by Andrea D. Hutchinson

Created on: March 22, 2009   Last Updated: May 13, 2010

“ Stop it you jerk!” Tommy yells at the group leader.

“ Make me, Geek!” John jibes back, as the two cross the basketball court toward the school house with their friends. Name calling and teasing is a boy's rite of passage, parents, particularly fathers, would say. It’s a natural part of childhood, right? "Boys will be Boys" and "Survival of the fittest", all wrapped up into a neat little bundle. Until someone gets hurt.

And what about the girls? That is a whole different definition of bullying.

But where is the line? You know the one, the line between friendly banter and damaging bullying?

Bullying is when threats become abusive, the aim being force and coercion. A bully effectively intimidates, compelling or deterring, the victim to a desired response by violence and threats. It is described as the willful attempt to inflict injury to another, coupled with the appearance of the ability to follow through. Bullying is any intentional show of force causing fear or an expectation of harm. And to think this type of thing happens on the playground as early as middle school.

The bully essentially targets a weaker child. One who is smaller and least likely to fight back. The bully usually fits neatly into a common criteria:

- harbors more than the average amount of aggression

- needs to be in control and to win

- needs to dominate something/someone outside of himself (person or situation).

- appears to have no compassion, sympathy, empathy or remorse.

-does not accept responsibility for actions.

Bullying commonly occurs between two people who are not friends. There exists an obvious power difference between the two. The bully behavior is usually observed first, if only in small incidents in grammar school, continuing and becoming more obvious in middle school. Middle school is where the highest levels of bullying behavior is exhibited. Bully behavior usually decreases in high school.

However, it is the high school level that gets the most attention in reference to the heightened level of the abusive behavior. The violence, also tends to take on a more defined element. This is likely due to the physical size of the participants, particularly the aggressor, as well as the propensity of a sexual aspect to the abuse.

Often enough, the bully is a popular kid, socially able to malign the victim. Causing the person to be alienated from the group. The classic jock and geek scenario. Bullying crosses all cultural, religious and socio-economical

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