Bullying refers to repeated aggressive behaviors (physical, verbal or psychological) meant to hurt another person. Bullying is signified by an imbalance of power, often the result of differences in physical size and/or cognitive abilities. Creating an environment where all students feel safe is extremely important to learning. It is imperative that schools ensure that students never feel they are being bullied by other students.

The Third Annual National Bullying Prevention Awareness Week, Oct. 5-11, 2008, encourages communities nationwide to work together to increase awareness of the prevalence and impact of bullying on all children. The week is sponsored by PACER's National Center for Bullying Prevention and cosponsored by the American Federation of Teachers, National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education, National Education Association, National PTA, and School Social Work Association of America.

• Characteristics of Bullies
• Victims of Bullying
• Interventions of Bullying
• Further Reading

Characteristics of Bullies
There typically are three types of people involved in bullying behavior: bullies, victims and bystanders. Bullies can best be defined by their personality style. Researchers describe bullies as having the following characteristics:

• Enjoy aggression and the rewards gained from aggressive acts;
• Lack empathy for their victim;
• Lack guilt for their actions;
• Are dominating and like to be in charge;
• Have aggressive role models; and
• Think unrealistically about how the world should meet their needs.

Victims of Bullying
There are two types of victims: passive victims and provocative victims.

Passive victims generally do not defend themselves and can be characterized by:

• Being isolated during the school day;
• Lacking social skills;
• Being physically weak;
• Crying or yielding easily to bullies;
• Suffering from past trauma; and/or
• Having learning difficulties.

Provocative victims generally tease and provoke bullies, but do not have the social or physical skills necessary to defend themselves. Provocative victims can be characterized by:

• Being easy to arouse emotionally;
• Behaving in a manner that maintains the conflict; and/or
• Possibly having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Interventions for Bullying
Like most effective interventions, strategies to prevent bullying should be comprehensive and multifaceted. This means that bullying interventions should be implemented schoolwide, classroom-wide and individually; must include all staff, related personnel and administrators; and should have input and commitment from students and family members. Most important, staff must be trained to:

• Identify bullying behavior and differentiate between normal peer conflict and bullying;
• Teach students about both bullying and caring behavior; and
• Intervene with bullies, victims and bystanders.

In addition to schoolwide interventions to reduce bullying (or instead of them, when there is no comprehensive schoolwide program), classroom-wide interventions are necessary. Classroom-wide interventions for bullying include setting up an environment that expects and rewards caring behavior. This environment should reward those who stick up for victims and deter bullies, and should emphasize the importance of including all students in activities. Bullying is a very serious problem and, if allowed to continue, can cause long-term problems for both the bully and the victim. Adults need to be aware of bullying and must intervene whenever bullying occurs. Bullies and victims alike need to know that adults are there to defend and protect victims, and that they will not allow bullying to continue.

Further Reading

• Fact Sheet: Bullying Prevention, from the Consortium to Prevent School Violence (pdf)
• Fact Sheet: Overview of School Violence Prevention, from the Consortium to Prevent School Violence (pdf)
• Misperceptions and Facts, from the National Center for Bullying Prevention
• Teacher Tips: Behavior Management Techniques for Schools (pdf)