How is bullying defined?
Under California state law, the Department of Education is required to create policies that school districts can adopt to develop safety plans and prevent and stop bullying. However, despite the requirements, California still has a poor record of handling bullying in schools.
To protect children from physical and psychological harm, it is important that parents, teachers, principals, school administrators and students know how to identify and stop bullying, including cyber-bullying, in and outside of school.
In 2014 the federal Department of Education, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, published the first federal definition of bullying for the purposes of surveillance and research. Bullying is defined by the federal government as having the following basic elements: “unwanted aggressive behavior; observed or perceived power imbalance; and repetition of behaviors or high likelihood of repetition.”
The definition also recognizes two modes of bullying, which are further divided into four types of bullying. The modes are direct bullying, which occurs in the actual presence of the mistreated young person, and indirect bullying, which could involve spreading rumors or another form of indirect mistreatment.
The four types of bullying are verbal, physical, relational (involving harm to the targeted student’s relationships or reputation), and property damage.
Cyber-bullying is typically verbal or relational, meaning that the targeted young person suffers threats, harassment or harm to his or reputation or relationships. Cyber-bullying can also involve damage to the targeted young person’s property: for example, if the bullying takes the form of an electronic attack that results in damage to the young person’s electronic information.
Victims of chronic bullying often suffer serious psychological ramifications. To learn more about stopping this kind of mistreatment, please visit Taylor & Ring’s overview of school bullying.
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