Dealing with Bullying

Bullying is the deliberate desire by one or more people to hurt, threaten or frighten someone with words, behaviour or actions. Bullying can be verbal, physical, social or psychological and is one of the major issues facing young people today. It occurs at school, in the workplace, and even online as cyberbullying – it is very common, and it can happen to anyone. Bullying can have devastating impacts on victims, and it can also have detrimental effects on all involved, including bullies. This book identifies the various forms of bullying, explains its causes and effects, and presents advice on how to develop strategies in schools, workplaces and at home to deal with bullying behaviour. Banish bullying – don’t put up with it, deal with it.

Chapter 1: Bullying at school

Chapter 2: Cyberbullying

Chapter 3: Bullying at work

Worksheets and activities; Glossary; Fast facts; Web links; Index

Fast Facts

• Children who are bullied may have higher absenteeism, lower academic achievement, physical and somatic symptoms, anxiety and depression, social dysfunction, and alcohol and substance use.
• Bullying in Australian schools is widely recognised as a problem, with over 20% of males and 15% of females aged 8 to 18 years reporting being bullied at least once a week.
• Concern about bullying in schools has resulted in num-erous schools in Australia and overseas developing and implementing anti-bullying programs.
• There are three groups involved in bullying who are affected: the child being bullied, the bully, and the audience.
• Bullying is not the same as conflict between people (like having a fight) or disliking someone, even though people might bully each other because of conflict or dislike.
• Bullying can happen anywhere. It can be in schools, at home, at work, in online social spaces, via text messaging or via email. It can be physical, verbal, emotional, and it also includes messages, public statements and behaviour online intended to cause distress or harm.
• One in four Year 4 to 9 students are bullied every few weeks or more in Australia.
• The most common age for school-related bullying appears to be during the transition ages from primary to secondary school.
• Females are more likely than males to be the target of cyberbullying.
• There is consistent evidence that boys bully girls much more commonly than vice versa and that a good deal of bullying targets boys who appear to be effeminate or homosexual.
• The greatest influence on students’ bystander behaviour is what they think their friends expect of them – not what their teacher or parents think.
• Sometimes children join in a group that uses bullying behaviour to avoid being bullied themselves.
  Counselling is particularly useful if a child is having trouble with self-esteem, dealing with anger or controlling their impulses.
• When communicating by text it is important to remember that the people who read it don’t get to hear your tone of voice or see your facial expressions. This can lead to potential confusion and can then result in conflict. Sometimes you may even be perceived as a bully.
• The old-fashioned practice of picking on someone who can’t fight back has turned into SMS harassment or ‘flaming’, social network shaming, cyberstalking and chatgroup exclusion.
• 10% of students in Years 4 to 9 have been victims of cyberbullying.
• Parents or schools taking phones and internet access away from children who have been cyberbullied can risk further isolating victims from their support networks.
• Frequent school bullying was highest among Year 5 (32%) and Year 8 (29%) students.
• Covert bullying appears to be under-reported as teachers and parents are more likely to intervene on physical or overt bullying.
• Some students believed it was because the person bullying didn’t like the person they were bullying; found bullying fun; enjoyed bullying others; liked to feel tough and strong, in control and popular.
• Cyberbullying appears to be related to age, with older students more likely to engage in cyberbullying than younger students.
• Slightly higher rates of cyberbullying were found among secondary students and students from non-Government schools.
• Covert bullying seems to have the greatest amount of suffering with the greatest chance of its occurrence going unnoticed. Hence young people perceive that it is condoned by adults.
• Taking, sending or receiving sexual images of a minor is illegal. If you’re found to have a naked or semi-naked photo of someone under 18 on your phone or your computer, you can be charged with criminal child pornography offences.
• Students under the age of 16 victimised by ‘sexting’, cyberbullying or any other type of sexual harassment now have an avenue of recourse due to the federal government’s changes to the Sexual Discrimination Act.
• Cyberbullying may induce more severe reactions in children and young people than traditional bullying.
• One common fear expressed by children and young people is that they will be banned from using the internet or their mobile if they tell someone about cyberbullying.
• Girls are more likely to report that they have been victims of cyberbullying than boys.
• The establishment of a specific cybersafety team can greatly assist with the implementation of a holistic and consistent approach to cybersafety practices within the school.
• Workplace bullying can occur between a worker and a manager or supervisor, or between co-workers.
• Workplace bullying has serious economic effects on Australian organisations. A recent impact and cost assess-ment calculated that workplace bullying costs Australian employers between $6-$36 billion dollars every year.
• About 1 in 6 people are bullied at work; in some industries the figure is higher, ranging from 25%, 50% to 97%.
• The loss to organisations due to bullying has been calculated at between $AUD 17 and 36 billion for Australia.
• New South Wales and Victoria have been the most active in terms of prosecution in clarifying the application of the law relating to bullying and harassment.
• Studies show that each workplace behaviour complaint can cost a business between $40,000 and $70,000.
• Workplace bullying is a health and safety issue, and needs to be recognised as such. Occupational health and safety is not just about protecting workers from disease, but ensuring their wellbeing at work.