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Bullying — A Complete Approach
Contains hints and tips for teachers, parents and young people to enable them to identify and tackle bullying.
- Age range: 12 years and upwards
- Category: Schools
- Published: 1999
- Last revised: 2022
- Pages: 94
Price: £10.99 Now: £5.49
Bullying in the Workplace
This pack provides guidance for companies on tackling workplace bullying, supporting the targets of bullying and ensuring the wellbeing of staff.
- Category: Business
- Published: 2020
- Last revised: 2022
- Pages: 50
Price: £8.99 Now: £4.49
Bullying Lesson Plans
Bullying and Cyberbullying
This lesson plan covers how to deal with bullying and cyberbullying and contains handouts for the classroom.
- Age range: 12 years and upwards
- Category: Schools
- Published: 2019
- Last revised: 2021
- Pages: 15
Price: £2.99 Now: £1.49
Bullying
This covers bullying, the types of bullying, the bully, the target and how to tackle bullying.
- Age range: 12 years and upwards
- Category: Schools
- Published: 2019
- Last revised: 2021
- Pages: 13
Price: £2.99 Now: £1.49
Playground Bullying
A lesson plan on playground bullying, the issues caused and addressing the topic.
- Age range: 12 years and upwards
- Category: Schools
- Published: 2022
- Pages: 17
Price: £2.99 Now: £1.49
Bullying is a serious problem in schools and workplaces worldwide. It leads to humiliation, fear, low self-esteem and depression. Bullying is not dependent on age, sex, socio-economic background, religion, culture — bullying can happen to anyone and can occur anywhere.
What is Bullying?
Bullying is a repeated, intentionally hurtful form of behaviour perpetrated by one or more individuals against another. There is always an imbalance of power involved in bullying in favour of the bully or bullies.
Bullying can occur in school, and there are also regular reports of bullying in the workplace.
All bullying needs to be dealt with swiftly and firmly and an anti-bullying policy is a vital part of bullying prevention in all organisations.
Bullying is a complex issue and involves:
- The bully — the person or persons carrying out the bullying.
- The target — the person on the receiving end of the bullying.
- The bystander — people who stand by and either watch and cheer on the bully or turn away and do nothing.
- Location — where the bullying takes place — school playground, canteen, office etc.
- Type of bullying — verbal, physical, racist, homophobic, sexist etc.
- Bully’s support — those who encourage the bullying.
- Target’s support — those who try to support and help the target.
- Figure of authority — the recipient of the bullying report — teacher, parent, HR manager etc.
- Action — the action that is taken to tackle the bullying.
Defining Bullying
The definition of bullying is as follows:
“Bullying is a regular form of deliberate behaviour that causes the target physical or emotional distress and can be carried out by an individual or a group over a period of time.”
It is clear from this that a one-off incidence of verbal or physical abuse is not bullying — it has to be repeated over a period of time with the specific aim of causing harm or distress to the target.
Types of Bullying
There are three main types of bullying:
- Direct bullying
- Indirect bullying
- Cyberbullying
Direct Bullying
Many forms of bullying are direct. Direct bullying is a form of bullying that is easy to prove. There is usually evidence to support that it is actually occurring because it can be witnessed by the target’s peers and colleagues. It includes verbal abuse, physical assault, offline and online threats, derogatory remarks and insults. Direct bullying is:
- Verbal
- Physical
- Easier to prove
- Usually observable
- Often witnessed
Indirect Bullying
Indirect bullying is more subtle and harder to prove than direct bullying. It is very common in the workplace and includes exclusion, spreading rumours, gossiping, overburdening the target with work, questioning the target’s ability to do their job or pass an exam. Indirect bullying has the following traits:
- Not candid or done openly, as opposed to direct bullying
- Usually devious
- Can be difficult to prove
- Typically carried out secretly
- Often lacks witnesses
What is the Difference Between Bullying and Cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying is fast becoming the most common form of bullying in today’s technology driven world and this type of bullying takes place via text messages, emails, instant messages, online forums, chat rooms, social networks etc. Cyberbullying is usually carried out anonymously and therefore it can be difficult to trace the person or people responsible.
What Does the Law Say about Bullying?
In both the UK and Ireland, all organisations, including schools and businesses, must have procedures in place for ensuring the safety of students, staff and employees. There are also laws in place that require school personnel and employers to take action to protect people from bullying and harassment.
Whatever the organisation, we can define bullying as follows: ‘Bullying is repeated inappropriate behaviour that undermines an individual’s right to dignity at school or at work’. An isolated incident is not considered to be bullying, although it may still be classed as harassment or some other type of inappropriate behaviour, which can result in serious consequences for the perpetrator(s).
UK Law and Schools
In the UK, all state schools (this does not include private schools) must have a behaviour policy with the specific aim of preventing all forms of bullying among pupils. Further statutory obligations are placed on schools under Section 89 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006. This Act makes it clear that schools must have measures in place to encourage good behaviour and a clear policy to prevent bullying.
The Children Act 1989/2004 also requires schools to address any bullying incident as a child protection concern when there is ‘reasonable cause to suspect that a child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm’. Where this is the case, the school staff should report their concerns to their local authority children’s social care services. It is also important to note that head teachers have a specific statutory power to discipline pupils for poor behaviour outside of the school premises too.
UK Law and the Workplace
Organisations in the UK are obliged to tackle bullying and harassment, which is defined as ‘behaviour that makes someone feel intimidated or offended’.
Harassment is unlawful under the Equality Act 2010. This Act replaced three previous duties covering race, disability and gender, but it goes further and also includes the protected characteristics of age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy & maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. It makes it unlawful to discriminate, harass, victimise or bully anyone, particularly in relation to the above shared characteristics.
The UK and Criminal Law
Although bullying in itself is not a specific criminal offence in the UK, there are laws covering harassing or threatening behaviour which could indicate that a bullying incident is a criminal offence — for example, under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, the Malicious Communications Act 1988, the Communications Act 2003, and the Public Order Act 1986.
If staff at a school, or employees of a business, feel that an offence may have been committed, they should seek assistance from the police.
Ireland Law and Schools
In Ireland, by law, all state schools should have a behaviour policy in place to prevent bullying among pupils. There is some flexibility regarding the policy and the scope is determined by each school.
According to Section 175 of the Education Act 2002, there is a legal duty for schools to take all reasonable measures to ensure that risks of harm to children’s welfare are minimised. A set of guidelines were issued to schools in 2008 by the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB). This publication entitled ‘Developing a Code of Behaviour: Guidelines for Schools’ requires all schools to have an anti-bullying policy within the framework of their overall code of behaviour.
Ireland Law and the Workplace
Employers in Ireland have a duty to ensure the health and safety of their employees in the workplace. This is set out in the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005. Under section 8 of the Act, employers are obliged to ‘prevent any improper conduct or behaviour likely to put the safety, health and welfare of employees at risk’, and this can include bullying.
There is also the new Code of Practice for Employers and Employees on the Prevention and Resolution of Bullying at Work (2020 Code) which provides practical guidance on the management and prevention of workplace bullying. It works alongside the requirements of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, Section 8, which applies to all employments in Ireland, irrespective of whether employees work in the office, at home or are mobile.
The new Code expects employers to act reasonably to prevent workplace bullying and requires them to take action to stop patterns developing. If a complaint of bullying is made, it should trigger the 3-step response of:
- Assess the complaint — the organisation must investigate what happened, who was involved and how the evidence points to bullying (if it exists).
- Record all actions — everything must be formally documented, date-stamped, signed/countersigned if necessary. This includes interviews, details of the incident, diaries (if kept), incriminating evidence left by the ‘bully’ etc.
- Respond to complaint — following a thorough investigation, the organisation must record their actions in line with data protection laws and put in place a suitable response based on the specific case. The new Code provides clear guidance on each stage of the investigation — from informal to formal processes through to resolution.
Northern Ireland Law and Schools
In Northern Ireland, the Addressing Bullying in Schools Act (NI) 2016 was launched on 1st September 2021. This Act provides a common definition of bullying and requires schools to record all incidents of bullying, including their motivation and outcome. It also requires the school Boards of Governors to take direct responsibility for developing, implementing and monitoring the effectiveness of the school’s anti-bullying policy and practice.
How Can We Deal with Bullying?
Whether we are dealing with school bullying or bullying at work, there are many ways to tackle bullying and they vary depending on the context of the bullying.
Schools, teachers, parents, carers, businesses and anyone in a position of authority have their own part to play in bullying prevention and addressing the subject of bullying in general.
There are also a number of laws surrounding bullying, so it is vital that everyone is aware of any possible bullying problems taking place. The most important step for all organisations is to develop an anti-bullying policy.
Anti-Bullying Policy
Why do we need an anti-bullying policy in schools and businesses? All organisations need an anti-bullying policy to give direction and guidance in preventing and tackling bullying. Once the policy is in place, it must be made available to all and the organisation should ensure everyone understands how to identify and report bullying.
Free Bullying Resources
Anti-Bullying Policy For Workplaces
A free template to help you develop your own anti-bullying policy for your workplace.
- Category: Business
- Pages: 8
Free Download
Anti-Bullying Policy For Schools
A free template to help you develop your own anti-bullying policy for your school.
- Category: Schools
- Pages: 8
Free Download
Targets of Bullying
This free download covers what a bully is and the targets of bullying. See our resource pack 'Bullying — A Complete Approach' for a more comprehensive discussion on bullying, including worksheets, activities and lessons.
- Category: Schools
- Pages: 6
Free Download