There is no universal definition of bullying, however, it is widely agreed upon that bullying is a subcategory of aggressive behaviour characterised by the following three minimum criteria, hostile intent, imbalance of power and repetition over a period of time.
Bullying may thus be defined as the activity of repeated, aggressive behaviour intended to hurt another individual, physically,mentally or emotionally. Ref:Bullying wikipedia.
The Norwegian researcher Dan Olweus says`` bullying occurs when a person is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other persons``. He says negative action occur â€oe when a person intentionally inflicts injury or discomfort upon another person, through physical contact, through words or
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The victims of bullies are often from different social backgrounds and the targets are those who have different cultural,religious,gender or sexual orientation beliefs.
Although bullying its self is not a crime as yet there are several acts of Parliament which are law and these give at least some protection to the person being bullied, if they feel able to challenge the bully . Which include:
The Protection from Harassment Act 1997:
Harassment is when someone behaves in a way which causes distress, humiliated or threatens others by means of unwanted phone calls, letters, emails and or visits, this also includes abuse and bullying online, stalking,verbal abuse and threats. Harassment is both a criminal offence and a civil action which means it is against the Law. The Act also states that you only have to experience at least two incidents by the same person or persons for it to be harassment.
Bullying is not new, it has been around since time in memorial and sadly will always be the case despite all efforts to prevent it. Bullying is not just restricted to the U.K., but is a world wide pandemic which is targeted at the weak and vulnerable members of society . Bullying it is