School bullying is a type of bullying that occurs in connection with education, either inside or outside of school

School

A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...

. Bullying can be physical

Physical abuse

Physical abuse is abuse involving contact intended to cause feelings of intimidation, injury, or other physical suffering or bodily harm.-Forms of physical abuse:*Striking*Punching*Belting*Pushing, pulling*Slapping*Whipping*Striking with an object...

, verbal

Verbal abuse

Verbal abuse is best described as a negative defining statement told to you or about you; or by withholding any response thus defining the target as non-existant...

, or emotional and is usually repeated over a period of time.

In schools, bullying occurs in all areas. It can occur in nearly any part in or around the school building, though it more often occurs in PE

Physical education

Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....

, recess, hallways, bathrooms, on school bus

School bus

A school bus is a type of bus designed and manufactured for student transport: carrying children and teenagers to and from school and school events...

es and waiting for buses, classes that require group work and/or after school activities. Bullying in school sometimes consists of a group of students taking advantage of or isolating one student in particular and gaining the loyalty of bystanders who want to avoid becoming the next victim. These bullies taunt and tease their target before physically bullying the target. Targets of bullying in school are often pupils who are considered strange or different by their peers to begin with, making the situation harder for them to deal with.

One student or a group can bully another student or a group of students. Bystanders may participate or watch, sometimes out of fear of becoming the next victim. However, there is some research suggesting that a significant proportion of "normal" school children may not evaluate school-based violence (student-on-student victimization) as negatively or as being unacceptable as much as adults generally do, and may even derive enjoyment from it, and they may thus not see a reason to prevent it if it brings them joy on some level.

Bullying can also be perpetrated by teachers and the school system itself: There is an inherent power differential in the system that can easily predispose to subtle or covert abuse (relational aggression

Relational aggression

Relational aggression, also known as covert aggression or covert bullying, is a type of aggression in which harm is caused through damage to relationships or social status within a group rather than by means of actual or threatened physical violence...

 or passive aggression), humiliation

Humiliation

Humiliation is the abasement of pride, which creates mortification or leads to a state of being humbled or reduced to lowliness or submission. It can be brought about through bullying, intimidation, physical or mental mistreatment or trickery, or by embarrassment if a person is revealed to have...

, or exclusion — even while maintaining overt commitments to anti-bullying policies.

Anti-bullying programs are designed to teach students cooperation, as well as training peer moderators in intervention

Intervention (counseling)

An intervention is an orchestrated attempt by one, or often many, people to get someone to seek professional help with an addiction or some kind of traumatic event or crisis, or other serious problem. The term intervention is most often used when the traumatic event involves addiction to drugs...

 and dispute resolution

Dispute resolution

Dispute resolution is the process of resolving disputes between parties.-Methods:Methods of dispute resolution include:* lawsuits * arbitration* collaborative law* mediation* conciliation* many types of negotiation* facilitation...

 techniques, as a form of peer support

Peer support

Peer support occurs when people provide knowledge, experience, emotional, social or practical help to each other. It commonly refers to an initiative consisting of trained supporters, and can take a number of forms such as peer mentoring, listening, or counseling...

.

Physical bullying

Physical bullying is any unwanted physical contact between the bully and the victim. This is one of the most easily identifiable forms of bullying.
Examples include:

• punching
• pushing
• shoving
• kicking
• inappropriate touching
• tickling
  Tickling
  Tickling is the act of touching a part of the body so as to cause involuntary twitching movements and/or laughter. The word evolved from the Middle English tikelen, perhaps frequentative of ticken, to touch lightly. The idiom tickled pink means to be pleased or delighted.In 1897, psychologists G...
  
  
• headlocks
• school pranks
• teasing
  Teasing
  Teasing is a word with many meanings. In human interactions, teasing comes in two major forms, playful and hurtful. When teasing is playful and friendly, and especially when it is reciprocal, teasing can be regarded as flirting. People may be teased on such matters as their appearance, weight,...
  
  
• fighting
• Use of available objects as weapons

Emotional bullying

Emotional bullying is any form of bullying that causes damage to a victim’s psyche and/or emotional well-being.
Examples include:

• spreading malicious rumor
  Rumor
  A rumor or rumour is often viewed as "an unverified account or explanation of events circulating from person to person and pertaining to an object, event, or issue in public concern" However, a review of the research on rumor conducted by Pendleton in 1998 found that research across sociology,...
  
  s about people
• keeping certain people out of a "group"
• getting certain people to "gang up" on others (It also could be considered physical bullying)
• ignoring people on purpose - the silent treatment
• harassment
  Harassment
  Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour intended to disturb or upset, and it is characteristically repetitive. In the legal sense, it is intentional behaviour which is found threatening or disturbing...
  
  
• provocation
• whispering to another in front of someone - whispering campaign
• keeping secrets away from a so-called friend
• eye rolling, silent, but hurtful body motions such as pointing, face making

Verbal bullying

Verbal bullying is any slanderous statements or accusations that cause the victim undue emotional distress. Examples include:

• directing foul language (profanity
  Profanity
  Profanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...
  
  ) at the target
• name calling
• commenting negatively on someone's looks, clothes, body etc. - personal abuse
• tormenting
• harassment
  Harassment
  Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour intended to disturb or upset, and it is characteristically repetitive. In the legal sense, it is intentional behaviour which is found threatening or disturbing...
  
  

Cyber-bullying

Cyber-bullying is any bullying done through the use of technology. This form of bullying can easily go undetected because of lack of parental/authoritative supervision. Because bullies can pose as someone else, it is the most anonymous form of bullying. Cyber bullying includes, but is not limited to, abuse using email, instant messaging, text messaging, websites, social networking sites, etc.

Sexual bullying

Sexual bullying is "any bullying behaviour, whether physical or non-physical, that is based on a person’s sexuality or gender. It is when sexuality or gender is used as a weapon by boys or girls towards other boys or girls — although it is more commonly directed at girls. It can be carried out to a person’s face, behind their back or through the use of technology

Cyber-bullying

Cyber-bullying is the use of the Internet and related technologies to harm other people, in a deliberate, repeated, and hostile manner. As it has become more common in society, particularly among young people, legislation and awareness campaigns have arisen to combat it.-Definition:The term...

."
As part of its research into sexual bullying in schools, the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 Panorama

Panorama (TV series)

Panorama is a BBC Television current affairs documentary programme, which was first broadcast in 1953, and is the longest-running public affairs television programme in the world. Panorama has been presented by many well known BBC presenters, including Richard Dimbleby, Robin Day, David Dimbleby...

 programme commissioned a
questionnaire aimed at young people aged 11–19 years in schools and youth clubs across five regions of England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The survey revealed that of the 273 young people who responded to the questionnaire, 28 had been forced to do something sexual and 31 had seen it happen to someone else. Of the 273 respondents, 40 had experienced unwanted touching. UK Government figures show that in school year 2007/8, there were 3,450 fixed period exclusions and 120 expulsions from schools in England due to sexual misconduct. This includes incidents such as groping

Groping

When used in a sexual context, groping is touching or fondling another person in a sexual way using the hands; it generally has a negative connotation, and is considered molestation in most societies. The term 'frotteurism' may be applied when a person rubs up against another person, typically...

 and using sexually insulting language. From April 2008 to March 2009, ChildLine

ChildLine

ChildLine is a free 24 hour counselling service for children and young people up to 18 in the UK provided by the NSPCC. ChildLine deals with any issue which causes distress or concern, common issues dealt with include child abuse, bullying, parental separation or divorce, pregnancy and substance...

 counselled a total of 156,729 children. Of these, 26,134 children spoke about bullying as a main concern and 300 of these talked specifically about sexual bullying.

Some people, including the UK charity Beatbullying

Beatbullying

Beatbullying is a multi-award winning UK charity that aims to empower young people to lead anti-bullying campaigns in their schools and local communities, and to build the capacity of local communities to sustain the work...

, have claimed that children are being bullied into providing ‘sexual favours’ in exchange for protection as gang culture enters inner city schools. Other anti-bullying groups and teachers' unions, including the National Union of Teachers

National Union of Teachers

The National Union of Teachers is a trade union for school teachers in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It is a member of the Trades Union Congress...

, challenged the charity to provide evidence of this, as they had no evidence that this sort of behaviour was happening in schools.

Homophobic bullying

Doctor Melinda Gentry Executive Director of an Atlanta Based Non-Profit created a task force that addressed the issue of bullying as it relates to sexual orientation. "After working in Atlanta Publics Schools, Atlanta, Georgia, I experienced bullying first hand. Due to my sexual orientation my co-workers rallied to have me demoted so that I was not in charge of them. I was told that I was not wanted or welcomed in the school. I was hired to empower children and as a resort I was demoralized. There was no support in the community. People need to be represented, I am an advocate for Human Rights of LGBT individuals in the community. These individuals pay taxes, raise articulate citizens and they love and respect others; they deserve receprocity. I know from my own experience that bullying takes place in elementary and secondary schools. People in positions of authority do not always respect diversity. The House of Pink Inc is working to create strategies to combat school bullying. It is unacceptable for adults and/ or children to be bullied in schools based on the premises of their sexuality. Schools need a unified system that strategically addresses issues such as bullying and violence. "These issues are often minimized but have a very long lasting affect on the individuals involved. Victims of bullying become victims of domestic violence in the future. Bullying is a precursor for other acts of civil and criminal violations. The studies on the number of children and adults who become suicidal or murdered in hate crime acts are ridiculously high and there needs to be something done now" Doctor Melinda Gentry.

In the United Kingdom, the Equality and Human Rights Commission reported in 2010 that "Homophobic bullying is widespread in British secondary schools. Nearly half of all secondary schoolteachers in England acknowledge that such bullying is common, and just 1 in 6 believe that their school is very active in promoting respect for LGBT students."

High school bullying

According to Tara Kuther, associate professor of psychology at Western Connecticut State University, "...bullying gets so much more sophisticated and subtle in high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

. It's more relational

Relational aggression

Relational aggression, also known as covert aggression or covert bullying, is a type of aggression in which harm is caused through damage to relationships or social status within a group rather than by means of actual or threatened physical violence...

. It becomes more difficult for teens to know when to intervene, whereas with younger kids bullying is more physical and therefore more clear cut".

Statistics

Bullying is a common occurrence in most schools. According to the American Psychological Association

American Psychological Association

The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States. It is the world's largest association of psychologists with around 154,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. The APA...

, approximately "40% to 80% of school-age children experience bullying at some point during their school careers". Regardless of the grade level, socioeconomic environment, gender, religion, or sexual orientation, bullying can happen to anyone. However, various studies point out that students from lower socio-economic backgrounds are more bullied than students from higher socio-economic backgrounds.
Most children experience bullying at some point in their academic careers. The following is a list of statistics that illustrate the severity of bullying within classrooms:

• 20-40% of bullying victims actually report being bullied
• 70% of middle school
  Middle school
  Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
  
    and high school
  High school
  High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
  
   students experience bullying in school
• 7-12% of bullies are habitual and pose a serious threat
• 5-15% of students are constantly bullied
• 27% of students are bullied because of their refusal to engage in common sexual practices
• 25% of students encourage bullying if not given proper education and support in anti-bullying techniques

Due to the low numbers of students who actually report incidents of bullying, teachers need to have a certain level of awareness that will thwart any potential problems. This awareness starts with understanding bullying.

Short-term and long-term effects

Dombeck says that as a forty-year-old man, he still feels the effects of the bullying he received as a ten-year-old. Every day, he would dread riding the bus home from school because he was bullied by the older children on the bus. Dombeck defines some common short-term and long-term effects of bullying. These include, but are not limited to:

Short-term:

• depression
  Depression (mood)
  Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...
  
  
• suicide
  Suicide
  Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
  
   (bullycide
  Bullycide
  The term bullycide is a portmanteau word first used in 2001 by Neil Marr and Tim Field in their book Bullycide: Death at Playtime. It refers to suicide attributable to the victim having been bullied, either in person or via social media. Bullycide has also been defined as the killing of the bully...
  
  )
• anxiety
  Anxiety
  Anxiety is a psychological and physiological state characterized by somatic, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components. The root meaning of the word anxiety is 'to vex or trouble'; in either presence or absence of psychological stress, anxiety can create feelings of fear, worry, uneasiness,...
  
  
• anger
  Anger
  Anger is an automatic response to ill treatment. It is the way a person indicates he or she will not tolerate certain types of behaviour. It is a feedback mechanism in which an unpleasant stimulus is met with an unpleasant response....
  
  
• significant drop in school performance

Long-term:

• abiding feelings of insecurity
• lack of trust
• extreme sensitivity (hypervigilance
  Hypervigilance
  Hypervigilance is an enhanced state of sensory sensitivity accompanied by an exaggerated intensity of behaviors whose purpose is to detect threats. Hypervigilance is also accompanied by a state of increased anxiety which can cause exhaustion. Other symptoms include: abnormally increased arousal, a...
  
  )
• need for revenge
  Revenge
  Revenge is a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. It is also called payback, retribution, retaliation or vengeance; it may be characterized, justly or unjustly, as a form of justice.-Function in society:Some societies believe that the...
  
  

School bullying is a major cause of school shootings. 71% of the attackers were motivated by being bullied and picked on. School shooters that died or committed suicide left behind evidence that they were bullied, including Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold

Eric David Harris and Dylan Bennet Klebold were American high school seniors who committed the Columbine High School massacre. They killed 13 people—including teacher Dave Sanders—and injured 24 others, three of whom were injured as they escaped the attack...

, Nathan Ferris, Edmar Aparecido Freitas, Seung-Hui Cho

Seung-Hui Cho

Seung-Hui Cho was a senior-level undergraduate student at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University who killed 32 people and wounded 17 others on April 16, 2007, in the shooting rampage which came to be known as the "Virginia Tech massacre." Cho later committed suicide after law...

, Wellington Menezes Oliveira, and Jeff Weise

Jeff Weise

Jeffrey James "Jeff" Weise was an Ojibwe Native American adolescent, and a student at Red Lake Senior High School in Red Lake, Minnesota. He murdered nine people and wounded five others in a shooting spree on March 21, 2005, in the Red Lake Indian Reservation located in northwest Minnesota...

.

Complex dynamics of a school bullying culture

Parsons identifies school bullying cultures as typically having a web of dynamics

Group dynamics

Group dynamics refers to a system of behaviors and psychological processes that occur within a social group , or between social groups...

 which are much more complex than just considering bullying amongst students. These dynamics include:

• some students bully other students; some of these student bullies are themselves bullied by other student bullies; some of these student bullies bully teachers
• some teachers bully students; some teacher bullies bully other teachers; some teacher bullies bully parents
• some office staff bully teachers, students and parents
• some principals
  Head teacher
  A head teacher or school principal is the most senior teacher, leader and manager of a school....
  
   bully teachers, office staff, students and parents
• some parents bully teachers, office staff, principals, and their own children.

Strategies to reduce school bullying

Researchers (Olweus, 1993); Craig & Peplar, 1999; Ross, 1998; Morrison, 2002; Whitted & Dupper, 2005; Aynsley-Green, 2006; Fried-Sosland provide several strategies which address ways to help reduce bullying, these include:

• Make sure an adult knows what is happening to their children.
• Actually enforce anti bully laws.
• Make it clear that bullying is never acceptable.
• Recognize that bullying can occur at all levels within the hierarchy of the school (i.e., including adults).
• Hold a school conference day or forum devoted to bully/victim problems.
• Increase adult supervision in the yard, halls and washrooms more vigilantly.
• Emphasize caring, respect and safety.
• Emphasize consequences of hurting others.
• Enforce consistent and immediate consequences for aggressive behaviors.
• Improve communication among school administrators, teachers, parents and students.
• Have a school problem box where kids can report problems, concerns and offer suggestions.
• Teach cooperative learning activities.
• Help bullies with anger control and the development of empathy.
• Encourage positive peer relations.
• Offer a variety of extracurricular activities which appeal to a range of interests
• Teach your child to defend himself or herself, verbally and physically, if necessary.
• Keep in mind the range of possible causes: e.g., medical, psychiatric, psychological, developmental, family problems, etc.
• If problems continue in your school, press harassment charges against the family of the person who is bullying you.

Forms

Bullying is delivered in a number of different forms and is not limited to one gender. Forms include verbal, physical

Physical

Physical may refer to:*Body, the physical structure of an organism**Human body, the physical structure of a human*Physical abuse, abuse involving contact intended to cause feelings of intimidation, injury, or other physical suffering or bodily harm...

, direct, sexual harassment

Sexual harassment

Sexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and...

, and relational bullying. Bullying covers a wide range of age groups but is particularly prominent between the ages of 9-18. Boys tend to do more bullying than girls, especially in the form of physical bullying. However girls are just as guilty. They usually tend to bully in verbal forms.

Understanding the semiotics

Semiotics

Semiotics, also called semiotic studies or semiology, is the study of signs and sign processes , indication, designation, likeness, analogy, metaphor, symbolism, signification, and communication...

 of school-age bullying may increase the chances of stopping the problem before drastic measures are taken by the victims, such as suicide

Suicide

Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

. Bully

Bully

Bullying is a form of aggressive behavior manifested by the use of force or coercion to affect others, particularly when the behavior is habitual and involves an imbalance of power...

, target, and bystander

Bystander

A bystander a person who, although present at some event, does not take part in it; an observer or spectator.*Bystander effect, a social psychological phenomenon wherein individuals do not offer help in an emergency situation when other people are present...

 are labels that have been created to help describe and understand the roles of the individuals involved in the vicious cycle. Barbara Coloroso, an expert in the field of bullying prevention, explains that the labels serve as descriptors of a child’s behavior rather than permanently labeling the child.

Associations

Bullying is usually associated with an imbalance of power. A bully has a perceived authority over another due to factors such as size, gender, or age. Bullies are not identifiable by their appearance or group identification; rather we need to focus on how they act. The definition of bullying briefly describes actions that are exhibited by an individual that is playing the role of a bully. Boys find motivation for bully from factors such as not fitting in, physically weak, short-tempered, who their friends were, and the clothes they wore. Girls on the other hand, result from factors like not fitting in, facial appearance, emotional, overweight

Overweight

Overweight is generally defined as having more body fat than is optimally healthy. Being overweight is a common condition, especially where food supplies are plentiful and lifestyles are sedentary...

, and academic status. In both sexes, a speech impediment of some sort (such as stutter) can also become the target of a bully.

Individuals that choose to be a bully are not typically born with the characteristic. It is a result from the treatment they receive from authority figures, including parents. Bullies often come from families that use physical forms of discipline. This somewhat turns the tables on the bully

Bully

Bullying is a form of aggressive behavior manifested by the use of force or coercion to affect others, particularly when the behavior is habitual and involves an imbalance of power...

, making them the victim. Unfortunately, this leads to a strategy of bully or be bullied.

Identifying

Verifying the signs that signify bullying characteristics are slightly harder than expected. They are usually viewed as loud and assertive and may even be hostile in particular situations. Bullies are not usually the largest kid in a class, but may be part of the popular or cool kids group. The bullies that are part of a popular group may not come from intense disciplinary homes, rather they gain acceptance from the peer group by bullying a victim.

Victims of bullying typically are physically smaller, more sensitive, unhappy, cautious, anxious, quiet, and withdrawn. They are often described as passive

Passive

Passive may refer to:* "Passive" , by A Perfect Circle* Passive voice, a grammatical voice common in many languages* Passive house, a standard for energy efficiency in buildings* Passive psi, psychic abilities involving cognition...

 or submissive. Possessing these qualities make these individuals vulnerable to being victimized. Unfortunately bullies know that these students will not retaliate, making them an easy target.

A general semantics term called indexing is useful in dealing with the different types of bullying. Indexing is a way to categorize of signs. This allows educators and parents a way to assist in recognizing how bullying behavior varies. By understanding and recognizing the different varieties of behavior it helps to allow flexibility in the responses to the variations.

An interesting result from previous research states that the majority of children possess anti-bullying attitudes. However there is a small amount of children that admire those that bully and show little empathy for those that get bullied.

Legal recourse in the US

American victims and their families have legal recourse

Legal recourse

A legal recourse is an action that can be taken by an individual or a corporation to attempt to remedy a legal difficulty.* A lawsuit if the issue is a matter of civil law* Many contracts require mediation or arbitration before a dispute can go to court...

, such as suing a school or teacher for failure to adequately supervise, for racial or gender discrimination

Discrimination

Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...

, or for other civil rights

Civil rights

Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...

 violations. Special education students who are victimized may sue a school or school board under the ADA or Section 504. In addition, the victims of some school shootings have sued both the shooters' families and the schools.

Victims

Phoebe Prince November 24, 1994 - January 14, 2010, moved from Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. She attended South Hadley High School in Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 where she was a victim of bullying. After suffering from her bullies for a period of time, She committed suicide by hanging. This lead to a criminal case. In May 2011 the defendants plead guilty to lesser charges, receiving probation and community service. She is buried in Ireland.

In popular culture

Bullies frequently appear as antagonists in TV shows about young people. For example, on the TV series Malcolm in the Middle

Malcolm in the Middle

Malcolm in the Middle is an American television sitcom created by Linwood Boomer for the Fox Network. The series was first broadcast on January 9, 2000, and ended its six-and-a-half-year run on May 14, 2006, after seven seasons and 151 episodes...

, Malcolm's older brother, Reese, is notoriously known as the school and neighborhood bully. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from September 10, 1990 to May 20, 1996. The show stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart teenager from West Philadelphia who is sent to move in with his aunt and uncle in their...

also featured a bully who picked on Ashley Banks and who comes from a bullying family. On the now-late Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon (TV channel)

Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...

 series, 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd

100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd

100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd is an American family comedy series that ran from 1999 to 2002 produced by Fireworks Entertainment and Lynch Entertainment for the Nickelodeon TV channel...

, the titular character was a bully who was transformed into a dog and must complete 100 good deeds before being turned back into a human. In the cartoon Hey Arnold!

Hey Arnold!

Hey Arnold! is an American animated television series created by Craig Bartlett for Nickelodeon. The show's premise focuses on a fourth grader named Arnold who lives with his grandparents. Episodes center on his experiences navigating big city life while dealing with the problems he and his friends...

, Helga G. Pataki was the bully in her fourth grade class due to many factors such as her neglectful parents, dysfunctional homelife, and insecurities.

The Stephen King

Stephen King

Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...

 novel, Carrie

Carrie (novel)

Carrie is American author Stephen King's first published novel, released in 1974. It revolves around the eponymous Carrie, a shy high-school girl, who uses her newly discovered telekinetic powers to exact revenge on those who tease her...

and its respective film adaptation include bullying as a main plot; the heroine, Carrie White

Carrie White

Carietta "Carrie" N. White is a fictional character created by Stephen King who has the power of telekinesis.In every adaptation and portrayal of Carrie, she is shown as an outcast, loathed and taunted by her fellow students and constantly scolded by her mother, Margaret White, an abusive, mentally...

 is viciously bullied at school by a clique of wicked girls led by Chris Hargensen

Chris Hargensen

Christine "Chris" Hargensen is a fictional character created by Stephen King. She is the main antagonist in his first published novel, Carrie....

.

Bullies are featured in the 1980 film My Bodyguard

My Bodyguard

My Bodyguard is a 1980 comedy-drama film released by 20th Century Fox, directed by Tony Bill , and written by Alan Ormsby...

where a hotelier's son attends a public high school and harassed - features a young Matt Dillon

Matt Dillon

Matthew Raymond "Matt" Dillon is an American actor and film director. He began acting in the late 1970s, gaining fame as a teenage idol during the 1980s.- Early life :...

 as the lead bully (his second role as a villain).

A major plot of the 1984 film The Karate Kid has school bullies who are members of a martial arts dojo run by an ex-Special Forces Vietnam veteran

Vietnam veteran

Vietnam veteran is a phrase used to describe someone who served in the armed forces of participating countries during the Vietnam War.The term has been used to describe veterans who were in the armed forces of South Vietnam, the United States armed forces, and countries allied to them, whether or...

; the lead bully is seen using illegal drugs during a Halloween dance.

The British slasher film Tormented

Tormented (2009 film)

Tormented is a 2009 horror-comedy film starring Alex Pettyfer, April Pearson, Dimitri Leonidas, Calvin Dean and newcomer Tuppence Middleton. Directed by Jon Wright and written by newcomer Stephen Prentice, the film was released on 22 May 2009 in the UK...

features bullying as a major theme, as the film's "slasher", Darren Mullet, an overweight, unpopular nerd, is bullied to the point of suicide

Suicide

Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

 by the school's most popular students. The film was praised for its portrayal of cyber-bullying

Cyber-bullying

Cyber-bullying is the use of the Internet and related technologies to harm other people, in a deliberate, repeated, and hostile manner. As it has become more common in society, particularly among young people, legislation and awareness campaigns have arisen to combat it.-Definition:The term...

 and how bullying is not always limited to the school students; the tutors in Tormented are seen to deliberately overlook the shy, vulnerable students and allow the in-crowd to get away with their cruel behaviour.

In the musical Missing Mel (in association with Youth Music Theatre: UK

Youth Music Theatre: UK

Youth Music Theatre UK is the United Kingdom's biggest provider of music theatre projects for young people. It is one of nine recognised National Youth Music Organisations ....

), there is an entire number that revolves around two twins bullying a girl named Lauren. This musical has been praised for raising the awareness of the harm bullying can do to a victim.

In Mean Girls

Mean Girls

Mean Girls is a 2004 American teen comedy-drama film directed by Mark Waters. The screenplay was written by Tina Fey and is based in part on the non-fiction book Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman, which describes how female high school social cliques operate and the effect they can have...

, the school's four most popular girls emotionally pick on others, and write a "Burn Book", which includes malicious gossip, rumors, and secrets about the other girls in their school. After copies of the pages of the Burn Book are scattered around the school, the girls realize their humiliating secrets have been revealed to the entire school and attack their friends, which also leads to bullying because all the girls are fighting in the hallways, etc. when they find out who is cheating on whom, rumors, and what friends said behind their backs, etc.

The book series "The Clique

The Clique

The Clique was a group of English artists formed by Richard Dadd in the late 1830s. Other members were Augustus Egg, Alfred Elmore, William Powell Frith, Henry Nelson O'Neil, John Phillip and Edward Matthew Ward....

" is about rich girls who fight over boys, pick on others, and are totally spoiled by their parents. The leader, Massie Block, also set up a game about "Gossip Points", which has no real reward, making the other 'members' tell her all gossip they heard. Only for 'points' that have no reward (such as money) makes it pointless, except so Massie knows other girls' secrets which she uses to blackmail

Blackmail

In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...

 people. And the fact that they go to an all-girls school makes the gossip worse.

The plot of the Danish film In a Better World

In a Better World

In a Better World is a 2010 Danish-Swedish drama thriller film written by Anders Thomas Jensen and directed by Susanne Bier. The film stars Mikael Persbrandt, Trine Dyrholm, and Ulrich Thomsen in a story which takes place in small-town Denmark and a refugee camp in Africa.A Danish majority...

centers around both school and adult bullying and the consequences thereof.

In the Harry Potter

Harry Potter

Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...

 books and film adaptations

Harry Potter (film series)

The Harry Potter film series is a British-American film series based on the Harry Potter novels by the British author J. K. Rowling...

, Draco Malfoy

Draco Malfoy

Draco Malfoy is a fictional character and a major antagonist in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. He is a Slytherin student in Harry Potter's year. He is frequently accompanied by his two accomplices, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, who act as henchmen...

 (his father, Lucius, is also a bully) verbally taunts Harry

Harry Potter (character)

Harry James Potter is the title character and main protagonist of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. The majority of the books' plot covers seven years in the life of the orphan Potter who, on his eleventh birthday, learns he is a wizard...

 (because he has no parents and because of his fame), Ron

Ron Weasley

Ronald Bilius "Ron" Weasley is a fictional character and one of the three protagonists in the Harry Potter book series written by J. K. Rowling. His first appearance was in the first book of the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone as the best friend of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger...

 (because he is poor), and Hermione

Hermione Granger

Hermione Jean Granger is a fictional character and one of the three protagonists in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. She initially appears in the first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, as a new student on her way to Hogwarts...

 (because of her blood status) with the help of his "friends" Crabbe and Goyle, although the three don't let the taunting get to them and retaliate. Also Professor Severus Snape

Severus Snape

Severus Snape is a fictional character in the Harry Potter book series written by J.K. Rowling. In the first novel of the series, he is hostile toward Harry and is built up to be the primary antagonist until the final chapters. As the series progresses, Snape's character becomes more layered and...

, who teaches potions, bullies his students, especially Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville Longbottom and overlooks any wrongdoing by those who are in Slytherin (the house he is head of). In the past, to Harry's shock, James Potter, with the help of Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew while Remus Lupin was a bystander, bullied Snape relentlessly while they were students at Hogwarts.

In the show Glee

Glee (TV series)

Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...

, one of the students, Kurt Hummel

Kurt Hummel

Kurt Hummel is a fictional character and one of the male leads in the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. Series creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan initially conceived of him as a fashionable gay countertenor who is routinely bullied at school...

, is constantly being bullied for being gay by one of the school football players Dave Karofsky

Dave Karofsky

David "Dave" Karofsky, often referred to as Karofsky, is a recurring fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. The character is portrayed by actor Max Adler, and has appeared in Glee since its first season episode "Mash-Up", first broadcast on October 21, 2009...

. Kurt tries to confront him, but ends up being kissed by Dave. Dave threatens to kill him if the kiss is revealed. Kurt tells the teachers about the threat, but not the cause of the threat. Dave is expelled, but eventually comes back and apologizes to Kurt on two separate occasions: in the episode "Born This Way

Born This Way (Glee)

"Born This Way" is the eighteenth episode of the second season of the American television series Glee, and the 40th episode overall. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on April 26, 2011. The episode was written by Brad Falchuk and directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, and is a tribute to...

" and "Prom Queen

Prom Queen (Glee)

"Prom Queen" is the twentieth episode of the second season of the American musical television series Glee, and the 42nd overall. It aired May 10, 2011 on Fox in the United States. The episode was written by series creator Ian Brennan, directed by Eric Stoltz, and featured the return of guest...

." During the prom however, other people bully him by nominating him for prom queen. Although hurt, Kurt decides to take the title, showing that he is proud for who he is.

See also

Further reading

• Stuart W. Twemlow, Frank Sacco (2008). Why School Antibullying Programs Don't Work. Jason Aronson Inc, ISBN 978-0765704757
• Drama workshop about bullying

External links

• ”Bullying Widespread in U.S. Schools, Study Finds”, National Institutes of Health
• Stop Bullying Now, Health Resources and Services Administration
• Bullying Affects All Middle School Kids, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
• Girls Bullying Girls: An Introduction to Relational Aggression, National Association of School Psychologists
• Dealing with Schoolyard Bullies