Types of Bullying
Types of Bullying
Verbal, Social/Psychological/Relational, and Physical are three types of bullying outlined by the federal government and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Verbal Bullying is saying or writing hurtful things. Examples include:
- Teasing
- Name-calling
- Inappropriate sexual comments
- Taunting
- Threatening to cause harm
Social Bullying, sometimes referred to as relational bullying, involves harming someone's reputation or relationships. Examples include:
- Leaving someone out of an activity on purpose
- Influencing others not to be friends with someone
- Spreading rumors about someone
- Embarrassing someone in public
Physical bullying involves hurting a person’s body or possessions. Physical bullying includes the following action to occur more than once, overtime:
- Hitting/kicking/pinching
- Spitting
- Tripping/pushing
- Taking or breaking someone’s thing
- Making mean or rude hand gestures
Students can play the role of bully (instigator/perpetrator of bullying behavior), of target (recipient/object of bullying behavior), or of bystander (witness/observer of bullying behavior). Students may play one or more of these roles at different times.