THE 8 TYPES OF SCHOOL BULLYING AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS - ECONOMÍA - 2025

Knowing the most common types of school bullying suffered by children and adolescents is extremely important to learn how to prevent them and make young people have a good quality of life.

Bullying can manifest itself in many different ways among the peer group. From kicks, shoves, threats to rumors and hurtful notes in order to convince others not to relate to him or her.

We are always talking about a minor who has been the victim of bullying by his classmates in the educational center he attends. But how many types are there and what does each one consist of? Next we are going to explain the different ways in which bullying towards a minor can manifest itself.

What types of bullying or bullying are there?

1- Social exclusion

It is understood that someone is socially excluded by their group of "friends" when they are not allowed to belong to it intentionally. Some forms of social exclusion are:

Exclude or remove you from the activities that are being carried out

We talk about isolating a partner when he is intentionally ignored by the group.

An example can be when they are playing volleyball and nobody throws the ball at him no matter how much he asks for it, and they even leave him in a part of the field alone while the others play.

Not let him participate

It can be a trigger for the previous one, since the group will try by all means to ignore it and not to participate because they do not consider it as valid.

Discriminate against you because of your economic, intellectual, emotional and / or racial situation

On many occasions I have seen in the centers how the boy who was worse dressed or the one who did not have all the material was ignored.

2- Verbal aggression

We understand by verbal aggression, all the damage that the aggressors and their assistants are capable of doing to the victim with the help of the word. Some examples are:

Demeaning nicknames, nicknames, or nicknames

We have all had a classmate who has been more chubby than usual and for that fact they have nicknamed or insulted him. "Foca", "zampabollos", "michelin" are some examples of this.

Insults both to them and their relatives

Following this example, verbal aggression would be occurring when, in addition to insulting him, we also insult his family. "Well, your father sure eats a whale every day, he's another fat man like you," "he lays on the bed and sinks it."

They receive offenses due to their characteristics

These offenses, as we have pointed out previously, can be based on their physical characteristics, their school performance or even their way of acting.

A clear example would be to call a colleague "four eyes" or "spectacles" for the fact of wearing glasses. Another example might be, when someone is labeled a "nerd" because of their performance.

Rumors and / or lies

This is one of the most common today, some aggressors often make up stories or label the victim as homosexual in order to begin their psychological abuse.

3- Indirect physical aggression

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Indirect physical aggression is understood as those actions that the aggressors carry out manually, which can affect the life of the victim without there being physical contact with it. We can classify it in:

• Taking the money for the sandwich or the sandwich itself, are some indirect physical aggressions that usually occur at recess.
• Deterioration or destruction of your belongings. Tearing her clothes or school supplies would go into this guy. However, currently we can also talk about events such as throwing the mobile out the window or stepping on it until it is destroyed.
• Both the thefts and the deterioration or destruction of their belongings trigger the possible provocations of the aggressors towards the victim, because this will demand explanations and that they leave her alone. Some examples can be: come hit me if you are so brave !, I have not done anything, go and tell your father if you are capable !.
• Anonymous notes. We may also include anonymous threatening messages of an insulting nature or drawings and pictures of the victim in the form of a bad joke.

4- Direct physical aggression

We understand by physical aggression all those actions that imply harm to the other person through body-to-body contact. They may be:

• Pushing, hitting, tripping, slapping, strolling… They can occur throughout the school environment and the aggressor usually does it with the help of his friends.
• Hazing or ceremonies would also enter . In some groups, if you want to be accepted, you have to go through some kind of hazing or ceremony. All of these practices are considered direct physical assault.

5- Threats

Threat is understood to be the announcement of some evil or negative action against a person. There are different ways to threaten:

Threats against the family or themselves

These situations are usually something normal within bullying against victims. And even to other people around her with the intention of preventing them from giving some information about what happens to an adult. An example could be: "if you say something to the teacher, I'll kill you."

For creating fear

They may also threaten simply by creating fear in their victim in order to make them obey them. As for example: "If you pass by, I will hit you".

To blackmail

Thanks to this system, the aggressors can make the victim do what they want at all times, these blackmails can be of the type: “if you don't give me your sandwich, I'll wait for you when I leave school”.

6- sexual harassment

Sexual harassment is understood to be those activities aimed at requesting sexual favors from another person against their consent.

They can range from verbal assaults to touching or physical assaults and rapes. Normally this type of harassment tends to occur more in girls than in boys when the aggressor is male.

7- Cyberbullying or cyberbullying

With the arrival of new technologies we can also find cases of cyberbullying in schools. This type can be considered one of the most damaging on a psychological level due to the great scope it can have.

They can use all kinds of devices such as tablets, computers, web pages and blogs, online games… The messages that they can transmit are made with the aim of humiliating the person, so they can hang manipulated photographs, post bad messages…

These abuses can vary according to the sex of the victim. If he is a boy, the most frequent will be that the harassment consists of insults, nicknames, exclusion from activities and that they talk about evil behind his back, hide his things, hit him (this happens more frequently in the first year of secondary school) and to a much lesser extent they will threaten it.

If the victim is a girl, they are more likely to speak ill behind her back and ignore her. In the worst case, you may be the victim of sexual harassment.

8- Mobbing

Strictly, mobbing would not have a place in this list since it is a type of abuse that occurs in the workplace and not in school. However, the connections can be very fine between bullying and mobbing.

For example, there are some training cycles or specific subjects in which the student has to do an internship in a job to finish their studies. In these cases, it can coincide with classmates who also abuse during these work practices.

In turn, one of the most common types of mobbing is that of ascending harassment. This comes to mean that a person with a certain hierarchy is harassed by one or more people of a lower rank than his. This is applicable to the teacher-student relationship.

What people are involved in bullying?

Different types of people participate in a case of bullying, such as:

Victims

They are characterized because they manifest a high degree of anxiety and are generally insecure, cautious, sensitive and calm. They usually have low self-esteem and a negative image of themselves.

They tend to see themselves as failures and feel inferior, ashamed, and unattractive. They are often smaller and physically weaker than their peers. In general, they develop attitudes of fear of school, considering it an unsafe place and from which they extract unhappiness.

Aggressors

They have a more permissive attitude towards violence or the use of violent means to dominate others. They have a strong desire for power and domination. They have little or no empathy for the victims.

If they are boys, they are more likely to be stronger than other children in general or than their victims, not only physically but also socially or in their school performance.

They seem to enjoy being "in control" and subduing others. They want to have social influence and prestige. When they succeed, their intimidating attitude is rewarded, the same as when they coercively obtain material goods from their victims.

Schoolchildren who become bullies also have more defiant and rebellious behaviors towards adults and tend to contradict school rules.

They can be divided into:

• Buddies. Close friends and assistants of the aggressor who will do whatever he asks of them. Usually there are usually two or three.
• Reinforcers. These students indirectly bully, since they consent to the act and on many occasions they approve and reinforce it so that it happens.
• Spectators. These classmates do not want to know about the bullying that is taking place in their class. They are also often classmates who, out of fear of the aggressor and being labeled as the snitch, prefer to safeguard their physical integrity.
• Defenders. They can come to support the victim of bullying. They are the victim's friends who, on many occasions, help her to confront her harasser.

Why are there aggressors in educational centers?

It seems to be, in my experience, that all bullies have something in common that makes them follow the same pattern of conduct and behavior:

• In the first place, the attitude of the family members towards the minor. Normally, it is usually a not very positive attitude in which little affection and dedication are protagonists. Therefore, the child will seek to attract attention and will do so through violence.
• A second factor is the type of education given at home. This will be very permissive, not setting limits or governing their behavior by rules and regulations at home.
• A third factor will be the type of punishment used within the family. In these cases it is usually physical and violent, which will increase the degree of aggressiveness of the child.
• Finally, the child's temperament can also predispose him to this type of behavior.

These four factors are what I have been able to see and understand as causing the aggressive attitude of these children. It is clear that the attitude that parents have towards their child is decisive for the subsequent well-being and physical and mental development of the child, as well as growing up in an environment marked by norms and rules.

What consequences does it have for all its participants?

Bullying can have negative consequences for all its participants:

Victim

From my point of view, the victim is the one who suffers the most. Their personality as well as their socialization and mental health can be negatively affected by bullying. On the other hand, some people even fall into depression or develop school phobia. We have also seen cases of attempted suicide and depression.

Aggressors

The aggressors can also be considered victims, since their way of acting is a response to the affective deficiencies they present. This type of response can become chronic and mechanical to achieve goals and objectives, even triggering criminal behaviors such as domestic violence.

Viewers

People who see what is happening and do not pay attention, thus taking a passive attitude towards this type of abuse, can come to see this type of act as something normal.

Family

These consequences also affect parents and relatives, since no one can remain neutral in the face of the aggression suffered by their child, youngster or adolescent. In most cases the parents feel invaded by fear.