] Klomeck, Anat Brunstein, Andre Sourander, and Henrik Elonheimo. “Bullying by peers in childhood and effects on psychopathology, suicidality, and criminality in adulthood.” The Lancet Psychiatry 2.10 (2015): 930-941.