Types of Bullying

Bullying is defined as the use of superior strength or influence to intimidate someone. Children are exposed to the harmful acts of bullying on daily basis at school and even at home. Many children fall into bad habits, deep depression and even commit suicide over being bullied. According to a study by Yale University, bullied victims are 7 to 9 percent more likely to commit suicide. We have a few forms of bullying for you to understand so that your family does not become a statistic.

Physical Bullying

When parents think of bullying, one of the first thoughts to come to mind are the signs of physical bullying. These include shoving, hitting, and other demonstrations of physical power meant to belittle the victim involved. Though children come home with scrapes and bruises regularly, try to be more aware of these signs located around the face and neck such as a bloody lip or nose.

Verbal Bullying

This type of bullying is the opposite of physical bullying. Bullies use verbal abuse in order to break down the victim’s mind through the use of name calling, mocking, threatening, and insulting. The victims of verbal abuse tend to gain insecurities and are easily submissive in verbal contexts. It can be hard to distinguish the difference of teasing among friends and bullying. If the victim is in distress or does not respond in a positive manner, it is bullying.

Cyber Bullying

Bullying does not always take place away from home. Although your children may be safely in their bedroom under your protection, bullying can still take place online. Bullies can use social media such as Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and even texting to belittle their victims. Many bullies make use of these online routes to amplify their attacks by allowing all of their peers to see simply by logging into their online accounts.

When the topic of bullying is brought up in conversation, many parents tend to assume their child to be the victim. Many do not look for signs that would indicate their own child as the bully. In order to avoid this situation completely, it is important to always keep your family informed on the effects of bullying. Keeping your children educated on the types of bullying and how they can affect other people’s lives will lower the chance that they bully others. It will also help them understand when to step in on others being bullied and influence others to take a stand against it.