What is bullying?

Bullying is the deliberate action by one person to intimidate another with words, actions or behaviour. Unfortunately, bullying is commonly found wherever children come together in groups - and as a result, the schoolyard is the number one hot-spot for bullying.

The main ways bullying occurs are:

• Teasing
• Exclusion
• Physcial
• Harrassment

Who’s affected by bullying?

The short answer is everyone. If your child is in a situation where bullying occurs – even if he’s not the victim or the perpetrator – he will witness what’s going on, which can be very distressing and perhaps make him feel anxious. By witnessing someone else’s bullying, he has the power and the obligation to put a stop to the bullying by telling an adult.

Find more bullying solutions and information

• Helping when your child is bullied
• How bullies pick their victim
• My child is a bully
• What makes a bully
• What is bullying
• Bullying definitions
• Facts and figures about bullying
• Is your child being bullied
• How to deal with bullying
• What parents can do about bullying
• When your child is a bully, here's what to do
• How to talk about bullying and cyber bullying
• Cyber bullying: here's what it is and how to tackle it
• How parents can prevent bullying
• School policies on bullying
• 15 bully and cyber bully solutions

This article was written by Ella Walsh, for Kidspot, New Zealand's leading parenting and pregnancy resource. Sources include Bullying No Way , National Centre Against Bullying, Raising Children Network, Bullying Hurts brochure