Parents play multiple roles in recognizing and preventing bullying. Bullyproof has collected the following resources to help parents learn more about the different types of bullying, the effects of bullying and how bullying can be prevented.
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. Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose.
Additional information
What is cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place using electronic technology. Examples of cyberbullying include mean text messages or emails, rumors sent by email or posted on social networking sites, and embarrassing pictures, videos, websites, or fake profiles.
Cyberbullying may be more difficult to detect because of lack of familiarity with the various technologies and the anonymity provided by those technologies.
Additional cyberbullying resources
- www.stopbullying.gov
- Internet Guidelines for Families
- Facebook’s Family Safety Center
- Reporting Bullying on Facebook
- Cyberbullying Terms (Glossary)
- Acronyms & Abbreviations (Glossary)
- Smileys & Emoticons (Glossary
Who is at risk?
Sadly, every child is at risk for being bullied and many are at risk of becoming a bully. It is also important to remember that bystanders often experience the psychological & physical efforts of bullying. Although the following list is not exhaustive, victims of bullying often have one or more of the following risk factors:
- They are perceived as different from their peers, such as being overweight or underweight, disabled, wearing glasses or different clothing, being new to a school, or being unable to afford what kids consider "cool"
- Are perceived as weak or unable to defend themselves
- Are depressed, anxious, or have low self-esteem
- Are less popular than others and have few friends
- Do not get along well with others, seen as annoying or provoking, or antagonize others for attention
Parents should also be aware of factors that increase the probability a child is or, or may become a bully. To learn more about the factors that increase the likelihood a young person will become violent:
What are the effects of bullying?
The effects of bullying are widespread and can even extend into adulthood, creating higher risks of mental illness. For example, victims of bullying in childhood are 4.3 times more likely to have an anxiety disorder as adults compared to those with no history of bullying or being bullied. It is not just the victims that experience harmful outcomes; bullies themselves often experience negative physical, school, and mental health issues.1
Youth involved in bullying, victims and bullies alike, tend to struggle academically, be less well-adjusted in school and beyond, have low self-esteem, and have poor social problem-solving skills.