Bullying and intimidation have become widespread in South African schools, with reports of student abuse becoming increasingly common.
The first week of school can be an exciting or troublesome time for your child. If your child exhibits signs of sudden decreased interest in the school activities, frequent illnesses, sleeplessness, or unexplained scratches and bruises throughout the year… he or she may be a victim of bullying says Sherri Gordon, a bullying expert.
Teacher to child bullying
Teacher to child bullying involves screaming, threatening or inappropriately disciplining students in front of their class. This is not always a one-way phenomenon – conversely, students may very often intentionally humiliate teachers by not complying with their requests.
Student-on-student bullying
The more common form of bullying is student-on-student bullying, and may occur either inside or outside of school grounds. According to the Department of Education, this type of bullying involves a group of learners taking advantage of or isolating one learner in particular, and gaining the loyalty of bystanders who want to avoid becoming the next victim.
Other forms of bullying include:
- Physical Bullying – Physical bullying is the most obvious form of bullying. It occurs when kids use physical actions to gain power and control over their targets. Examples of physical bullying include kicking, hitting, punching, slapping, shoving and other physical attacks.
- Verbal Bullying – Perpetrators of verbal bullying use words, statements and name-calling to gain power and control over a target. Typically, verbal bullies will use relentless insults to belittle, demean and hurt another person. They choose their targets based on the way they look, act or behave. It’s also not uncommon for verbal bullies to target kids with special needs.motional scars.
- Relational Aggression – Sometimes referred to as emotional bullying, relational aggression is a type of social manipulation where tweens and teens try to hurt their peers or sabotage their social standing. Relational bullies often ostracize others from a group, spread rumors, manipulate situations and break confidences.
- Cyberbullying – When a tween or a teen uses the Internet, a cell phone or other technology to harass, threaten, embarrass or target another person, this is called cyberbullying. Examples of cyberbullying include posting hurtful images, making online threats, and sending hurtful emails or texts.
- Sexual Bullying – Sexual bullying consists of repeated, harmful and humiliating actions that target a person sexually. Examples include sexual name-calling, crude comments, vulgar gestures, uninvited touching, sexual propositioning and pornographic materials. Girls are often the targets of sexual bullying both by boys and by other girls. Boys might touch them inappropriately, make crude comments about their bodies or proposition them. Girls on the other hand might call other girls names like “slut” or “tramp,” make insulting comments about their appearance or body.
- Prejudicial Bullying – Prejudicial bullying is based on prejudices tweens and teens have toward people of different races, religions or sexual orientation. When prejudicial bullying occurs, kids are targeting others who are different from them and singling them out. Often times, this type of bullying is severe and can open the door to hate crimes.
Any type of bullying should be reported. Combatting bullying is a collective effort, and if you or your child are a victim of bullying, speak to someone close about it. Alternatively, reach out to Childline South Africa for counselling.
Read the full article on About.com
Read more:
How to deal with bullying in schools
8 Ways to Spot Bullying in Your Child’s Life
10 Ways to Help Your Child Overcome Bullying
