Bullying is one of the more serious problems facing children and teenagers today. It seems like a new child commits suicide because of problems in school every week. Parents and educators need to better understand the different types of bullying to identify the troubles that kids go through.
Physical Bullying
When most people think of bullying, they think of physical bullying. This includes any type of physical action that one child takes against another.
Kicking, tripping, slapping and smacking are all types of physical altercations that parents and teachers might see in schools. Many schools now have zero tolerance policies that keep bullied students from acting out against their aggressors out of fear of expulsion.
Verbal Bullying
When one child calls another a mean nickname or uses a rude word to describe that child, it’s a type of verbal bullying.
Far too many adults think that verbal bullying isn’t as harmful as physical bullying, but it can still lead to poor self-esteem, trouble concentrating in school and even depression.
Making racist or homophobic slurs and remarks, taunting, and intimidating children through non-physical means are other types of verbal bullying.
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying came about as children of all ages grew up surrounded by the Internet. They can now harass each other through emails, attack their social networking pages and even send threatening tweets to others.
Cyberbullying also includes bullying done through online games played on video game consoles, smartphones and tablets and bulling done via text or picture messages.
Social Bullying
Emotional and social bullying is a type of bullying done to exclude a specific person or group of people. Some groups deliberately exclude a certain child from that group by making fun of the child’s appearance, clothing and hobbies.
Though some parents and educators don’t think twice about students spreading rumors, rumor spreading is a type of social bullying. Other types of social bullying include lying about a child to others, making rude gestures and playing pranks on a child.
Sexual Bullying
Both boys and girls use sexual bullying as a way to intimidate and exclude others. They call other students sexually derogatory names, they make rude gestures, they attempt to touch unwilling participants and they taunt others with pornographic photos and videos.
Students who are sexual bullies are more likely to sexually assault someone later in life. Identifying the signs of bullying helps protect those future victims.
