PHYSICAL BULLYING
Recognize Bullying
To stop bullying, you have to know what it looks like.
Physical bullying can be as obvious as someone being shoved into a locker, or less obvious like when a student threatens another student.
Physical bullying can be obvious actions like:
- Hitting
- Kicking
- Pushing
- Tripping
Or less obvious actions like:
- Threats
- Taking or destroying another boys belongings
- Shaking your fist in someone's face
Here is an example of what physical bullying looks like. Watch as Kyle is threatened and pushed down by Andrew.
Think you know?
The following questions are to help you better understand physical bullying. Work by yourself or with a friend and try to come up with answers on your own before looking at our answers.
Questions about the video:
What are the different ways Andrew bullies Kyle?
Remember physical bullying can be both physical actions such as hitting or pushing and less obvious actions such as threating someone or shaking your fist in someone’s face.
- Andrew bullies Kyle by threatening him when he says, “That’s not what I heard. We can settle this right here right now.”
- He also bullies Kyle when he twists his arm and shoves him to the ground.
Why does no one try to stop Andrew?
There are several reasons why bystanders do not step in when someone is being physically bullied.
- First, many bystanders are afraid that the bully might come after them too.
- Second, often people are excited by the thought of a fight and can easily get caught up with the other bystanders who are cheering or egging the bully on.
- Third, bystanders may not know what to do to help the victim so instead they do nothing.
- All of these actions encourage the bully and tell the bully that what he or she is doing is okay.
How did the bystanders join in on the bullying?
Bystanders join in on the bullying:
- Laughed
- Yelled "fight"
- Took video of the fight
- Stared at the victim
- Did nothing
- Whispered to others
What if Andrew didn’t grab Kyle and throw him to the ground, would his actions still be considered bullying?
Yes, because making verbal threats towards Kyle is also considered bullying.
Let's take a look at what happens next in After The Bullying →