Bullying

The first systematic assessment of bullying, conducted by Dan Olweus in the 1970s, surveyed children of grammar and high school age, ranging from second to ninth grade, in Europe. Approximately 20 years later, the phenomenon of bullying was recognized by Ed Gaughan and colleagues as a significant precursor to “lethal” school violence in the United States. What was once considered deviant childhood behaviors began to personify both physical and psychological elements with negative outcomes.

Bullying has been defined as a form of violence, representing an attack aimed at causing harm or suffering and inconvenience to other persons. Bullying occurs when one or more people harass another who cannot defend himself or herself from being kicked, hit, shoved, teased, or ostracized by others. In addition, the concept of bullying can include verbal, nonverbal, physical, emotional, or psychological abuse that oftentimes is predicated by violence, threats of violence, and/or social isolation. Historically, bullying was once seen as a form of “normal” (at worst, deviant) behavior among adolescent, school-age peer groups. Today, bullying is understood as a social phenomenon that surpasses culture, gender, and age variables. Bullying demonstrates a proxy of power and control over another among one's peer group. It ranges from playground fights to the inflicting of psychological and emotional discomfort. Recent data show that more than 160,000 children “skip” school every day for fear of being bullied and harassed by their peers. Several research studies further indicate that about 1 in 4 children are repeatedly bullied on a daily basis. Disturbingly, researchers have noted that those who have been bullied are also more likely to become bullies themselves.

Bullying among children embodies a number of negative acts executed over time. It typically involves real and/or perceived threats of power, encompassing three distinct characteristics of aggressive behavior: (1) physical (spitting, hitting, pushing, and stealing), (2) verbal (verbal threats, teasing, name calling, taunting, and verbal humiliation), and (3) psychological (spreading rumors, manipulative behaviors, social isolation/exclusion, and intimidation). Researchers argue that school-age bullying that is physical or verbal is more common among adolescent boys, whereas adolescent girls are more likely to employ more relational bullying tactics to [Page 83]exert power over their peers. Moreover, bullying among girls can be difficult to detect because it is often subtle in nature, not evoking the attention of the wider student population. For example, such forms of bullying include, but are not limited to, various forms of social isolation and exclusion from the mainstream. Contemporary media venues (e.g., the Hollywood blockbuster film Mean Girls [2004], Disney's Ice Princess [2005], Heathers [1989], The Bully Project [2011], and the TV series Chicken Little) reflecting the criminal trajectory of bullying have displayed how such subtle behaviors have fostered negative, hostile, and unsafe environments for young adolescent females. Researchers further posit that such occurrences often transpire en route to and from school, where authoritative governance is limited in scope and breadth. Additionally, cyberbullying (social networking bullying) provides another avenue to bully unsuspecting victims.