Effective strategies to reduce bullying in schools
Written By: Victoria Cook
6 min read
What is bullying?
When defining bullying, it is important to distinguish between bullying behaviour and relational conflict. Whilst relationships with peers can be complex and conflict can often occur, the Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA) defines bullying as behaviour ‘that is intentional, repeated and occurs between individuals, or groups of individuals, between whom there is a distinct power imbalance’ (Gaffney, 2021 p. 493).
Bullying behaviours can be physical, verbal or relational (e.g. spreading rumours/gossiping or social exclusion). In the past 10-12 years, cyberbullying has emerged as another form of bullying behaviour, involving similar acts but through electronic means (Gaffney et al., 2021a). Cyberbullying is commonly defined with reference to the key aspects of traditional or offline bullying noted above (repetition, power imbalance and intention to harm) (Polanin et al., 2022). However, the concept of repetition is difficult to define in cyberbullying, as it may have d
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References
- Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA) (nd) Free CPD online training.
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