Kindness for Ojibwe Youth
What Is Bullying and Cyberbullying?
Bullying is intentional, unwanted aggressive behavior against another individual. To be considered bullying, it must happen repeatedly or have the potential to happen repeatedly, and it must involve a real or perceived power imbalance. Types of bullying include:
- Verbal bullying, which involves writing or saying mean or hurtful things.
- Social bullying, which involves damaging someone's reputation or relationships.
- Physical bullying, which involves hurting someone or damaging their belongings.
Cyberbullying is bullying that occurs over devices and on digital spaces like social media platforms and apps. Cyberbullying is distinct in that it is persistent and more difficult to recognize. It can also damage the reputation of everyone involved, potentially endanger those targeted by cyberbullying, and cross into unlawful or criminal behavior.
How Can I Recognize Bullying and Cyberbullying?
It can be helpful to identify common behaviors and tactics that are used to recognize bullying and cyberbullying when it happens.
Common Bullying Tactics Include:
- Making fun of someone to make them angry or upset.
- Calling someone mean or hurtful names.
- Making mean or rude faces or hand gestures at someone.
- Intentionally excluding someone from groups.
- Telling others to not be friends with someone or to target someone.
- Spreading rumors about someone.
- Humiliating someone in public.
- Making inappropriate sexual comments.
- Threatening to cause harm.
- Physical harm, such as kicking, punching, pinching, tripping, pushing, hair pulling, etc.
- Being threatened or forced to do things.
- Spitting.
- Taking or breaking someone's things.
Common Cyberbullying Tactics Include:
- Posting mean, hurtful, or humiliating comments about someone online or through text.
- Intentionally excluding from online games or group chats.
- Threatening to hurt or kill someone, or telling someone to hurt or kill themselves.
- Posting mean, hurtful, or humiliating photos or videos online or through text without your permission.
- Pretending to be someone else online in order to ask for or post personal or false information about someone else.
- Posting mean or hateful names, comments, or content about any race, religion, ethnicity, or other personal characteristics online.
- Creating a mean or hurtful website about someone.
- Doxing, which is a form of online harassment used to exact revenge and to threaten and destroy the privacy of individuals. This is done by making someone's personal information public, such as addresses, phone numbers, social security number, credit card information, social media profiles, and other private data.
Bullying Affects Everyone
Bullying and cyberbullying doesn’t just affect the individual being bullied – it negatively affects everyone involved, including you.
Victims
Native youth who are bullied generally show higher levels of insecurity, anxiety, depression, loneliness, and unhappiness, as well as other physical, emotional, and mental health symptoms.
Witnesses
Native youth who witness bullying are more likely to have increased tobacco, alcohol, or other drug use; mental health problems; and school absences.
Bullies
Native youth who bully tend to abuse alcohol and other drugs, get into fights, vandalize property, and drop out of school. They are likely to engage in early sexual activity, have criminal convictions and traffic citations as adults, and abuse others at higher rates as adults.
It is important to note that an individual can be in more than one role. For example, a youth that is bullied by peers at school could bully a younger sibling at home or a youth online, and youth who are witnessing bullying may either join in with the bully or become a target for bullying.
Bullying Has A Lasting Effect On Mental Health
of bullying victims develop social anxiety
of bullying victims develop depression
of bullying victims develop suicidal thoughts
of bullying victims self-harmed
of bullying victims skipped class
of bullying victims developed anti-social disorders
of bullying victims developed an eating disorder
of bullying victims run away from home
of bullying victims abuse alcohol and/or other drugs
Cyberbullying Hurts In Real Life
of cyberbullying victims develop social anxiety
of cyberbullying victims develop depression
of cyberbullying victims develop suicidal thoughts
of cyberbullying victims deleted their social media profile
of cyberbullying victims self-harmed
of cyberbullying victims stopped using social media
