National Bullying Prevention Month is a nationwide campaign founded in 2006 by PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center. The campaign is held during the month of October and unites communities around the world to educate and raise awareness of bullying prevention. According to statistics one in five children admit to being bullied and bullying is not only isolated as a childhood problem but also affects adolescents and adults as well. In order to be considered bullying, the behavior must be aggressive and include:
- An Imbalance of Power: Individuals who bully use their power, such as physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity, to intentionally control or harm others.
- Repetition: Bullying behaviors happen more than once or have the potential to happen more than once.
Verbal bullying, social bullying and physical bullying are the three types of bullying that are seen in today’s society. Examples of physical bullying include hitting, kicking, spitting, obscene hand gestures, and stealing or breaking personal property whereas verbal bullying consists of name-calling, threatening harm, teasing, and inappropriate sexual comments. Social bullying, sometimes referred to as relational bullying, involves hurting someone’s reputation or relationships and examples include excluding someone from a group, spreading rumors, or embarrassing someone in public. All three categories can happen anywhere: at school, in the workplace, at home, on the playground, or on the Internet.
In present day, Internet bullying, formally known as cyberbullying is increasingly on the rise. Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place over digital devices like cell phones, computers, and tablets. Cyberbullying can occur through SMS, Text, and apps, or online in social media, forums, or gaming where people can view, participate in, or share content. Whether it is posting an abusive comment or video or sending threatening direct messages, cyberbullying is unique and permanently damaging because most of the information that is communicated publicly is permanent and most of this bullying is persistent in nature. Because there is a degree of separation from someone when using the Internet, it may be easier to treat others in a way we would not normally do so in real life. Online harassment can take many forms. Social media plays a role when people write nasty comments that are made public. Sharing nude photos around the web or through phones is also a form of cyberbullying. Impersonating someone online and using their image to embarrass themselves is particularly damaging. The difference between cyberbullying and other types of bullying is that cyberbullying doesn’t end when someone walks away.
Mental health and bullying
Bullying can negatively impact individuals and lead to the development of low-self esteem and mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression. Studies have shown that children who were bullied suffered worse outcomes than children who were not bullied but maltreated by adults.
“Researchers presenting at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in San Diego examined data from more than 4,000 participants in the UK ALSPAC study (Avon Longtitudinal Study of Parents and Children) and 1,273 participants from the U.S. Great Smoky Mountain Study. The studies collectively provide data on both bullying by peers and maltreatment by adults at intervals occurring early in life (between 8 weeks and 16 years) and mental health outcomes between the ages of 18 and 25”.
Some studies show that although bully can result in mental health consequences, these effects can dampen over time. Many children can recover from their negative interactions however this recovery process varies upon each individual.
Taking a stance against bullying begins with role models standing up against bullying and reporting any type of harassment to authorities. Teachers, parents, mental health workers and any individual in a position of power should support children, speak up against bullying and be aware of the mental health effects that are directly linked to bullying. Adults who remain silent when bullying occurs are encouraging it and making it worse