Anti-Bullying Home
The definition
Bullying is discrimination by an individual or group that causes you to feel distress, nervous, hurt or worried. This behaviour can be either emotional or physical to another individual or group. It may or may not be on purpose and may involve encouraging others to cause upset. It can be a single incident or repeated over a period of time. This type of behaviour involves one person or group having all the power and someone else having none, leaving someone feeling helpless to prevent it or put a stop to it.
Some children and young people identified that some of the words used in the definition may need clarification. For example, for younger children the words ‘discrimination’ and ‘encouraging’ required further explanation. This is what they meant:
Discrimination: treating someone differently and in a negative way because of a part of who they are or how they live their life.
Encouraging: making someone believe that they want to do something that they didn’t want to do before.
Notes to teachers:
For positive anti-bullying work it is always a good idea to agree what bullying is. This definition is the result of discussion with the multi-agency anti-bullying strategy group for Leeds and the children and young people’s strategy group. The two groups discussed and debated the DCSF’s definition and definitions from other agencies and organisations and then arrived at a definition that was unique to the people of Leeds.
Themes associated with bullying:
- Racism
- Colour
- Sexism
- Homophobia
- Ability
- Disability
- Religion
- Culture
- Appearance – size, height, weight, dress, personal features
- Language/speech
- Nationality
- Social class
Examples of bullying behaviour:
- Name calling
- Threatening or making people do things they don’t want to
- Taking or damaging someone’s things
- Hitting or kicking
- Sending nasty text and email messages
- Playing unkind practical jokes
- Making someone feel uncomfortable or scared
- Ignoring or deliberately leaving someone out of things
- Saying or writing nasty things about someone
Notes to teachers:
The themes and examples outlined above come from work done by the children and young people’s anti-bullying strategy group. They may be a useful prompt for further discussion in the classroom.
For more information on anti-bullying, please contact:
Hilary Farmery,
Anti-Bullying Communications Champion,
Email: Hilary.Farmery@educationleeds.co.uk
General line: 0113 3951100 Office opening times:
8.30am - 5.00pm (mon - thurs)
8.30am - 4.30pm (friday)
|
| 
| 
| 
| 
About Education Leeds