Report Bullying
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Bullying or Cyber bullying, It Can Happen to Anyone!
What is bullying?
Definition
The Office of Children and Young People’s Services’ Anti-Bullying Strategy defines bullying as a persistent, deliberate attempt to hurt or humiliate someone.
There may sometimes be misunderstanding about the meaning of the term ‘bullying’: one-off incidents, whilst they may be very serious and must always be dealt with, do not fall within the definition of ‘bullying’.
Types of bullying
There are various types of bullying, but most have three things in common:
- It is deliberately hurtful behaviour.
- It is repeated over time.
- There is an imbalance of power, which makes it hard for those being bullied to defend themselves.
Bullying may take various forms, including:
- Physical
- kicking, hitting, pushing, intimidating behaviour or interference with personal property
- Verbal/Psychological
- threats, taunts, shunning/ostracism, name-calling/verbal abuse or spreading of rumours
- Racist Bullying – see the link on the right for more information
- physical, verbal, written, on-line or text abuse or ridicule based on differences of race, colour, ethnicity, nationality, culture or language
- Faith-based Bullying
- negative stereotyping, name-calling or ridiculing based on religion
- Sexist Bullying
- use of sexist language or negative stereotyping based on gender
- Sexual Bullying
- unwanted/inappropriate physical contact or sexual innuendo
- Homophobic Bullying – see the link on the right for more information
- name-calling, innuendo or negative stereotyping based on sexual orientation or use of homophobic language
- Special Needs / Disability Bullying
- name-calling, innuendo, negative stereotyping or excluding from activity based on disability or learning difficulties
- Gifted/Talented Bullying
- e.g. name-calling, innuendo, ostracism or negative peer pressure based on high levels of ability or effort
What is Cyber bullying?
Cyber bullying “is when a child, preteen or teen is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child, preteen or teen using the Internet, interactive and digital technologies or mobile phones.”
How Can You Prevent or Stop Cyber bullying?
- Empower yourself! Understand what cyber bullying is and the different ways it can occur. This will make you more aware of when it could be happening and prepare you to quickly take effective action.
- Never be friends with strangers online or people you do not really know. This can open yourself up to cyber bullying since you never really know who the other person is online.
- Don’t react to the bully. Often a bully will act just to get your re action. Your reaction could fuel more attacks. If the bully needs to be dealt with, have a trusted adult, such as a parent or a school professional, help you.
- What to Do to Prevent Being Cyber Bullied
- Don’t give out private information and PINs.
- Be careful about where you post such personal information online, as name, address and cell phone number. This information can be used in a negative way by bullies.
- Use netiquette. Be polite online and others will tend to do the same. Ignore anyone who gets angry or bullies you.
- Consider avoiding sharing buddy lists, because it increases the chances of being bullied.
- Don’t send a message when you are angry.
- Delete messages from people you don’t know or from people who are acting angry or mean.
- When something doesn’t seem right, it probably isn’t. Leave the site or chat.
- Assume that no digital communication is ever really private. E-mail and IM’s can be for warded, copied and pasted into profiles or changed to distort conversations.
- Use emoticons such as a smiley face when saying something meant as a joke to try to keep from accidentally off ending someone else. It’s hard to tell online what someone is actually implying if you can’t see the emotions on their face. Feelings and intentions can be taken the wrong way.
If Cyber-Bullying happens to you?
What Action to take if you are Cyber Bullied
- Tell a trusted adult and keep telling until that person takes action.
- Don’t open or read messages by cyber bullies. If you’ve been bullied by someone and feel it needs to be addressed, don’t open the messages yourself. Save them unopened and let a parent or trusted adult handle them.
- Don’t react to the bully. Often a bully will act just to get your reaction. Your reaction could fuel more attacks. If the bully needs to be dealt with, have a trusted adult, such as a parent or a school professional, help you.
- Tell your school if it is school related. Most schools have a bullying plan in place.
- Don’t erase the messages or images. Save them in a folder unread. They may be needed for taking action.
- Protect yourself by not meeting with the bully or any one that you’ve only met online.
- Block a bully. If the bully is attacking through instant messaging, that person can usually be blocked.
- If you are threatened with harm, inform the local police. Harassment that causes hurt or embarrassment can be threatening to one’s well-being and still may need to be addressed; however, any physical threat or stalking must be handled immediately by informing the police.
What to Do to Prevent Being Cyber Bullied
- Don’t give out private information and PINs.
- Be careful about where you post such personal information online, such as name, address and cell phone number. This information can be used in a negative w ay by bullies.
- Use netiquette. Be polite online and others will tend to do the same. Ignore any one who gets angry or bullies you.
- Consider avoiding sharing buddy lists, because it increases the chances of being bullied.
- Don’t send a message when you are angry.
- Delete messages from people you don’t know or from people who are acting angry or mean.
- When something doesn’t seem right, it probably isn’t. Leave the site or chat.
- Assume that no digital communication is ever really private. E-mail and IM’s can be forwarded, copied and pasted into profiles or changed to distort conversations.
- Use emotions such as a smiley face when saying something meant as a joke to try to keep from accidentally off ending someone else. It’s hard to tell online what someone is actually implying if you can’t see the emotions on their face. Feelings and intentions can be taken the wrong way.
“Let us help you get your life back on track.”
Orleans Parish School Board
Department of Security and Investigations
3520 Gen. DeGaulle Dr. New Orleans, La. 70114