Recognizing Bullying

Dan Olweus, creator of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, defines bullying in his book, "Bullying at School: What We Know and What We Can Do in this way: "A person is bullied when he or she is exposed, repeatedly, and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other persons, and he or she has difficulty defending himself or herself."

The definition includes three important components:

1. Bullying is aggressive behavior that involves unwanted, negative actions.
2. Bullying involved a pattern of behavior repeated over time.
3. Bullying involves an imbalance of power or strength.

In his writings, Dr. Olweus is very clear that bullying is peer abuse that should not be tolerated under any circumstances.  The Benton CSD believes it is important to communicate to students and parents the definition of bullying and also to convey that the school district will not tolerate this type of behavior.