Reasons for & types of bullying

Name:

Why do people bully and what are the different types of bullying?

Bullying happens when one person or a group of people deliberately and repeatedly act harmfully towards

another person. The target of bullying is usually someone that the bully believes is inferior to him or her.

People bully because they enjoy having a feeling of power and control over someone

else. They may have experienced something very difficult themselves, for example their

parents splitting up or a relative dying, or they may be having a very tough time at home. Instead of handling their feelings positively, they take out their pain on others. Sometimes when children are not allowed to express their unhappy feelings, their anger builds up and then comes out as aggression. Bullies often have a very poor view of themselves - they may hate the way they look or act.

People who bully have often been bullied themselves and are caught in a vicious cycle of copying what was done to them, and perhaps no-one has ever explained to them that their behaviour is wrong.

Finally, they may bully because that is what they have to do to feel accepted by a certain group of people and to keep friendships. People who bully need help to change their behaviour.

Bullying can happen in different ways. Types of bullying include: PhysicalThis happens when someone uses physical action to gain power and control over their target. This might be hitting, kicking, punching, slapping, shoving, tripping or any other physical attack.

VerbalThis happens when someone uses statements or name calling

to humiliate, demean and hurt another person, often based on the way they look or act. Unlike physicalbullying, verbal bullying might go unnoticed because there are no physical signs that a person has been hurt.

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SocialThis happens when someone is deliberately teased, insulted, ignored, excluded or intimidated and is more common in pre-teen or teenage girls.

CyberThis happens when someone uses a smartphone or

the Internet to harass, threaten, embarrassor target someone. They may post

embarrassing or inappropriate pictures or make threats, send crude or hurtful texts, make hateful comments on the target’s social media accounts or set up hate groups against someone . The person who bullies feels anonymous (that no- one knows who they are) and may say something that they don’t have the courage to say face-to-face, which makes cyber

bullying very cruel.

Prejudicial bullying can be physical, verbal, social or cyber bullying and happens when someone hurts another person because of their gender, race or religion, disability or any other kind of difference.

Information adapted from https://bit.ly/3bxXUS4 https://bit.ly/2SHbXfi

Answer the following questions.1. Sam is in a wheelchair because of a disease that damages the nerves in his body.

A group of popular boys in his class pretend to be his friend but then they make jokes about him saying things like, “don’t run me over” or “do you have a license to drive that thing?”

What type of bullying is this NOT an example of? Circle a, b, c or d.

a. prejudicial bullying

b. physical bullying

c. verbal bullying

d. social bullying

(1 mark)

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2. Sikiwe is sad because some days her friend Chipo will talk to her and other days she ignores her completely or asks other people, “Have you seen Sikiwe?” even though Sikiwe is right next to her in the room, and then the other girls laugh.

a. What two types of bullying are these? (2 marks)

b. What are two things you would do if you were Sikiwe? (2 marks)

3. John makes funny noises as certain people walk by which makes his friends laugh. He also punches some people painfully on the arm and then laughs and says he was just being friendly. What are three things that might make John behave in this way? (3 marks)

4.

a. What do you think is happening in the picture above? (2 marks)

b. What two types of bullying are happening here? (2 marks)

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c. How do you think the girl on her own is feeling? (1 mark)

d. What are two things that you think the girl on her own should do orsay in this situation? (2 marks)

e. What does the word by-stander mean? (1 mark)

f. What should you do or say if you were a by-stander in thissituation? (2 marks)

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