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This is about how teens should stick up for themselves when they are being bullied

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Bullying stops us from being who we want to be, and prevents us from expressing ourselves freely, and might even make us feel unsafe. If you are bullied, say something! If you are bullying, it's not cool!

I might be being bullied

SPEAK UP: If you feel uncomfortable with the comments or actions of someone... tell someone! It is better to let a trusted adult know, than to let the problem continue.

Get familiar with what bullying is and what it is not. If you recognize any of the descriptions, you should stay calm, stay respectful, and tell an adult as soon as possible.

If you feel like you are at risk of harming yourself or others get help now!

Someone is bullying me online or via text message

Remember, bullying does not only happen at school. It can happen anywhere, including through texting, the internet and social media.

Learn more about cyberbullying and how to respond if it is happening to you.

I don't get bullied, but my friend does

I want to contribute to anti-bullying initiatives in my school or community

The Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention invite you to take action to make a difference in your community! By following the steps in this youth engagement toolkit, you can join other youth leaders across the country and the Federal Partners to organize a bullying prevention social and educational event.

I did something I regret and my friends won't talk to me anymore. What can I do?

If possible, try to speak privately with each of them to offer an apology.

Acknowledge that what you said or did offended or hurt them.

Explain that you are trying to learn from your mistake and ask if they will help you understand how it made them feel.

Someone I know said something that really offended me and my friends. I want to call them out. What should I do?

If someone you know said something that hurt you, talk to them privately. Tell them how their words or actions made you feel.

Try to learn more about what was behind their words before judging or blaming them. Talk it out. Listen.

Agree together to have an open conversation and learn from each other so you can both move on from the incident without causing more harm.

If the person continues to be offensive, walk away and don't engage with their behavior.

My friends want to give the "silent treatment" to another student because of something they said, and they want me to join in. What should I do?

Don't participate in public or online shaming. You don't need to make a public comment about it.

Speak to your friends and explain why you don't want to do it. For example, you could say, "I disagree with them, but I don't want to bully anyone." You can also encourage your friends not to do it.

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Learn what teens can do when they encounter common types of bullying at school and online.

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This picture is two girls telling everyone that if you are being bullied you should stick up for yourself.

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This picture is a person trying to bully kids but the kids stick up for themselves and speak out.

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This article is about the Laws and Policies of bullying.

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Find out what laws, policies and regulations cover bullying in your state.

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This picture is about tree little kids getting bullied and they stand up for themselves.

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Counterclaim: Some people just assume if a person is being disrespectful or mean they think it's bullying. However, not everything is bullying.  

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Counterclaim: Some people just assume if a person is being disrespectful or mean they think it's bullying. However, not everything is bullying.  

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Because bullying is receiving a lot of attention in the media, we have the tendency to call all bad behavior bullying. However, not everything is bullying. Sometimes, people are just direct, disrespectful, unprofessional or...just having a bad day.

Megan attended an inservice on nurse bullying. Over the next few weeks, anytime someone said or did something Megan didn't like, she would say, "That's bullying." The charge nurse told Megan she was assigning her the more critical patient instead of assigning the patient to a newer nurse, to which Megan replied, "That's bullying. Why do I always get the hardest patients?" Even when the charge nurse reminded Megan that she was more experienced and therefore more competent, Megan insisted she was being bullied.When her co-worker asked her to lower her voice at the nurses' station because she could hear her loudly in her patient's room, Megan replied, "Don't bully me." Megan started referring to Maggie as a bully because when Maggie followed her, she always insisted that Megan finish all of her work before leaving for the day - never picking up the slack like all nurses should.

Are Megan's co-workers really bullies?

When we label EVERYTHING as bullying, we water down true bullying. Doing so reduces our opportunities to clearly identify behaviors that lead to toxic work environments, undermine cultures of safety AND negatively impacts our profession.

How do you know the difference?

Follow these guidelines to determine if your co-worker's behavior is truly bullying or something else.

Bullying exists when disruptive behaviors are repeated over and over again - not when you co-worker gets "testy" with you once. Ask yourself this question, "Have I seen this disruptive behavior before either directed towards me or others?"

Bullying involves a perceived power gradient over another person. For example, a physician may perceive he/she has more power over a nurse; a nurse may perceive he/she has more power over a nursing assistant; an experienced nurse may perceive he/she has more power over a new nurse.

For the behavior to be considered bullying, there must be a conscious or unconscious intent to do harm. Harm can manifest as humiliation, sabotage, intimidation, etc. And, the intent can be conscious or unconscious. Some nurses mistake constructive criticism as bullying when it's not or when someone is direct (like the nurse who asked Megan to lower her voice).

Sometimes people who we work with are just rude, unprofessional or inconsiderate. It's not that we should accept these behaviors either, but if we are ever going to eliminate BULLYING, we have to understand the difference between bullying and everything else.

So, the next time you are in a situation you think might be bullying, ask yourself...

Is this the first time I've experienced this behavior or is this a pattern of behavior?

Does this person believe they have more power over me?

Remember, not everything is bullying and if are going to eliminate TRUE bullying, we need to stop watering down the term by using it for everything. Keep it real.

Thanks so much for reading. I'd love to read your thoughts on this topic!

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Not Everything is Bullying - Healthy Workforce Institute (Formerly RTConnections)

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Because bullying is receiving a lot of attention in the media, we have the tendency to call all bad behavior bullying. However, not everything is bullying. Sometimes, people are just direct, disrespectful, unprofessional or...just having a bad day. Megan attended an inservice on nurse bullying.

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This article is facts about bullying.

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This section pulls together fundamental information about bullying, including: In 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Department of Education released the first federal definition of bullying.

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This article is about the basics of bullying. Also its about the health and life impacts of bullying

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Bullying is a behavior that many of us have experienced in school or online, either as the person being bullied, the person engaging in the behavior, or as a witness. While bullying is far from new, it should not be considered a rite of passage for young people.

Bullying is defined as aggressive behavior between school-aged youth when there is a power imbalance that is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. ¹ It can include many different forms of aggression:

Physical (e.g., pushing and shoving)

Verbal (e.g., teasing, threats)

Social (e.g., exclusion)

Bullying can happen through direct (e.g., face-to-face) or indirect (e.g., rumor spreading) means, and can occur in a variety of places, including at school or online. ²

Health and Life Impacts of Bullying

Bullying has been linked to serious negative consequences for those who are bullied, those who engage in the behavior, and even for those who witness bullying. ³⁻⁵

Young people who are both bullied and bully others are at the highest risk for negative outcomes such as:

increased anxiety and depression

increased suicidality

increased substance use

decreased academic achievement, and

diminished earning potential.³

In one study, over 60 percent of youth who reported experiencing cyberbullying indicated that it significantly affected their ability to learn and feel safe at school. ⁶

These outcomes may persist from childhood through adulthood. ⁷ However, while media attention has often focused on the link between bullying and suicide, most youth who are bullied are not suicidal. Those who do engage in suicidal behaviors often have other risk factors, such as underlying mental health disorders, which can be exacerbated by bullying.

Bullying Trends

Over the past 10 years, rates of bullying have significantly declined: 21 percent of youth ages 12 to 18 reported being bullied in the 2014-2015 school year, a decrease of 11 percentage points from the 2006-2007 school year. ⁸⁻⁹

Still, 21 percent of youth equates to just over 5 million students being bullied in a single school year. Within that number, some groups are significantly more likely to experience bullying. In a 2015 national survey, nearly 34 percent of high school students who identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual reported being bullied, compared to 19 percent of their heterosexual peers. These students also are at significantly higher risk of reported suicidal behaviors, substance use, and depression. ¹⁰

Also, while the number of students who report experiencing cyberbullying (11.6 percent) continues to be lower than other forms of bullying, cyberbullying presents unique challenges, including the evolving nature of technology, the potential for anonymity, and the viral nature of online postings. ³

Footnotes

Gini, G., & Pozzoli, T. (2009). Association between bullying and psychosomatic problems: A meta-analysis. Pediatrics, 123(3), 1059-1065.

Rivers, I., Poteat, V. P., Noret, N., & Ashurst, N. (2009). Observing bullying at school: The mental health implications of witness status. School Psychology Quarterly, 24(4), 211-223.

Wolke, D., Copeland, W. E., Angold, A., & Costello, E. J. (2013). Impact of bullying in childhood on adult health, wealth, crime, and social outcomes. Psychological science, 24(10), 1958-1970.

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Bullying is a behavior that many of us have experienced in school or online, either as the person being bullied, the person engaging in the behavior, or as a witness. While bullying is far from new, it should not be considered a rite of passage for young people.

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This website is about bullying and what it is. Also the different types of bullying.

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Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Both kids who are bullied and who bully others may have serious, lasting problems.

In order to be considered bullying, the behavior must be aggressive and include:

An Imbalance of Power: Kids who bully use their power-such as physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity-to control or harm others. Power imbalances can change over time and in different situations, even if they involve the same people.

Repetition: Bullying behaviors happen more than once or have the potential to happen more than once.

Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose.

Types of Bullying

There are three types of bullying:

Verbal bullying is saying or writing mean things. Verbal bullying includes:

Teasing

Name-calling

Inappropriate sexual comments

Taunting

Threatening to cause harm

Social bullying, sometimes referred to as relational bullying, involves hurting someone's reputation or relationships. Social bullying includes:

Leaving someone out on purpose

Telling other children not to be friends with someone

Spreading rumors about someone

Embarrassing someone in public

Physical bullying involves hurting a person's body or possessions. Physical bullying includes:

Hitting/kicking/pinching

Spitting

Tripping/pushing

Taking or breaking someone's things

Making mean or rude hand gestures

Where and When Bullying Happens

Bullying can occur during or after school hours. While most reported bullying happens in the school building, a significant percentage also happens in places like on the playground or the bus. It can also happen travelling to or from school, in the youth's neighborhood, or on the Internet.

Frequency of Bullying

There are two sources of federally collected data on youth bullying:

The 2017 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey (National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Justice) indicates that, nationwide, about 20% of students ages 12-18 experienced bullying.

The 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) indicates that, nationwide, 19.5% of students in grades 9-12 report being bullied on school property in the 12 months preceding the survey.

See also " Frequency of Cyberbullying."

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Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time.

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Stop Bullying on the Spot

When adults respond quickly and consistently to bullying behavior they send the message that it is not acceptable. Research shows this can stop bullying behavior over time.

Parents, school staff, and other adults in the community can help kids prevent bullying by talking about it, building a safe school environment, and creating a community-wide bullying prevention strategy.

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StopBullying.gov provides information from various government agencies on bullying, cyberbullying, prevention and response.