Where is bullying

In contrast, the number of self-reported bullies remained fairly stable across the years. According to the NICHD survey, as well as many other studies, the typical trajectory of bullying is an increase and peak after elementary school, during the middle school years, followed by a decrease during the high school years.

If this is the case, then the transition from elementary to middle school would be a particularly critical period for prevention and intervention efforts. When asked about this inconsistency in the bullying literature, Susan Swearer, assistant professor of school psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and principal investigator of a comprehensive program of research examining the ecology of bullying and victimization in school-aged youth, made the following comment:.

For example, bullying in elementary school may be more physical and therefore, more easily observed. Bullying in high school may be more akin to sexual harassment and thus, more covert and less observable. Most research suggests that bullying peaks during the middle school years and researchers have hypothesized that the transition from elementary to middle school, the need to re-establish peer relationships, and puberty may all account for this 'increase.

They frequently experience school problems, have difficulty making friends, and lag behind their peers in psychosocial development. Bullying sometimes involves students commenting on and judging other student's personal attributes and how they are different. These negative comments can relate to:. This type of bullying is linked to prejudices that students learn from their family group and their wider social community about the value of diversity in the community.

There are social norms within groups of students and also the whole school. The school's norms are modelled by the school staff and other adults in the broader community, including parents. Students who 'stand out' as different from the norms within their peer group are most likely to be bullied.

Students can use bullying as a way to enforce group norms about how to appear and behave. Student group norms and views about which students are of 'greater' social standing come from society's values about power and status.

This process happens as children and young people absorb and copy the norms, values and prejudices of their school and their wider community. Why does bullying happen? You did nothing wrong, so why should you be disadvantaged? It may even send the bullies the wrong signal — encouraging their unacceptable behaviour. We all want cyberbullying to stop, which is one of the reasons reporting cyberbullying is so important. But creating the Internet we want goes beyond calling out bullying.

We need to be thoughtful about what we share or say that may hurt others. We need to be kind to one another online and in real life. It's up to all of us! Keeping Instagram and Facebook safe and positive places for self-expression is important to us -- people will only be comfortable sharing if they feel safe. But, we know that cyberbullying can get in the way and create negative experiences. First, by using technology to prevent people from experiencing and seeing bullying.

For example, people can turn on a setting that uses artificial intelligence technology to automatically filter and hide bullying comments intended to harass or upset people. Restrict is one tool designed to empower you to discreetly protect your account while still keeping an eye on a bully. Think twice before posting or sharing anything online — it may stay online forever and could be used to harm you later.

Learn about the privacy settings of your favourite social media apps. Here are some actions you can take on many of them:. On most of your favourite social media, people aren't notified when you block, restrict or report them. Most schools take bullying seriously and will take action against it.

If you are being cyberbullied by other students, report it to your school. People who are victims of any form of violence, including bullying and cyberbullying, have a right to justice and to have the offender held accountable. Laws against bullying, particularly on cyberbullying, are relatively new and still do not exist everywhere. This is why many countries rely on other relevant laws, such as ones against harassment, to punish cyberbullies. In countries that have specific laws on cyberbullying, online behaviour that deliberately causes serious emotional distress is seen as criminal activity.

In some of these countries, victims of cyberbullying can seek protection, prohibit communication from a specified person and restrict the use of electronic devices used by that person for cyberbullying, temporarily or permanently. However, it is important to remember that punishment is not always the most effective way to change the behaviour of bullies.

It is often better to focus on repairing the harm and mending the relationship. On Facebook, we have a set of Community Standards , and on Instagram, we have Community Guidelines that we ask our community to follow.

If you think content has been removed incorrectly, we also allow for appeals. On Instagram, you can appeal content or account removal through our Help Center.

On Facebook, you can also go through the same process on the Help Center. We strongly enforce our rules to ensure all people can participate in the public conversation freely and safely. These rules specifically cover a number of areas including topics such as:. As part of these rules, we take a number of different enforcement actions when content is in violation.

When we take enforcement actions, we may do so either on a specific piece of content e. You can find more on our enforcement actions here. Many of them are introducing ways to address it and better protect their users with new tools, guidance and ways to report online abuse. But it is true that even more is needed. Many young people experience cyberbullying every day. Some face extreme forms of online abuse. Some have taken their own lives as a result. Technology companies have a responsibility to protect their users especially children and young people.

Each social platform offers different tools see available ones below that allow you to restrict who can comment on or view your posts or who can connect automatically as a friend, and to report cases of bullying. Many of them involve simple steps to block, mute or report cyberbullying. We encourage you to explore them. Social media companies also provide educational tools and guidance for children, parents and teachers to learn about risks and ways to stay safe online.

Also, the first line of defense against cyberbullying could be you. Think about where cyberbullying happens in your community and ways you can help — by raising your voice, calling out bullies, reaching out to trusted adults or by creating awareness of the issue. Even a simple act of kindness can go a long way. Many countries have a special helpline you can call for free and talk to someone anonymously.

Visit Child Helpline International to find help in your country. For more tips on how to protect yourself and others from cyberbullying, check out our resources on Facebook or Instagram. If people on Twitter become annoying or negative we have tools that can help you, and the following list is linked to instructions on how to set these up.