Australian Covert Bullying Prevalence Study (ACBPS)

Source A

Cross, D., Shaw, T., Hearn, L., Epstein, M., Monks, H., Lester, L., & Thomas, L. 2009. Australian Covert Bullying Prevalence Study (ACBPS). Child Health Promotion Research Centre, Edith Cowan University, Perth.

Overt vs. covert bullying

Summary

Term “covert bullying” is a relatively new term with regards to the bullying between children. Covert bullying is indirect or discreet bullying. This is often not seen and is overlooked by many schools and parents. As covert bullying is much harder to identify than overt bullying, it is proven to be much less reported. Children who get bullied don’t like to tell anyone because they are afraid of judgement or embarrassment. This is often due to the fact that parents and teachers don’t react as

One day, a girl will be on top of the hierarchy and the next day she will be at the bottom based on the opinions of the other girls in that specific friendship group. Teasing is therefore a constant thing, because girls are constantly having to fight for the position at the top of the hierarchy. Whereas teasing amongst boys settles down after a while, girls tend to constantly tease each other through small comments and hurtful remarks. Friendships between girls are very delicate, whereas friendships between boys are more relaxed. “Girls aggression is typically less physical and more subtle – sneaky – than the aggression of boys.”

Boys bully differently to girls as they tend to be more impulsive. If a boy teases another boy and it is laughed off, the teasing ends there, whereas if a boy is defensive and shows weakness, the bully will continue to attack. Girls on the other hand will insult another girl out of pure meanness and try to diffuse the insult by saying “Just teasing!”

Teasing fluctuates amongst boys and can go from being mild to harsh quickly. “Girls tend to experience a constant, lower level of teasing. Unlike teasing among boys, which starts high and then drops, teasing among girls starts mid-range and just stays

Gender Differences in Bullying. PREVnet. http://www.prevnet.ca/research/fact-sheets/gender-differences-in-bullying. 16 May 2014.

Context

This source was found on Prevnet; a Canadian website featuring the work of researchers and organisations who aim to prevent bullying through “education, research, training and policy change.” This source is a fact sheet, compiled by Prevnet, along with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. It summarises the gender differences between boys and girls, according to a number of researchers. The person who came up with each finding will be referenced at the end of the summary. This source speaks about “gender differences in bullying and victimisation”.

Summary

According to J.E. Gruber , S. Fineran1, J.S. Peterson , K.E. Ray2, H. Scheithauer3, T. Hayer3, F Petermann & G Jugert3 , boys are more prevalent in bullying than girls. They are the more likely out of the two genders to participate in bullying behaviour. In research done by C Currie, it was concluded that boys tend to bully more in all 40 countries that were analysed. In terms of gender differences in certain types of bullying, boys are more likely to bully physically and take part in sexual harassment than girls