Understanding Bullying

There is a nationally agreed definition of bullying that all Australian schools use:

"Bullying is an ongoing and deliberate misuse of power in relationships through repeated verbal, physical and/or social behaviour that intends to cause physical, social and/or psychological harm. It can involve an individual or a group misusing their power, or perceived power, over one or more persons who feel unable to stop it from happening. Bullying can happen in person or online, via various digital platforms and devices and it can be obvious (overt) or hidden (covert). Bullying behaviour is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time (for example, through sharing of digital records).Bullying of any form or for any reason can have immediate, medium and long-term effects on those involved, including bystanders. Single incidents and conflict or fights between equals, whether in person or online, are not defined as bullying."

Australian Government (2021)

Elements of bullying

There are three main elements that separate bullying from one-off incidents or other types of conflict.

Bullying involves a real or perceived (felt) imbalance of power between the person being bullied and the person bullying them.
Bullying happens repeatedly or could potentially be repeated (like with online behaviour).
Bullying consists of intentional acts that are aggressive, negative or harmful towards another.

What are the different types of bullying?

verbal (e.g., putting someone down or threatening to cause harm)
physical (e.g., contact that hurts someone or breaks their things)
social (e.g., spreading rumours, excluding someone, embarrassing someone in public)
cyberbullying (e.g., sending harmful messages, pictures or making comments on social networking sites, like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok or Snapchat). This type of bullying can be anonymous and posted online where it can be seen by lots of people. And it can go on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so people don’t get a rest from it.

Why does bullying happen?

There are many reasons why someone might use bullying behaviour. People who bully may have experienced bullying, trauma or violence themselves. It’s still important to remember though, this doesn’t make it OK. People might use bullying because they feel peer pressure, and are trying to feel more secure, more powerful, ‘look cool’ in front of others, or feel better about themselves. This may be their way of coping if they haven’t learnt healthier ways to cope or aren’t getting the support that they need. Bullying behaviour can also happen because of jealousy, lack of knowledge, fear or misunderstanding.

Please see the videos below from Bullying No Way that unpacks and explains the national definition of bullying for Australian schools.

Bullying No Way Week

August 17th-August 21st

Bullying No Way Week is Australia’s leading initiative for bullying prevention in schools. It’s an opportunity for schools to foster a shared understanding of bullying behaviours and highlight strategies for their prevention.

This year, Miners Rest Primary School will be recognising Bullying No Way Week by participating in classroom activities that promote kindness and inclusion to bring greater awareness to understanding bullying, signs of bullying and the impacts it can have on people.

Useful links and resources:

Raising Children Network: https://raisingchildren.net.au/

Bullying No Way: https://www.bullyingnoway.gov.au/

Miners Rest Primary School Key Documents and Policies: https://minersrestps.vic.edu.au/key-documents/

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