Physical, Verbal, Relational, And Cyber Bullying

According to the American Psychological Association(APA) bullying is a public health issue (2004). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines bullying as “any unwanted aggressive behavior by another youth or group of youths who are not siblings or current dating partners that involves an observed or perceived power imbalance and is repeated multiple times or is highly likely to be repeated”(2016)

There are many forms of bullying. The most common forms of bullying are physical, verbal, relational, and cyber. Physical bullying is face-to-face which can include spitting, shoving, pushing, and/or hitting (Wang et al., 2009). Verbal is name-calling, teasing, and threatening. Physical and verbal bullying are both considered direct forms

Study proved females suffer more from bullying at school and cyber bullying than males. 23.7 percent of females reported being bullied at school versus 19.5 percent of males (Robers, Zhang, Morgan, & Muse-Gillette, 2015). 8.6 percent of females reported being bullied on the Internet versus 5.2 percent of males (Robers, Zhang, Morgan, & Muse-Gillette, 2015). Females are more likely to be victims of gossip and/or sexual commentaries while males are more prone to being physically bullied (Wang, Iannotti, & Nansel, 2009). Cyber bullying is not traditional bullying. Cyber bullying is a form of aggression through technology for example, e-mails, social media, text messaging, instant messaging, and more (Wang, Iannotti, & Nansel, 2009). When a person is using social media or technology to share fabricated, humiliating, or argumentative information about another individual they are performing cyber bullying (Schurgin & Clarke-Pearson,

According to a report from the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project seventy-five percent of teenagers’ own personal cellphones (Lenhart, Purcell, Smith, & Zickuhr, 2010). Fifty-eight percent of twelve year olds own personal cellphones (Lenhart, Purcell, Smith, & Zickuhr, 2010). Ninety-three percent of teenagers between the ages of twelve and seventeen go online (Lenhart, Purcell, Smith, & Zickuhr, 2010). Seventy-three of American teens that use the Internet also use social networking websites (Lenhart, Purcell, Smith, & Zickuhr, 2010). Sixty-five percent of teens use an online social networking site (Lenhart, 2009). Thirty-eight percent of youth ranging from twelve to fourteen years old reported they have an online profile and seventy-seven percent between the ages of fifteen and seventeen (Lenhart, 2009). Twitter is a very popular social networking site among adults but not teens. Only eight percent of teenagers’ ages twelve to seventeen use twitter compared to nineteen percent of adults ages eighteen to twenty-nine (Lenhart, Purcell, Smith, & Zickuhr,