Bullying

Bullying is a form of abuse that happens when someone says or does things to hurt and intimidate someone else on purpose. It is often something that happens repeatedly. A bully may be someone who has social power or physical power and uses that power against other people. Bullying can be one-on-one or it can happen in groups.

Bullying can take on many forms and some bullying behaviour is illegal and should be reported to police. Offences can include:

• Assault (pushing, tripping, punching, kicking, etc.)
• Assault with a weapon
• Sexual assault (inappropriate touching, groping, etc.)
• Mischief (property damage)
• Theft
• Criminal harassment (repeated communication and bullying either online or through text messages, emails or phone calls that causes a person to fear for their safety)
• Uttering threats (to cause death, bodily harm or property damage)
• Distributing intimate images without consent (sharing nude or sexual images of another person without their consent)

There are several different types of bullying including verbal, social, physical and cyberbullying:

Verbal bullying can includes name calling, making threats and teasing.

Social bullying can include spreading rumours, gossiping, excluding others from a group or embarrassing others in public.

Cyberbullying can include posting embarrassing photos or videos of someone online; creating a website, Facebook group, etc., to make fun of someone; pretending to be someone else online by using their name; tricking, threatening or forcing someone into revealing personal or embarrassing information and sending it to others.

Physical bullying includes hitting, punching, kicking; pushing, tripping, grabbing, spitting; breaking or stealing someone's personal belongings.

If you are the victim of bullying:

• Do not respond to cyberbullying, leave the conversation
• Walk away
• Keep a record of the bullying (write it down, keep copies of online interactions)
• Tell an adult you trust
• Tell your teachers or the school principal
• Call the Kids Help Phone kidshelpphone.ca at 1-800-668-6868
• Block bullies online and report them to the site administrators
• Report any crimes against you to the police

If you suspect a child is the victim of bullying:

• Talk to the child
• Let them know you can be trusted
• Let them know they do not have to deal with bullying alone
• Help them document the bullying
• Help them report the bullying to the school and/or the police as necessary
• Help them report cyberbullying to the social media sites or phone companies

For more information and resources, visit the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Bullying webpage.