BULLYINGDEFINITIONBullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school students .The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Both kids who are bullied and who bully others may haveserious problems. In order to be considered bullying, the behavior must be aggressive and include:AN IMBALANCE OF POWER: Kids who bully use their powersuch as physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularityto 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.TYPES OF BULLYINGThere are three types of bullying:VERBAL BULLYING is saying or writing mean things. Verbal bullying includes:TeasingName-callingTauntingThreatening to cause harmSOCIAL BULLYING,sometimes referred to as relational bullying, involves hurting someones reputation or relationships. Social bullying includes:Leaving someone out on purposeTelling other children not to be friends with someoneSpreading rumors about someoneEmbarrassing someone in publicPHYSICAL BULLYING involves hurting a persons body or possessions. Physical bullying includes:Hitting/kicking/pinchingSpittingTripping/pushingTaking or breaking someones thingsMaking rude hand gestures.WHERE AND WHEN BULLYING HAPPENSBullying 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 youths neighborhood.Early intervention and effective discipline and boundaries truly is the best way to stop bullying, but parents of the victims or therapists cannot change the bullys home environment. Some things can be done at the school level, however.1. Most school programs that address bullying use a multi-faceted approach to the problem. This usually involves counseling of some sort, either by peers, a school counselor, teachers, or the principal.2. Hand out questionnaires to all students and teachers and discuss if bullying is occurring. Define exactly what constitutes bullying at school. The questionnaire is a wonderful tool that allows the school to see how widespread bullying is and what forms it is taking. It is a good way to start to address the problem.3. Get the childrens parents involved in a bullying program. If parents of the bullies and the victims are not aware of what is going on at school, then the whole bullying program will not be effective. Stopping bullying in school takes teamwork and concentrated effort on everyones part. Bullying also should be discussed during parent-teacher conferences and PTA meetings. Parental awareness is key.4. In the classroom setting, all teachers should work with the students on bullying. Oftentimes even the teacher is being bullied in the classroom and a program should be set up that implements teaching about bullying. Children understand modeling behaviors and role-play and acting out bullying situations is a very effective tool. Have students role-play a bullying situation.Rules that involve bullying behaviors should be clearly posted. Schools also could ask local mental health professionals to speak to students about bullying behaviors and how it directly affects the victims.5. Schools need to make sure there is enough adult supervision at school to lessen and prevent bullying.A child who has to endure bullying usually suffers from low self-esteem and their ability to learn and be successful at school is dramatically lessened. Schools and parents must educate children about bullying behaviors; it will help all children feel safe and secure at school. Children who bully need to be taught empathy for others feelings in order to change their behaviors and the school must adopt a zero-tolerance policy regarding bullying.