Bullying Facts

Bullying Facts Summary

Bullying is a fact of life for many kids, but one we can change. We’ve gathered these interesting bullying facts to help adults and kids alike understand the definition of bullying, and what we can all do to prevent it.

The responsibility for bullying is ours. It’s up to us to prevent bullying behavior, and to help both the children who are being bullied and the children who bully other children. By learning bullying facts, we can help make our schools better places for our kids.

1. The Word Bully Comes from the Word ‘Sweetheart’

This may be the most shocking of all bullying facts. The word bully originated in the 1500s when it was used to mean ‘sweetheart’ or ‘lover’. It was only later, in the 1800s, that it came to have a negative connotation for most people. However, in some places the word bully still carries a positive usage, meaning ‘good’.

2. Bullying is Now a Technical Term

There have been efforts to better understand aggressive and inappropriate behavior and to establish bullying facts where school-aged children are concerned. Psychologists have tried to provide a stricter definition of the word bullying.

3. There’s an Official Definition of Bullying

As a technical term, the official definition of bullying is “any unwanted aggressive behavior among school-aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance”.

4. A More Precise Definition of Bullying May Still Be Needed

There is still some confusion over whether or not certain behaviors qualify as bullying. Some behavior that is not bullying is labeled as such. Overall, a more precise definition of bullying will help confirm what causes such behavior, and what we can do to prevent it.

5. There Are Three Different Types of Bullying

Psychologists have attempted to better define bullying in order to better treat the behavior. Psychologists have aimed to define the various types of bullying more precisely. There are three types of bullying: physical bullying, verbal bullying, and indirect or relational bullying.

6. It’s Important Not to Label Kids as Bullies

Labeling children does not help establish bullying facts, nor does it stop the bullying behavior. Instead of referring to a child as a bully, a child should be referred to as a child who bullied.

7. Labeling Is a Problem for Children Who Are Bullied

Similarly to how labeling a child a bully does not help solve the situation, we should not label children as victims. The correct term to use is a child who was bullied.

There’s no clear line that defines bullying. One of the most difficult bullying facts to understand is that some children exhibit behaviors of both children who bully and children who are bullied. The behavior of these children is often very challenging for teachers to deal with. Other kids may not understand, or have a way to cope with, this child’s mixed behavior. This type of behavior is often associated with other developmental challenges.

8. Bullying Is a Call for Help

One of the important bullying facts to remember is that bullying is usually a sign of other risk factors that may contribute to a child’s behavior. We should seek to provide children who bully with the support they need to address their behavior. It’s our responsibility to help them overcome any other challenges they may be facing in their lives.

9. It’s More than the Kids Who Are Bullied and the Kids Who Are Bullying

Bullying also often involves children who are contributing to the bullying behavior by witnessing the behavior and perhaps laughing or otherwise encouraging the bullying. Some children may not lead the bullying behavior but may occasionally join in with the child who is bullying. It’s our responsibility to make sure that our children don’t play any of these roles and contribute to bullying.

10. The School Environment Matters

One of the bullying facts that is often overlooked is the role that the school environment may contribute to the bullying. Students who receive pressure from teachers in the school may be more likely to be children who bully or children who are bullied. It’s important that we all hold ourselves accountable for bullying.

11. Online bullying is Still Bullying

One of the bullying facts of the modern age is that bullying can also occur online through social media and other websites. This type of bullying has the same negative consequences, and children are playing the same roles.

12. Online Bullying Should be Treated in the Same Way

We need to hold ourselves accountable and look at the environment in which the online bullying is taking place. We also need to approach the children involved in the bullying with a thoughtful and caring attitude. Children who bully online may also be in at-risk situations. We should not begin with blame, but instead with caring, when we approach online bullying situations.

13. Bullying Occurs with Younger School-Aged Children

One of the commonly “known” bullying facts that is actually wrong is that aggressive unwanted behavior among young adults is bullying. This is not strictly true. Many state and federal laws refer to this type of behavior in young adults as a more serious offense, such as hazing, stalking, or harassment. At this point these acts are no longer bullying; they’re criminal acts.

Dealing with this type of behavior in young adults becomes an issue for the law enforcement authorities to address. For college students, there may be additional resources available on the student’s campus to help address any issues.

14. Bullying Is Not an Adult Act

Like bullying by young adults, bullying by adults is a myth and not part of the set of bullying facts that can help us address the issue. What we may consider bullying by adults is a more serious offense, such as harassment. This sort of behavior should be handled by the police or other authorities and does not fall under the definition of bullying.

15. Bullying Online Is Known as Cyber bullying

It’s one of the sad bullying facts that we have an actual name for this type of online behavior. Unwanted and aggressive behavior on social media and websites is known as cyberbullying. The Internet can be a great place for children to learn interesting facts and interact with each other. But, when kids involve themselves in bullying, these places online are no longer a safe place for our children. Cyberbullying needs to be taken seriously for us to make sure the Internet remains a great place for our kids to learn and hang out.

16. Bullying Stops with Us

One of the most serious bullying facts concerns who is ultimately responsible. We are all responsible when it comes to helping limit bullying in our children’s lives. The best way to stop our kids from engaging in bullying or from being bullied, is to teach our children the right way to make friends and interact with people.

17. Setting Clear Rules Helps Stop Bullying

Another way we can limit bullying behavior with our children is to set clear rules that do not allow aggressive behavior in the home. Ask children to say I’m sorry when they hit another child, and ask them to clean up toys they may have thrown in a tantrum. This is one way that we can help stop bullying before it even starts.

18. We Should Instruct Our Children to Report Bullying

We cannot let bullying go unreported and we can’t ignore bullying facts. We want our children to be responsible, and inform us when they see inappropriate or aggressive behavior. By telling our children to report this behavior to adults, we are creating an environment where bullying cannot take place. We are also ensuring that our children do not play any of the roles that reinforce bullying.

19. There’s No Such Thing as a Tattletale

This is another instance where using labels can lead to more bullying. When our children report inappropriate or aggressive behavior, we should acknowledge this in a positive way. Our kids are doing their best to help us stop bullying behavior. Whether or not the situation has escalated to bullying, we should not label our children as tattletales. Using this negative label may prevent them from reporting aggressive behavior in the future.

20. Bullying Starts at a Young Age

One of the most surprising bullying facts is that some studies have shown children between three and five years old are the most impressionable. This age range sets the foundation for how we will interact with people as we grow. Monitoring aggressive and inappropriate behavior during this time will help stop bullying early in a child’s development. Always use age-appropriate measures for dealing with bullying. Children aged from three to five years are learning how to explore their world and testing limits, and that’s ok. Gently guide your children towards appropriate behavior.

Bullying facts help us clearly define and understand the issue of unwanted and aggressive behavior for school-aged children. By taking responsibility and learning with our kids, we can provide the environment and the support needed to end bullying in our schools.

Online bullying or cyberbullying is a very real problem and should be taken seriously. The Internet offers many invaluable opportunities for our kids to learn and grow, and it’s important that we make sure that it stays a safe place.

The most important of bullying facts is to not use labels, and to approach all children involved in the situation with compassion. Children who bully and children who are bullied often have other challenges that should be addressed in order to eliminate the bullying.

Bullying Facts