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Bullying Is A Form Of Abuse

Decent Essays

Bullying can be defined as ‘aggressive, intentional acts or behaviours that are carried out by a group or an individual, repeatedly and over time against a victim, who cannot easily defend him or herself’ (Smith et al, 2006, p1; Slonje and Smith, 2008). Bullying is a form of abuse that is based on an ‘imbalance of power’ (Shariff, 2005, p459; Smith et al, 2006, p1). Some examples of bullying include name-calling, spreading rumours, and sexual harassment. Increasingly, technology is being used as a method of bullying, and where this is the case, the term ‘cyberbullying’ is used (DCSF, 2009; Mishna et al, 2009).

‘Cyberbullying’ was a term first used and defined by Canadian educator Bill Belsey around the turn of the millennium (Campbell, 2005). Belsey defined cyberbullying as “the use of information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behaviour by an individual or group that is intended to harm others” (cited in Butler et al, 2008, p21). Belsey’s definition of cyberbullying is widely used in academic and government literature (Li, 2006; 2007a, p2; Smith et al, 2008; DCSF, 2009).

Traditional bullying, which can include face-to-face, verbal or physical altercations, differs from cyberbullying in several ways (Smith et al, 2008; Slonje and Smith, 2008; Dilmac, 2009). For instance, cyberbullying introduces technology, such as the internet and mobile phones, into the equation, which provides a different route for the bully to target their

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