CONTENTS

About This Course

Table of Contents

1. School Bullying: What It Is and Why It Hurts
2. The Role of Bullies, Victims, and Witnesses
3. Factors Contributing to Bullying and Violence
4. Screening and Assessment
5. Treatment For Children and Adolescents
6. Prevention and Intervention
7. Legal and Ethical Issues

Supplements
Case Studies
Fact Sheets
References
Resources

The ABCs of Bullying
Addressing, Blocking, and Curbing School Aggression

Children Who Are Bullied

Just as there is no one definitive profile of a bully, there is no one profile of a child who gets bullied. The reasons a child becomes bullied may include:ref

• Being fat or thin
• Being tall or short
• Being quiet or creative
• Having big ears or small ears
• Being from a different culture or having a different religion or ethnicity
• Having different tastes or likes
• Having the "wrong" clothes (wearing clothes that are not "cool" at the time)
• Wearing glasses or braces
• Being homosexual-or believed to be gay or lesbian
• Being unwilling to use strength to defend him or herself
• Any imaginative "excuse"

In short, the list of possible reasons for being bullied is endless. To some extent, the reasons also are irrelevant because they are merely excuses for the bully to continue his or her behavior. The child who is bullied becomes the useful object for the bully to displace his or her anger, frustration, or aggression.

Traits of Children Who Are Bullied

Although there is no single type of victim, for some children, the following characteristics may be present before the bullying occurs; for others, they may appear as a result of the victimization:ref

• Gender. Boys and girls are equally likely to report being victimized.
• Age. Victimization decreases as children get older. Research has shown that almost one-fourth of victims are children in grades 1-3, whereas it drops to 12 percent in grades 7-8. Younger children are more likely to be bullied by older children; children in higher grades are more likely to be bullied by their peers.
• Temperament. Many bullied children tend to be anxious and withdrawn. This is more indicated in preschool children than older school-age children.
• Physical Appearance. Research has not supported the popular misconception that victims must have some unusual physical trait or be considered ugly by the bully. Many children who are bullied have no discernable physical trait that is unusual, yet still get picked on.
• Self-esteem. Children who are bullied often report low self-esteem, though it is likely that in many cases, the low self-esteem is the result of the victimization.
• Anxiety. Boys and girls who are bullied report symptoms of anxiety, such as tenseness and fearfulness.

Experts tend to characterize children as either "passive victims" or "bully-victims". Bully-victims also are sometimes called "provocative victims".ref Passive victims tend to comprise the many children who are bullied.