Bullying is a form of emotional or physical abuse that has three defining characteristics:
- 1. Deliberate — a bully’s intention is to hurt someone.
- 2. Repeated — a bully often targets the same victim again and again.
- 3. Power Imbalanced — a bully chooses victims he or she perceives as vulnerable.
Bullying occurs in many different forms, with varying levels of severity. It may involve:
- Physical Bullying — poking, pushing, hitting, kicking, beating up.
- Verbal Bullying — yelling, teasing, name-calling, insulting, threatening to harm.
- Relational Bullying — ignoring, excluding, spreading rumors, telling lies, getting others to hurt someone.