Parents, Carers and people who work with Children

"Behaviour by an individual or group, usually repeated over time, that intentionally hurts another individual or group either physically or emotionally"

Agreeing a definition of bullying is important. All members of the community should be able to consistently identify bullying when it occurs, but not confuse it with other acts of aggression, which may be isolated occurrences.

Schools and services for children and young people will need to adopt a definition that is agreed by their community through a consultative process. Developing a shared understanding is an essential step in addressing the issue.

Bullying is an abuse of power – that is, a more powerful person or group will be intentionally causing harm, physically, emotionally or psychologically, to a less powerful person or group. 

It is generally agreed that a single incident of verbal or physical aggression is not necessarily considered to be bullying – there needs to be evidence of persistent victimisation over a period of time. Similarly, it is not bullying when two children / young people of approximately the same age and strength have the occasional fight or quarrel.

Bullying can be physical (such as violent acts or non-consensual touching), verbal (such as name calling), non-verbal (such as glaring at someone), sexual (such as making lewd comments or non-consensual sexual touching), social (such as excluding someone from social groups), or technological (such as sending hateful text messages or emails). Bullying can be motivated by many reasons and can be targeted at a variety of aspects of a person’s character.  We can be bullied because of:

• Our racial group
• Our gender
• Our sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation
• Our size
• Our ability
• Our disability
• Our economic status
• Where we come from
• Our appearance
• Our special needs
• Our lack of confidence
• Our family situation

It is important when defining bullying to consider the implications on the whole community.  All members of the community, adults, children and young people, can be subject to being bullied and to perpetrating bullying.

Whilst bullying is usually part of a pattern of behaviour, emerging trends such as cyberbullying can have a far-reaching impact despite being a one-off incident. If an individual considers him or herself to have been bullied, this may have a negative impact on emotional wellbeing, which can perpetuate the fear of a further perceived or real incident. Any reported incident must be taken seriously.

For more information from the Parent Partnership Service

Email: ppservice@worcestershire.gov.uk

Telephone: 01905 727940
Fax: 01905 727949

Parent Partnership Service
PO Box 73
Worcester
WR5 2YA