Understanding Bullying

What is bullying?
Why do children bully?
How much bullying is going on?
Differences between boys and girls
Do students tell someone if they are being bullied?

What is bullying?

The following definition will help you explain to your children the different sorts of bullying behaviours and talk about how it might feel if it is done to someone.

Why do children bully?

There are lots of different reasons why children bully others. Some young people have given the following reasons:

They might get power and strength from bullying others;
Bullying is a way to try to be popular and to get known at school;
They are scared, so they try to scare others to hide their feelings;
They are unhappy and take it out on others;
They are being bullied themselves; and
As a way to make people be your friend.

How much bullying is going on in Primary Schools?

Being bullied

Forty five percent of Year 4 students and 49% of Year 6 students in Western Australian schools reported they were bullied by other students at least once last term. When asked about the types of bullying these students experienced the majority reported teasing (42%), hurtful name calling (43%) and being excluded from groups (40%).
In both Year 4 and 6 the perpetrators were most likely to be students from the same Year group and to a lesser extent older students. Both boys and girls who were bullied were more likely to report that the bullying was perpetrated by mainly one boy followed by a group of boys and to a much lesser extent by girls in a group or alone.
Approximately 50% of children reported they were bullied at recess and lunchtime. This compares to 15% of Year 4’s and 22% of Year 6’s who report being bullied in the classroom and between 10% and 15% on the way to or from school.
Thirty four percent of Year 4 and 29% of Year 6 students reported they told someone the last time they were bullied. Fifty five percent of Year 4 and 6 students reported that if they were bullied they would tell their parents, 50% of Year 4’s and 39% of Year 6’s reported they would tell a teacher and 37% of Year 4’s and 44% of Year 6’s reported they would tell a friend.
In general, primary school students report being bullied more often than secondary school students.

Bullying others

Sixteen percent of Year 4 students and 35% of Year 6 students in Western Australian schools reported they bullied other students at least once last term.
The most common forms of bullying reported by Year 6’s were calling other students hurtful names (23%), hurtful teasing (20%), excluding another student (18%) and physically hurting another student (12%). Year 4’s were more likely to report excluding another student (12%), using hurtful names and teasing (10%) and physically hurting another student (8%).

Bullying in the playground and the classroom

Observations in schools have found that verbal and physical bullying occur in the classroom as frequently as in the playground. However, the type of bullying differs across these contexts:

Direct bullying occurs more frequently in the playground; and
Indirect bullying occurs more frequently in the classroom.

Differences between boys and girls

Types of bullying

Boys are most likely to experience direct physical bullying.
Girls are more often the victim of indirect non-physical forms of bullying, such as exclusion and having rumours spread about them.
Direct verbal bullying, such as cruel teasing and name calling, is most common, with boys and girls experiencing this about equally

Prevalence of bullying

In general, girls are bullied about as often as boys.
Boys report bullying others more often than girls.

Who bullies whom?

Bullying is most often done by one boy or a group of boys.
Girls are bullied by boys about as much as they are bullied by girls.
Very few boys report being bullied by girls.

Do students tell someone if they are being bullied?

About half of all children who are bullied do not tell anyone. Children often think that talking about a bullying situation is like ‘dobbing’ on one another.

‘Dobbing’ is when a person tries to get attention or to get someone else into trouble.

‘Asking for help’ is when someone feels a situation is out of their control and they are unable to deal with it alone. If anyone sees someone else in this situation they should also ask for help.

Asking for help is always ‘okay’