He takes your lunch money. She threatens to hit you if you don’t lend her your iPod. He pressures you into drinking when you know you’re over the line. These are all examples of bullying. If you’ve been bullied you know how it can make you feel – angry, scared, helpless, alone.
Bullying is often about one person having physical and/or social power and dominance over another. A bully uses many different ways to to target their victim. Bullies are creatures of habit – their target experiences their bullish, rude and abusive behaviour over and over.
Bullying can be described as actions that intimidate, offend or humiliate. Bullies can put their victim’s physical or psychological well-being at risk. Bullying can take place anywhere: at school, at work, at home and on teams. Sometimes even your group of friends may have a bully in it. Siblings are also notorious bullies. Bullying can cause distress while it’s happening, after the incident(s) or in the future.
Bullying is NOT just a normal part of growing up. Nobody should be bullied, regardless of their age, gender, race, religion, sexual preference or social status.
If you’ve been bullied, you know how it can make you feel – scared, alone, depressed and angry – along with many other emotions.
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