Bullying occurs when one person intentionally and repeatedly makes another person feel bad and its difficult for the victim to protect themselves. This means:
- hurting - it is possible to hurt people in several ways, e.g. physically by hitting them; by taking away their things or breaking them; by using offensive or threatening language; by intentionally excluding them from joint activities; by spreading ugly rumours or lies; or in other ways. A person’s body and soul can both be hurt. Hurting may be visible to others or insidious and hidden;
- intentionally - a person causes physical or psychological pain to another person intentionally, not accidentally. Friendly and playful romping or fooling around is not bullying;
- repeatedly - the same person or group hurts someone several times. Bullying is not a random one-off fight or argument. Bullying may go on for months or even years;
- difficult to protect oneself - bullying is always unequal. The victim may be physically weaker, poorer or richer, less eloquent than others or differ from others in another way; they may have few friends at school or not be particularly popular. The bully may have a lot of supporters, which means that anyone who is not in the circle of supporters may fall victim to bullying. The bully usually targets a weakness of the victim, as this way they can be certain of their superiority. It is not considered bullying when two students who are more or less with the same strengths voluntarily fight or argue with each other.
Bullying may take different forms
- physical bullying - the victim’s body or belongings are damaged; e.g. hitting or breaking things;
- verbal bullying - suffering is caused to the victim with words, e.g. they are called names, belittled or threatened;
- concealed or relationship-related bullying - the victim’s relationships with their friends and position among peers are damaged, e.g. by spreading rumours or excluding them from the group;
- cyber bullying - the victim is made to suffer via telephone or the internet, they are sent threatening or insulting messages, mean messages and photos are posted online etc. Further information about cyber bullying can be found on the website of the Smartly on the Web.