Bullying is an undesirable, aggressive behavior that involves an imbalance of power between two or more individuals. It can take various forms such as physical, verbal, social, or cyber bullying. Signs that a child is being bullied include loss of confidence, not wanting to attend school, and physical injuries. Risk factors for being bullied include being perceived as different or weak. Bullying can have long-term mental health impacts like depression and anxiety and is linked to suicidal ideation in some vulnerable groups. Parents and schools play an important role in addressing bullying through open communication, monitoring children's activities, and teaching coping strategies.

1. BULLYING
A resource for parents

2. By:
Irene Kumar & Aman Khosa
(Stenberg College)

3. “Weeks after posting haunting Youtube video on her
years of torment at classmates’ hands, 15 year old
B.C. girl commits suicide”
(THE CANADIAN PRESS, 2012)
“On the papers, the teen explains that as a Grade 7 student, she was lured by an
unidentified male to expose her breasts via webcam.
One year later, Todd said she got a message from him on Facebook, though she
didn’t know how he knew her name or where to find her…
She noted she was plunged into anxiety, major depression, drugs and alcohol. But
the bullying didn’t stop. She said the man created a Facebook page with a list of her
friends and school.
‘My boobs were his profile picture,’ she wrote…
Todd wrote that she eventually changed schools and things were better for a while.
But she said an encounter with another girl’s boyfriend started the bullying again,
this time worse. It escalated into a physical attack in which she said she was beaten
and left in a ditch until her father found her.
She said she tried to kill herself twice, including once by drinking bleach, and
constantly cut herself.
The video ends with her note: ‘I have nobody. I need someone.’”

4. “Rehtaeh Parsons Suicide: Bullying Victims
in Canada are Mounting. Is Anyone Listening?”
“This is the way their world ends.
With a casual cruelty scrawled on a Facebook wall for all to see.
It’s one of the little deaths suffered by children every day, across the
country.
These are not your father’s bullies. Rather, the digital age has given
tormentors an unprecedented reach into young lives. From Facebook to
texting to Twitter to YouTube, bullies burrow deep into a young, raw
psyche -- and deliver devastating blows.
And we, too, suffer that devastation as we learn their stories and their
names.
A few days earlier, she had tried to hang herself.
If claims of being raped by four schoolmates are proven, the 17-year-old
certainly endured more than most victims.
But the same fatal thread remains. Her father says she was hounded
online with a photo of the ordeal.”
(Cotroneo, 2013)

5. “Mitchell Wilson bullying case:
Not-guilty verdict for accused attacker”
(Allen, 2012)
“Two days after he was jumped and robbed by two youths, left
bloodied and traumatized, Mitchell Wilson passed a boy who was
exiting the school office just as Mitchell and his stepmom were
entering.
That’s one of them, Mitchell said. He repeated it four separate
times: to two police officers, to a principal, to a vice-principal.
Mitchell said he was ‘for sure sure.’
Justice Mary Teresa Devlin was not ‘for sure sure.’ On Monday, she
acquitted the 13-year-old of assaulting and robbing Mitchell.
Devlin said she could not establish that he was the attacker beyond
a reasonable doubt.
Mitchell committed suicide 10 months after the mugging. He was
11 years old…
Mitchell had muscular dystrophy, a debilitating disease for which
there is no known cure. His doctor prescribed daily walks to help
him maintain his mobility. In November 2010, he left for a walk
just before dinner, carrying his father’s iPhone.”

6. What is bullying?
● Bullying is an undesirable, aggressive behaviour among two or more individuals (Stopbullying.gov, n.d.). It requires a n
actual or perceived power imbalance (n.d.). This behaviour may be recurrent over time. In order for bullying to be
intended, the following behavioural features must be present (n.d.):
o aggressiveness
o an imbalance of power
o repetition: bullying has the potential to occur more than once
● May include the following actions (n.d.):
o threats
o spreading rumours
o physical or verbal attacks
o exclusion or ostracism
● There are several different forms of bullying, including (Victims of Violence, 2014):
o physical violence and attacking
o verbal taunts
o name-calling
o insulting or nasty comments
o threats and intimidation
o extortion or stealing
o exclusion
o cyber-bullying
o racial, ethnic, or gender discrimination or put-downs

7. Forms of bullying
● Physical:
o hitting
o kicking
o punching
o pushing/shoving
o damaging or stealing property
o dating aggression
● Physical, Verbal, Social, Cyber ("Bullying," 2013; Government of Canada, n.d.)
(Craig & Edge, 2012)
Physical bullying in victimized students, by
grade and gender (%) Year: 2010

8. Forms of bullying cont’d
● Verbal:
o insults/name calling
o sexual harassment, including making
homophobic comments, rating sexual
body parts, telling sexual jokes, making
sexual rumors
o ethno culturally-based comments
o threats
(Craig & Edge, 2012)
Teasing in victimized students, by grade and
gender (%) Year: 2010

9. Forms of bullying cont’d
● Social:
o Ignoring
o excluding others from groups and events
o spreading gossips/rumours about others
● Cyber:
○ using electronics to spread rumours,
leaving hurtful comments about others
Indirect bullying in victimized students, by grade
and gender (%) Year: 2010
(Craig & Edgn, 2012)
Electronic bullying in victimized students,
by grade and gender (%) Year: 2010
(Craig & Edgn, 2012)

10. Signs of bullying
● Signs your child is being bullied: (Erase Bullying, 2012; Government of British Columbia, n.d.)
o loss of confidence, unhappy, and anxious
o not wanting to go to school or participate in extra-curricular activities
o frequently complains of stomach-aches, headaches, sleeplessness, or exhaustion
o observable injuries, such as bruising or loss/broken personal items
o tends to negatively self-talk or make bad comments towards peers
o threatens to harm self or others
o becoms socially isolated from peers

11. Signs of bullying cont’d
● Signs your child could be bullying others (Erase Bullying, 2012; Government of British Columbia, n.d.)
o Physically or verbally abusive towards others
o Regularly gets sent to the principal’s office for aggressive behaviour
o Associates with people who bully others
o Has new belongings that cannot be explained
o Refuses to accept responsibility for his or her own actions and is quick to blame others
o Desire to be the best at everything and manipulates others to get his/her own way

12. Canadian Statistics
(STOP A BULLY, 2014)

13. Canadian Statistics cont’d
(STOP A BULLY, 2014)

14. Risk factors
Risk factors of being a victim of bullying:
● Children seen as different from others, such as overweight, underweight, wears glasses, comes from different
race, wears different/cultural clothing
● Are perceived as weak or unable to defend themselves
● Are depressed or anxious
● Have low self-esteem
● Do not have many friends or is less popular
● Do not socialize
● Have an intellectual or developmental disability
(National Institute of Health, 2012)
Risk factors of bullying others:
● Two types of children are more likely to bully other children:
o those who are acquainted with peers with influence, have social power, are greatly worried about their
popularity, and prefer to dominate others
o those isolated from peers, may experience depression or anxiety, have low self-esteem, education ranks
lower in priorities, is easily influenced by peers, or does not recognize one’s own emotions
(Stopbullying.gov)

15. Risk factors cont’d
Risk factors of bullying others:
● having a aggressive nature, or getting frustrated
easily
● parents are not significantly involved in child’s life
or issues exist in domestic life
● perceive others in a negative way
● difficulty or no desire to follow rules
● does not believe violence is negative
● have friends that are bullies
(Stopbullying.gov) (Shepard, n.d.)

16. Mental health concerns related to bullying
● Bullying may cause depression and anxiety in children, as well as, feelings of sorrow and
lonesomeness
● Effects in sleeping and eating patterns
● Decreased pleasure in activities they once enjoyed
● The above issues may continue into adulthood
● Bullying is linked to suicide; however, the perception of this problem is heightened in the media
● Most children that are bullied do not have suicidal ideation or engage in suicidal behaviour
● The following groups are more likely to be at risk for suicidal behaviour due to bullying:
o American Indian
o Alaskan Native
o Asian American
o lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth
● The risk of children identifying with these groups is greater when they have lacking support
from parents, peers, and schools.
(Stopbullying.gov, n.d.)

17. Mental health concerns related to bullying
Mental health problems due to bullying are preventative, thus it is crucial to present this resource and
the message that your child or someone you know may be victimized by bullying or bullying others.
Both are significant issues that can effectively be addressed at home in order to maintain or improve a
child’s mental wellbeing, as well as, emotional wellbeing, physical wellbeing, and social wellbeing.
Although suicidal behaviour is not linked to most cases of bullying, there is still a linkage. Youth that is
victimized are likely to have elevated levels of emotional — 30% of boys and 42% of girls and
behavioural problems — 47% of boys and 39% of girls (Craig & Edge, 2012).
A study conducted at a Duke University found that bullying victims and bullies, as well, suffer the
lasting effects of bullying (Krans, 2013). The researchers found that victims of bullying had high rates
of agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and panic disorder; while, those who experienced
bullying as a victim and perpetrator were likely to experience depression in young adulthood,
agoraphobia, panic disorder, and suicidal thoughts and/or behaviour (2013). Moreover, those who are
bullies only are also at risk for having antisocial personality disorder (2013).

18. Interventions
● Parents play an important role in ending bullying; parents should:
(Government of British Columbia, n.d.)
o encourage their child to talk about their troubles
o make an anti-bullying plan so that their child knows of what to do and
where to seek help if they feel unsafe.
o help their child learn how to manage their emotions in a way that
shows assertiveness
o be aware of who their child associates with; either in-person or online
o communicate with their child’s school so that if a problem arises, it is
resolved quickly
(Macmannis, n.d.)

19. Interventions cont’d
● If your child is being bullied, you should: (Canadian Red Cross, n.d.)
o listen to their child
o help their child to find solutions
o help their child to develop the ability to respond properly by not counter-bullying and by abstaining from
violence
o help their child to develop their self-esteem
● If your child is involved in bullying, you should: (Canadian Red Cross, n.d.)
o firmly tell your child that bullying is not acceptable
o encourage an open discussion and find out why your child is engaging is bulling behaviour
o set rules

20. Interventions cont’d
● If your child is witnessing bullying, you should: (Canadian Red Cross, n.d.)
o teach your child different ways of standing up for bullying, such as finding an adult for intervention
● Parents can stop cyber bulling by: (Canadian Red Cross, 2015)
o keeping computers in common areas for that they can easily monitor their child’s usage,
o familiarizing themselves with their child’s online activities,
o being aware of the fact that online communication is an integral part of their child’s social interaction and
ensure that their child is aware of what is acceptable behaviour online and offline, and
o reporting all online harassment, including threats to any persons to their local police station or their
Internet Service Provider.
o In the case of cell phone use, the matter must be reported to the cell phone provider and the phone

21. Emotional Resiliency and Protective Factors
● Resilience is “the ability to manage or cope with significant adversity or stress in ways that are not only effective,
but may result in an increased ability to respond to future adversity” (Health Canada, 2000, p. 8 as cited in
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health [CAMH], 2014).
● Resilience is influenced by ones risk and protective factors (CAMH, 2014).
● Protective factors enables a child to protect his or her well-being and cope with positive and negative everyday
events (CAMH, 2014).
● Protective factors include internal factors, such as cognitive abilities and external factors, such as social supports
(CAMH, 2014).

22. Protective Factors
● Parents can support their child to develop protective factors by: (CAMH, 2014)
o being caring parents and ensuring health family attachments
o ensuring that their child has access to services, such as health and recreation
o ensuring that their child had adequate nutrition and that they are living in safe neighbourhood
o ensuring that their child is positive peer relations and has healthy attachment with at least one adult

23. Kids Help Phone
Encourage your children to call 1-(800)668-6868 if they are being bullied or has witnessed
someone else getting bullied. A child will be able to speak to a counsellor when they call this
number.
Go to kidshelpphone.ca to post a question or obtain more information on bullying, dating,
emotional health, sexting, physical health, violence and abuse (Kids Help Phone, n.d.)
Visit the BC Ministry of Education and Canadian Red Cross websites or the following link for
more information and resources regarding bullying:
http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/sco/resourcedocs/keeping_kids_safe/keeping_kids_safe.pdf
http://www.redcross.ca/crc/documentsfr/What-We-Do/Violence-Bullying/preventing-bullying-tips-for-
parents.pdf

24. References
Allen, K. (2012). Mitchell Wilson bullying case: Not-guilty verdict for accused attacker. Retrieved from
http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2012/03/05/mitchell_wilson_bullying_case_notguilty_verdict_for_accused_attacker.htm
l
British Columbia Ministry of Education. (n.d.). Keeping your kids safe. Retrieved from
http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/sco/resourcedocs/keeping_kids_safe/keeping_kids_safe.pdf
Bullying: We can all help stop it. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/multi/english/BullyingEN.pdf
Canadian Red Cross. (2015). Be informed about cyberbulling. Retrieved from http://www.redcross.ca/how-we-help/violence--
bullying-and-abuse-prevention/parents/be-informed-about-cyberbullying
Canadian Red Cross. (n.d.). Preventing bullying: Tips for parents. Retrieved from
http://www.redcross.ca/crc/documentsfr/What-We-Do/Violence-Bullying/preventing-bullying-tips-for-parents.pdf
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. (2014). Best practice guidelines for mental health promotion programs: Children (7–12)
& youth (13–19). Retrieved from
http://foodsecurecanada.org/sites/default/files/best_practice_guidelines_for_mental_health_promotion_programs_-
_children_and_youth.pdf
Cotroneo, C. (2013). Rehtaeh Parsons suicide: Bullying victims in Canada are mounting. Is anyone listening?. Retrieved from
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/04/11/rehtaeh-parsons-bullying-victims-canada_n_3060384.html
Craig, W., & Edge, H. (2012). Bullying and fighting. Retrieved from http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/hp-ps/dca-
dea/publications/hbsc-mental-mentale/bullying-intimidation-eng.php

25. References cont’d
Erase Bullying. (2012). Information for parents: Warning signs. Retrieved from http://www.erasebullying.ca/parents/parents-
warning.php
Government of British Columbia. (n.d.). Identifying kids bullying or being bullied. Retrieved from
http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/support/health-and-safety/keeping-kids-safe-from-bullying-
harassment-and-intimidation/identifying-kids-bullying-or-being-bullied
Government of British Columbia. (n.d.). Keeping kids safe from bullying, harassment and intimidation. Retrieved from
http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/support/health-and-safety/keeping-kids-safe-from-bullying-
harassment-and-intimidation
Government of Canada. (n.d.). Bullying prevention in schools. Retrieved from
http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/bllng-prvntn-schls/index-eng.aspx
Kids Help Phone. (n.d). Kids help phone. Retrieved from http://www.kidshelpphone.ca/Teens/Home.aspx
Krans, B. (2013). Anxiety, depression & suicide: The lasting effects of bullying. Retrieved from
http://www.healthline.com/health-news/bullying-affects-victims-and-bullies-into-adulthood-022013#2
MacMannis, D. M. (n.d.). Bullying: 6 errors and tips for parents. Mean girls and bullying boys: Pitfalls and lessons for parents.
Retrieved from http://www.stanfield.com/blog/2012/08/mean-girls-and-bullying-boys/
National Institute of Health. (2012). What are risk factors for being bullied. Retrieved from
https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/bullying/conditioninfo/Pages/risk-factors.aspx

26. References cont’d
Shepard, M. (n.d.). High school bullying assemblies: How to prevent bullying in a peaceful… yet powerful way. Retrieved from
http://bullyingpreventionnow.com/bullying-assemblies/high-school-bullying-assemblies/
STOP A BULLY. (2014). STOP A BULLY STATISTICS SINCE 2009. Retrieved from http://www.stopabully.ca/program-
statistics.html
Stopbulling.gov. (n.d.). Risk factors. Retrieved from http://www.stopbullying.gov/at-risk/factors/
Stopbullying.gov. (n.d.). Bullying definition. Retrieved from http://www.stopbullying.gov/what-is-bullying/definition/index.html
Stopbullying.gov. (n.d.). Effects of bullying. Retrieved from http://www.stopbullying.gov/at-risk/effects/
The Canadian Press. (2012). Weeks after posting haunting Youtube video on her years of torment at classmates’ hands, 15 year
old B.C. girl commits suicide. Retrieved from news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/amanda-todd-suicide-2012
The Kid’s Doctor. (n.d.). Parents bullying their child to lose weight. Retrieved from http://www.kidsdr.com/parents-bullying-
their-child-lose-weight
Victims of Violence. (2014). Research-bullying. Retrieved from
http://www.victimsofviolence.on.ca/rev2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=390&Itemid=268

27. (FirstCovers.com, 2015)

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