Practical Resources

Is it bullying?

Definitions can help us recognise bullying, but real situations do not always fit neatly into a definition.

Try these six situations with a class, staff group or group of young people.

1. One pupil calls another pupil the same insulting name every day.
2. Ten different pupils each make the same insulting comment to one pupil, but each person only says it once.
3. Someone uploads an embarrassing photograph of another pupil once. Other people repeatedly share it.
4. A hurtful post is uploaded once. Nobody shares it, but it remains online and the person keeps encountering it.
5. A pupil says something cruel once and afterwards says, “It was only a joke.”
6. Something has only happened once, but the pupil believes it will happen again and has become frightened about going to school.

Then compare the answers with your own school or organisation's definition of bullying.

Does the definition help with all six situations?

Which situations are difficult?

What do words such as repeated, intentional, harmful and powerful actually mean?

Is anything important missing?

There does not have to be one correct answer.

A definition should help us think, not stop us thinking.

Explore definitions

Definitions of bullying have changed over time and do not always agree.

Use The Definition Wheel to compare definitions from different periods, or travel through The Bullying Metro to explore words, languages and meanings connected with bullying around the world.

Work with young people

Anti bullying work can be done for young people or with them.

Explore ways of involving young people in decisions, activities and peer support, including the difference between refreshing an existing peer support programme and setting up something new.

Plan and take action

Good anti bullying work needs more than a single activity or one week in November.

Explore ideas for planning Anti Bullying Week, activities that can be adapted to different settings, and questions to consider when deciding whether to use an external provider.

Reflect and follow up

What happens afterwards matters.

Use pupil reflection, teacher follow up and external provider feedback resources to find out what people experienced, what changed and what may need further attention.