COME ON ! IT IS JUST PART OF GROWING UP ! THIS IS WHAT AN ADULT MIGHT SAY TO A CHILD IF A CHILD COMPLAINS ABOUT BEING TEASED AT SCHOOL . TEASING IS NOT USUALLY HARMFUL WHEN DONE IN A FRIENDLY AND MUTUAL WAY , AND WHEN BOTH KIDS FIND IT FUNNY . HOWEVER , WHEN TEASING BECOMES HURTFUL , UNKIND , AND CONSTANT — IT ALREADY CROSSES THE LINE INTO BULLYING .
BULLYING IS A DELIBERATE ACT . IT IS A DESIRE TO HURT OR THREATEN OR FRIGHTEN SOMEONE . THESE USUALLY VERBAL HARASSMENTS CAN COME IN THE FORM OF WORDS OR ACTIONS . IT CAN BE DONE BY ONE PERSON OR MORE , AND CAN VARY IN THE DEGREE OF SEVERITY . IT CAN BE AN ON- AND-OFF THING , BUT IT USUALLY INVOLVES REPEATED ACTIONS BY A CHILD OR A GROUP OF CHILDREN . IT CAN RANGE FROM HITTING , SHOVING , NAME-CALLING , THREATS , AND MOCKING TO EXTORTING MONEY AND TREASURED POSSESSIONS . SOME KIDS BULLY BY SHUNNING OTHERS AND SPREADING RUMORS ABOUT THEM . OTHERS USE EMAIL , CHAT ROOMS , INSTANT MESSAGES , SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITES , AND TEXT MESSAGES TO TAUNT OTHERS OR HURT THEIR FEELINGS . IT CAN BE ONE OR A NUMBER OF THESE , HOWEVER , VERBAL ABUSE IS THE MOST COMMON FORM OF BULLYING .
BEING A VICTIM OF BULLYING CAN CAUSE EMOTIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DAMAGE . THE EFFECTS OF ONGOING BULLYING CAN BE LONG-TERM , WITH THE HARM TO THE HEALTH AND WELL- BEING OF THE BULLIED PERSON LASTING INTO ADULT LIFE . IT DAMAGES SELF-ESTEEM , INCREASES ANXIETY AND CAN CAUSE SERIOUS DEPRESSION . BULLIES ARE MORE LIKELY TO CONTINUE WITH THE AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR AND ENGAGE IN DELINQUENCY AND VIOLENCE .
RESEARCH SHOWS THAT BULLYING CAN HAVE LONG-LASTING EFFECTS , BUT PARTICULARLY WHEN IT BEGINS IN ADOLESCENCE . PEOPLE SUBJECTED TO EITHER VERBAL OR PHYSICAL BULLYING ARE KNOWN TO BE AT GREATER RISK FOR DEVELOPING DEPRESSION , ANXIETY DISORDERS OR TO BEHAVE VIOLENTLY . BUT NOT EVERYONE REACTS IN THIS WAY . CHILDREN BULLIED FOR THE FIRST TIME BEFORE THEY HIT PUBERTY SEEM TO GET OVER IT , BUT THOSE WHO ARE VICTIMIZED FOR THE FIRST TIME LATE ON IN PUBERTY SEEM TO BECOME MORE AGGRESSIVE OR ARE MORE LIKELY TO TURN TO DRINK AS A MEANS OF COPING . PEOPLE WHO WERE BULLIED REVEALED SLIGHTLY HIGHER LEVELS OF STRESS , BUT WHILE THOSE BULLIED EARLIER IN LIFE SEEMED TO RESPOND NORMALLY TO PROVOCATION , PEOPLE BULLIED FOR THE FIRST TIME LATE IN PUBERTY ARE MORE WITHDRAWN AND SENSITIVE TO VIOLENCE .
BULLYING IS A SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM IN SCHOOLS AND IS ASSOCIATED WITH A RANGE OF PROBLEMS , INCLUDING POOR MENTAL HEALTH AND VIOLENT BEHAVIOR . OTHER STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT BULLIES ARE MORE LIKELY TO ENGAGE IN ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR LATER IN LIFE , PARTICULARLY ASSAULTS AND RAPES . A RESEARCH ALSO SHOWS THAT VICTIMS OF BULLYING EXPERIENCE HEADACHES , STOMACH ACHES AND COLDS MORE OFTEN THAN STUDENTS NOT INVOLVED IN BULLYING .
RESEARCH INTO THE SOURCE OF BULLYING FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE BULLY HAS ALSO BEGUN TO FOCUS ON VULNERABILITY . MANY RESEARCHERS HAVE SUGGESTED THAT BULLIES ARE OFTEN THEMSELVES VICTIMS OF BULLYING AND THAT THEY MAY BE REPEATING A PATTERN OF THE LEARNED ABUSE . EQUALLY , IT HAS BEEN SUGGESTED THAT THEY MAY BE PROJECTING DISLIKE OR ANGER WITH THEMSELVES ONTO OTHERS .