LICEO JUAN PABLO II

NANCAGUA
UNIDAD TECNICO PEDAGOGICA
DEPARTAMENTO DE INGLES
CPFG/CAPG/LMFS/lmfs
What is Bullying?
Much of the research on bullying has followed a three-part definition of bullying initially developed
by Dan Olweus: A person is being bullied when he or she is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to
negative actions on the part of one or more other persons!
"here are three critical components in this definition
#irst, bullying is an intentional act "he child who bullies wants to harm the victim$ it is no
accident
%econd, bullying is characteri&ed by repeated occurrences 'ullying is neither generally
considered a random act nor a single incident (ather, a child is repeatedly pic)ed on by
another child or is the target of harassment from a whole group of children *t is the
repeated nature of bullying that causes anxiety and apprehension in victims, such that the
anticipation of bullying becomes as problematic as the bullying itself
"hird, and particularly important, bullying is characteri&ed by a power differential A fight
between two )ids of e+ual power is not bullying$ bullying is an unfair fight where the child
who bullies has some advantage or power over the child who is victimi&ed
'ullying is about power , the abuse of power 'ullying is not the same as playing around! *t is
not the one-on-one fisticuffs that are often -ustified by reactions such as boys will be boys! *t is
not a fair fight and cannot be treated as such
"hese power differences distinguish bullying from other forms of aggression and create uni+ue
challenges for parents, educators, and researchers who want to help reduce bullying behaviors
"hese power differences also ma)e telling )ids to stand up to bullies! ill advised, as such efforts
are far more li)ely to fail than succeed "he long term outcomes associated with such abuse of
power are particularly disconcerting #or example, researchers in .anada have shown that children
who bully may be learning to use power and aggression as an effective way to deal with others and
these tactics can be carried on in later relationships, leading to dating aggression, and possibly
wor)place harassment and family abuse
*n understanding bullying, it is also important to recogni&e that power can ta)e many different
forms /e typically thin) of physical power , the big )id pic)ing on the little )id, the older student
harassing the younger student 0ower can also come in numbers, as in when a group of students
pic) on another child *n fact, the earliest studies of bullying focused on mobbing!, a form of
collective aggression 1ess readily recogni&ed, however, are social forms of power One individual
can have an advantage over another in terms of greater academic or athletic prowess, or greater
social status or popularity within the larger peer group "he power differential that characteri&es
bullying ma)es it very tric)y for students to defend themselves against some perpetrators, especially
those who wield social power /hat if the bullies in the school are popular students and everyone
wants to be in their group2 /hat if a student who bullies other )ids in a small town is the son of the
town mayor o a rich person2 /hat if a student who is sending nasty text messages is the daughter of
the school board president2 %tanding up to bullies can be very ris)y for children and youth
'eware of traditional stereotypes of bullies as social outcasts who resort to violence because they
have no other options (esearch from 3urope shows that many bullies actually have high levels of
social s)ills and social intelligence
%tudents certainly recogni&e this *n fact, in one high school, we found that over 456 of the students
surveyed agreed that bullies are popular,! and that some of the coolest )ids in school are bullies!
As adults, it is not always clear that we recogni&e the behavior of high status, popular students as
bullying, especially given that bullying is sometimes difficult to distinguish from playful aggression
or teasing *n some cases, we may be giving some students the benefit of the doubt7 and in doing
so unintentionally condone their behavior Moreover, it may be difficult to convince students that
bullying is unacceptable when it is a strategy used effectively by high status individuals to maintain
power within the peer group