Four (4) types of School bullying

There are many different categories of school bullying, and some of the categories overlap. Here are four of the most important categories of School bullying that are frequently discussed: Physical bullying

Physical bullying refers to any unwanted physical contact between the bully and the victim. This type of school bullying takes the form of physical abuse, such as pushing, shoving, hitting, fighting, spitting, and tripping. Threats of physical harm and attempts to force people to act in ways they would prefer not to are also included. Other forms of physical bullying includes punching, inappropriate touching, headlocks, hitting, kicking, pulling hair, pushing or shutting a person inside a room and the use of any available objects as weapons.

Emotional bullying

Emotional bullying is bullying that involves factors other than physical interaction, such as insults, derogatory remarks, name calling, and teasing privately or publicly. It causes damage to a victim’s psyche and/or emotional well-being. The person(s) bullying at times will attempt to ostracize the victim, such as leaving them out of a group. Whenever an individual is treated in that manner it is referred to as social bullying, as distinguished from verbal bullying. Emotional bullying could also take the form of purposely misplacing or hiding someone else belongings, harassment and provocation as a prank. Emotional bullying can be done in person or via the internet which is refereed to as cyberbullying.

Verbal bullying

Verbal bullying refers to any slanderous statements or accusations that cause the victim undue emotional distress. Examples include: directing foul language (profanity) at the target, using derogatory terms or playing with the person’s name, commenting negatively on someone’s looks, clothes, body etc. personal abuse, tormenting, harassment and or laughing at an individual.

Cyber-bullying

Cyber-bullying is any bullying done through the use of technology. It takes place over the internet and as a result it can easily go undetected because of lack of parental/authoritative supervision. Cyber bullies sometimes conceal their identity or poses as someone else so that their victim experiences an anonymous attack. Cyber bullying includes, but is not limited to, abuse using email, chat rooms, social networking services, text messages, instant messages, website postings, blogs, or a combination of means. Cyber bullying can cause emotional distress to a person hence, involving emotional bullying. Such may include the posting of insulting and derogatory comments about someone or sending such comments to someone; sending mean or threatening messages; gossiping about someone online including posting sensitive or private information; impersonating someone in order to cast that person in a bad light; and excluding someone from an online page or group. Persons that use Cyber bullying will often be much meaner than they would be face-to-face because they cannot see the victim.

Characteristics of bullies

Bullying begins at an early age with students demonstrating behaviors like biting, pinching or scratching. Teasing and taunting may follow with glaring and staring. Shoving, pushing, and tripping may ensue along with pestering and fighting. Boys may name call, steal lunch money and threaten younger boys while girls may ignore and exclude others or undermine friendships.

Bullies are typically overly concerned about their appearance and there popularity standings. A bully is a dominating person and likes to be in charge of others or situations. A bully often has the ability to create the illusion that he or she has the support of the majority present that instills the fear in the individual beeing bullied. According to some researchers, bullies may be inclined toward negativity and perform poorly academically. A bully has trouble resolving problems with others and also has trouble academically. He or she usually has negative attitudes and beliefs about others, feels negatively toward himself/herself, comes from a family environment characterized by conflict and poor parenting, perceives school as negative and is negatively influenced by peers”.

Four (4) Causes of Bullying
The four causes of bullying is defined in both boys and girls wherein boys and girls select there target of bullying for various reasons, for example. Boys find motivation for bully from factors such as not fitting in, physically weak, short-tempered who there friends were and the clothes they wore. Girls on the the other hand derive there methods out of such things as facial appearance, emotional, overweight and academic status. In both sexes, a speech impediment such as a stutter can also become the target of a bully. Effects of Bullying (Short term and Long term)

Those who have been the targets of bullying can suffer from long or short term emotional and behavioral problems. Bullying can cause some short term effects that can eventually become longterm if not treated early. The short term effects of Bullying are depression, suicide, anxiety, anger and a significant drop in school performance. Bullying can also affect it’s victim long term. These effects are Posttraumatic stress disorder, lack of trust, an inability to form relationships and a need for vengence.

It was bullied students that carried out the 1999 Columbine High School Masacre that ended in suicide since then, bullying has been more closely linked to high school violence in general. Mona O’Moore of the Anti-Bullying Centre at Trinity College in Dublin, has written, “There is a growing body of research which indicates that individuals, whether child or adult, who are persistently subjected to abusive behavior are at risk of stress related illness which can sometimes lead to suicide”.

Stratergies to prevent Bullying

Researchers such as Ross,1998 Aynsley-Green 2006, Morrison,2002 and others have provided means by which bullying can be addressed and in some cases prevented. They are as follows: Make it clear that bullying is not acceptable. Hold a school conference day or forum devoted to bully/victim problems. Enforce consistent and immediate consequences for aggresive behaviours. Improve communiccation among school administrators, teachers, parents and students. Adjust teacher preperation programs to include appropriate bullying interventions to use in their classroom. Offer a variety of extracurricular activities which appeal to a range of interest.

Allthough preventative measures can be put in place we must keep in mind the range of possible causses for bullying e.g. Medical, psychiatric, psychological, developmental, family problems and must be therefore handled by the appropriate professionals once bullying behaviour is noticed in a student.