Bullying

Bullying is the use of aggression with the intention of hurting another person. Both adults and children can bully others or be bullied. Bullying can take place in person and online. 

Any form of bullying results in pain and distress to the victim and is unacceptable behaviour within any organisation. 

Bullying can be:

• verbal: name-calling, sarcasm, spreading rumours, teasing, taunts. 
• emotional: being unfriendly, excluding, tormenting, causing someone to feel frightened.
• physical: pushing, kicking, hitting, punching or any use of violence.
• sexual: sexually abusive comments or gestures.
• racial: any of the above because of, or focusing on the issue of racial differences.
• homophobic: any of the above because of, or focusing on the issue of sexual orientation.

Behaviour does not have to be intentional for it to be harmful – for example, practical jokes or initiation ceremonies that cause someone to feel frightened or humiliated. 

If you are concerned about what a child or adult is experiencing, talk to your Safeguarding Lead. Bullying becomes a safeguarding concern that could be reported externally when certain criteria are met, but we would want to address any bullying behaviour before it reaches that stage. If something doesn’t feel right, pass on your concern.

Bullying becomes a safeguarding concern when: 

• the impact is significant e.g. a person feels unsafe, threatened or frightened.
• the behaviour is abusive or criminal e.g. physical or sexual assault, hate-based bullying, coercive control
• the person is unable to protect themselves
• there is a pattern, escalation or group targeting

Cyberbullying (or online bullying).

It targets a protected characteristic, such as race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, or sex — this may constitute hate-based bullying and could be considered a hate incident or hate crime, triggering safeguarding and possibly legal responses.