What is Bullying? Bullying is an exposure to long-term, repeated negative actions on the part of one or more persons and is often acombination of verbal and physical aggression.
Individuals accused of bullying or harassing behaviour are often surprised that their behaviour is interpreted in this way and may react defensively.
Bullying is an intentional act.
Bullying is a learned behaviour, not a character trait. Bullies can learn new ways to curb their aggression and handle conflicts.
Bullying is the imbalance of power between the parties involved.
Visible bullying traits: controlling, very ambitious, overly confident, strong-willed, judgmental, highly critical, vengeful.
Bullying requires only a couple of traits from the bully, but these traits are very specialised. A bully needs intention, as well as the ability to hold some kind of power.
Be mindful of bullies. One bullying trait might lead to others if you do not confront the problem.
Types of Bullying
· Pair bullying takes place with two people
· Direct bullying involves physical aggression such as shoving, poking, slapping, punching and kicking
· Indirect bullying often takes the form of social isolation and intentional exclusion from activities - includes intimidation, dirty looks, starting rumours, falling out of friendship groups.
Dealing With Online Bullying
Having a chat and exchanging opinions in online discussions can be fun, and firm friendships between like-minded people are often forged.
Unfortunately there are some people out there who just aren't very nice. Learn to spot the tell-tale signs and find out the best way to deal with online pests.
Cyberbullies are pretty nasty characters who take it upon themselves to stop other people from having fun in message boards and chat rooms. They will single out a particular member of a community and do their best to intimidate them. It can be tricky to spot a cyberbully immediately, since they will often pose as a friend to begin with.
Trolls are a kind of cyberbully who lure unsuspecting victims into their trap by posting messages on controversial topics in an attempt to get people to respond negatively. They do this either to give the impression that their 'opinions' are reflected by other users, and sometimes they do it to drum up sympathy and get genuine users to come to their aid.
All posts made in the presence of a troll are likely to come back to haunt whoever makes them, since trolls have a habit of getting people to say things they later regret, and then quoting them in subsequent arguments.
Flaming is a word used to describe posting deliberately provocative messages that are intended to inflame people's anger and encourage them to argue with them and one another. A flamer's goal is to start a conflict between unsuspecting victims and then sit back and watch it escalate.
This kind of behaviour can be a particularly difficult and distressing nuisance to deal with, since the sole aim of a cyberbully is to cause misery in others. However, as in real life, these people feed on attention and, starved of this, will usually move on.
