Many students get involved in bullying sometime during their lives – they may be bullied themselves, they may bully someone else, or they may see a friend being bullied.
- Yamaji wangi
- ‘Lots of kids doing the bullying are bullied themselves…and also have parents who bully or are bullied.’
- Yamaji AIEO
- Yamaji wangi
- ‘Lots of jealousy stems back to the family – it’s just carried on from parents who are feuding.’
- Yamaji AIEO
Aboriginal students bully other kids and are bullied for lots of reasons. Sometimes they’re bullied because they are different, or because they’re clever or popular and at other times simply because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sometimes there are ongoing issues between families (family feuding). Bullying often comes from a belief that it is okay to act that way.
Why do some people bully?
- to gain a sense of power among their group
- to get attention or become popular
- to get things they want
- to copy another person they admire
- to make themselves feel better when they are feeling bad about themselves or jealous of someone else
- because they feel that another person is becoming more popular than they are in their group
Students who bully often need to feel powerful and seem to enjoy inflicting harm on others. Some of the main reasons for bullying include:
- aggressive behaviour at home and elsewhere
- Children who have significant role models who bully are more likely to imitate this behaviour.
- harsh physical punishment at home
- Children can bully smaller, weaker children to re-enact what happens to them at home.
- peers that bully
- Children may follow the lead of their peers who bully: they feel they have to bully to fit in.
- not enough supervision
- Children who do not have enough supervision may believe it is okay to use bullying behaviour to get what they want. Children need to be taught that bullying is never acceptable behaviour.
- the behaviour works for them
- When children are allowed to use their power, aggression or bad behaviour to get what they want, they continue to use this type of behaviour.
- pre-emptive behaviour
- Some children feel they need to strike first for fear of being bullied. They feel that using their power and assuming a hostile stance will discourage other children from bullying them.
- getting attention
- These children feel they need to use negative behaviour to attract attention. This behaviour makes them feel powerful and noticed by adults and/or peers.
Why do most kids NOT bully others?
Most students do not bully other kids in schools. Some students don’t bully because they don’t have the power over others to do so. However, many students who have the power choose not to use it in a negative way because:
- They have good social skills so they can make friends and be happy without bullying.
- They think bullying is wrong.
- They don’t feel they need to bully, because they feel good about themselves and enjoy school.
- They are too busy to think about it; they are involved in lots of activities such as sport, drama, art etc.
- They have strong, supportive friendship groups.
- They believe that bullying isn’t worth it. For example, they know they will get into trouble at home and at school, and/or their bullying will make them look bad to friends.
- They understand how bad it can make someone feel (i.e. they have empathy).
