What is bullying?

August 21st, 2008 by mas | Filed under Society & Issues.

I hadn’t heard of ‘Beatbullying’ before but had a look at their new website which you can find here

Slightly annoyingly on most pages on the site a video automatically plays of some person or another talking about bullying (especially irritating when you see the same film several times as you navigate through!)

What I couldn’t find on the site was a definition of what bullying actually is. There are descriptions of things to look out for that may indicate if a child is being bullied or is a bully but I couldn’t find anything to define bullying.

I’m interested because it seems like one of those terms that gets thrown around that we all know is a bad thing - but what is it?! I do wonder too where the line is between unnaceptable ‘bullying’, and behaviour that actually its quite important for children & young people to learn to deal with?

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Viewing 6 Comments

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    Hi, thanks for your feedback on the website. As you know, www.beatbullying.org now hosts two sites - one for adults and one for young people. There is a whole section on "what is bullying" on the kids site, but not on our the adults site, which is a more corporate version about the work we do.

    You bring up an interesting point though, because it is difficult to find one definition for bullying - there are lots. At Beatbullying, we look to the young people we work with for help with the definitions. Some will describe everything from feelings, effects and consequences, while others will describe that bullying is something that is about power and that is done on purpose. Others still will point out the need for the action to be repetitive: punching someone once could be a violent outburst, whilst punching someone every day for a week would be bullying. The intent to cause harm to someone else (verbal, physical or emotional), the power imbalance, and the repetition are all important factors in helping find a definition, but by over-classifying things, we can sometimes miss the reality being experienced by young people.

    If you search across the web, you might find several different definitions of what is bullying, but it is difficult to prescribe one that will suit every child's situation. Only by working directly with young people, as Beatbullying does, can we help them understand for themselves what does, or does not, constitute bullying.

    Richard
    Communications Manager
    Beatbullying
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    Hi Richard - thanks for that. I guess in some ways its understandable that there isn't a set 'definition' as circumstances & feelings vary for individuals etc. I think the point I'm interested in is whether theres a need to try and distinguish between what is bullying and what is behaviour that young people need to learn to deal with - stuff thats maybe not pleasant but results in 'character building' - is there a line to cross or is it that teasing, name calling & so on shouldn't happen at all?

    I think the point about power is interesting too - is it possible not to have people competing for power and positions of authority? I know there are 'right' and 'wrong' ways about that - we see it a lot when we do leadership training with young people but often people need to do things wrong to figure out how to do them right and of course whats wrong for one situation is often right for another.

    I don't mean to undermine bullying as an issue though and its great to see a resource like beatbullying online. I think the issue of cyberbullying is interesting too - I read a report about young peoples use of the internet the other day based on young people in the US and a large percentage (I think it was quarter or a third) indicated that they had suffered online bullying, but it went on to say that not many of them regarded it either as bullying or as behaviour that they didn't feel they could handle. (Unfortunately I've lost the link to the original report now so the figures might not be accurate but that was the gist of what I got from reading it). So maybe from that it shows cyberbullying is a significant problem but most young people feel able to cope with it - I wonder whether thats because they can just close down programmes easily online or that they've had good advice on dealing with it, or that they're just naturally resilient?
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    Was it the Pew study?

    There's a release which has the info. related to bullying specifically here:

    http://pewresearch.org/pubs/527/cyber-bullying
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    Hi Harry - no but it looks like maybe the one I did read was maybe using the same data as they seem very similar - thanks for the link - have downloaded the pdf to have a read through
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    Hi Mas, I'd argue against all those who say that bullying is 'character building' or simply part of growing up. Yes, young people need to learn how to deal with certain behaviours, but there is a difference between learning about how to deal with issues around failure, criticism and conflict, and believing that bullying will make you stronger. There are naturally those who disagree, and it is an argument that we will contest, and ultimately it is part of Beatbullying's aim to change that culture of thought.

    Interesting you mention cyberbullying - it is a significant problem, but it is simply an extension of a lot of the offline behaviour that's been around for a long time, and which continues to happen. Some young people do find it easier to deal with, by turning off their computer or mobile phone, but many others also find it much more intrusive, threatening, and inescapable. What happens when you turn your computer back on? The perceived anonymity, albeit a myth, adds another dimension, as well as the 24 hour nature of cyberbullying, and the extension of bullying from the schools and streets, into our homes.

    Beatbullying is working to address the issue of cyberbullying and online safety, and we'll keep you informed of the developments we make.
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    Hi Richard - no I wouldn't agree that bullying is character building either - what I'm wondering though is that without clear guidance it may be that its unclear what should be tackled as unacceptable bullying and what is behaviour that young people need to learn to cope with. On your site I saw the quote "they tied me to a tree & set fire to me" which of course is shocking, but then I saw the article about young people being bullied & ridiculed because of the brands they wear which while unpleasant seems normal school behaviour (which I can testify from my experiences of wearing 'Gola' trainers at school which then ironically became trendy in my adult life!).

    I think the cyberbullying study is interesting because I wonder whether any of the disparity between the large number who had apparently experienced it compared to the small number that were bothered by it may in part be due to not being aware that a certain online behaviour was termed as bullying and therefore at the time of the incident/s they felt able to cope with it, but when asked if they had experienced 'x' behaviour they then realised they had been bullied (hopefully that makes some sort of sense beyond just my mind!).

    I'm sure there will be much interest in your work in cyberbullying - I think again its something that needs guidance and also a distinction between what is clearly bullying online and what is opportunistic ridiculing - also unacceptable but I imagine for that there's more emphasis on helping young people protect themselves by being careful what photos and information they put online etc. - although having said that it sounds a bit like 'they were asking for it' which obviously isn't right either! I think maybe I'll wait & see what your own developments are! good luck with it

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