Bullying

Physical BULLYING: hitting, kicking, punching, tripping, shoving, spitting, stealing, damaging property.

Weight-based teasing: BULLYING based on body shape/size.

Verbal BULLYING: name calling, mocking, taunting, put-downs, sexist, racist, or homophobic comments, threats, humiliating someone, making people do things they don’t want to do.

Social BULLYING: excluding others, spreading gossip and rumours, setting others up to look foolish, damaging friendships, rejection of someone, rolling eyes and other demeaning gestures, dividing people from one another, isolating someone, making sure others do not spend time with a certain person.

Cyberbullying: sending or posting harmful material or engaging in forms of social aggression using the Internet or other forms of digital technologies. Remember that cyberbullying is BULLYING in a different location.

flaming: online fights and arguments using electronic messages with angry and vulgar language.harassment: repeatedly sending mean, offensive, and insulting messages to an individual.

denigration: showing disrespect for someone online; sending or posting gossip or rumours about a person to damage his/her reputation or friendships.

impersonation: pretending to be someone else, and sending or posting material to a person in trouble or to damage that persons’s reputation or friendships.

outing: sharing someone’s secrets or embarrassing information or images online.

intrusion: over-the-shoulder surfing, sharing/stealing passwords, or unintentional or unauthorized use of a web camera.

trickery: tricking someone into revealing secrets with the intent to embarrass him/her online.

exclusion: intentionally and cruelly excluding someone from an online group.

cyberstalking: repeated, intense harassment and denigration that includes threats or creates significant fear.

Threats including Cyberthreats: sending or posting direct threats or distressing material statements that alludes that the person may be considering harming someone else or harming him/herself.

Discrimination is the unfair treatment of a person or group because of differences such as race, ethnicity, age, religion, gender, sexual preference, or socio-economic status. Discrimination means prejudging or stereotyping people, and being bigoted and intolerant of differences. It can make a child or family feel unwelcome, marginalized, excluded, powerless, or worthless in a school or community.

Sexual harassment is any unwanted and unwelcome behaviour about sex or gender that interferes with a person’s life and makes him/her feel uncomfortable, even if the harasser claims to be only joking. The following are examples of sexual harassment:

• rude jokes, sexual comments, spreading rumours
• sexual put-downs
• catcalls, rating appearances, whistling
• insults about sexual orientation
• bragging about sexual relations
• unwanted kissing, touching, flirting, grabbing

Weight-based stigmatization is “negative weight-related attitudes and beliefs that are manifested through stereotypes, bias, rejection, and prejudice toward children and adolescents because they are overweight or obese.” Obesity is one of the “most stigmatized and least socially acceptable conditions in childhood.” (Russell-Mayhew, McVey, Bardick, Ireland, “Mental health, wellness, and childhood overweight/obesity,” J Obes., 2012)

• The classroom setting is likely where the less overt signs of BULLYING, sexual harassment, or discrimination will be evident.
• Some students may be excluded in certain groupings in the class or in informal settings such as the schoolyard; they may be chosen last for teams and may prefer to spend their time with staff.
• Students may leave quickly at the end of the day or volunteer to stay behind, hoping to avoid confrontations outside the classroom or school. They may avoid specific areas in the school where bullies are likely to be encountered.
• Bullied students may look like other students who are under stress (unhappy, tearful, sullen, sad, anxious, avoidant, etc.) and may complain of headaches, nausea, and fatigue because of sleep difficulties.
• Students may experience difficulty concentrating, a change in level of participation or work productivity, have an unexplained change in attendance patterns, or be easily distracted and slow to progress.
• Students may report vandalized or stolen personal property, damaged or missing possessions, or lost money.
• Students might run away, become secretive or school phobic, feel suicidal, or start stealing to pay off the bully.
• Students who are experiencing anxiety or stress as a result of cyberbullying may show an obsessive interest or, conversely, an avoidance of social media and the Internet.
• Students who experience weight stigmatization and teasing may be depressed, anxious, exhibit low self-esteem and bodydissatisfaction, have suicidal ideations, and participate in unhealthy eating behaviours and binge eating (Puhl, 2009).

• Students who are bullied can easily feel afraid or want to avoid potentially threatening or dangerous situations in the classroom or schoolyard, on the bus, or while walking to or from school. They may feel or pretend to be sick to avoid these situations, and this can interfere with their school attendance.
• Students who are bullied may also take on BULLYING behaviour as a coping and/or learned behaviour.
• Students who bully may be the victim of BULLYING by others.
• Students may avoid or miss classes, run away, or become secretive or school phobic.
• Student grades may drop.
• Some students may become depressed, anxious, phobic, or suicidal.
• For students who are repeatedly ostracized or intimidated, dropping out of school may be an attractive option.