What is BULLYING?

Bullying is an ongoing and deliberate misuse of power in relationships through repeated verbal, physical and/or social behaviour that intends to cause physical, social and/or psychological harm. It can involve an individual or a group misusing their power, or perceived power, over one or more persons who feel unable to stop it from happening.

Types of bullying behaviour

There are four main types of bullying behaviour:

physical – examples include: hitting, pushing, shoving or intimidating or otherwise physically hurting another person, damaging or stealing their belongings. It includes threats of violence

verbal/written – examples include: name-calling or insulting someone about an attribute, quality or personal characteristic

social (sometimes called relational or emotional bullying) – examples include: deliberately excluding someone, spreading rumours, sharing information that will have a harmful effect on the other person and/or damaging a person’s social reputation or social acceptance

cyberbullying – any form of bullying behaviour that occurs online or via a mobile device. It can be verbal or written, and can include threats of violence as well as images, videos and/or audio. For more information, refer to Cyberbullying.

What Are The Long Term Effects Of Bullying?

The effects of bullying reach long into adulthood. Victims can suffer depression and anxiety long into their adult life – in fact, studies have shown that the adverse effects of sustained bullying can last until the age of 50. Some studies suggest that those who were bullied in their childhood suffer from more severe mental health issues in their adult life. They may suffer from loneliness and imposter syndrome as the feeling of being an outsider can sadly impact an adults perception of themselves for many years.
Suicidal thoughts can also sometimes be attributed to bullying in childhood – although there are usually other contributors. The vast majority of young people who are victims of bullying won’t have suicidal thoughts, but additional factors including a lack of close adult relationships and difficulty securing employment can contribute to suicidal feelings in adults. Victims of bullying often experience difficulty forming and maintaining social relationships, suffer from higher levels of economic hardship and consider that they have a lower quality of life than those who do not report having been bullied

What Are The Short Term Effects Of Bullying?

In the short term, bullying has a serious adverse impact on the academic and social success of the victim. Multiple studies have taken place on the short term impact of bullying.

Depression

Anxiety

Loneliness

Leaving school early

Health complaints

Changes in eating patterns

Feeling like an outsider

Low self-esteem

Increased absence

Decreased academic achievement

Victims are twice as likely to skip school

Loss of interest in activities

source: https://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/bullystoppers/Pages/what.aspx