“Every child has a right to be protected from maltreatment, neglect, abuse or deration “The Constitution of RSA Section 28 (1) (d). There are regular cases of violence in schools like violence, abuse, humiliation and maltreatment (de Wet (2007). Research found that bullying as a form of violence poses a serious threat to healthy child development Stokowski and Kopazs (2005).
Bullying is a worldwide phenomenon that has the potential to impact on children not only physically but also psychologically. Power (2016), bullying is a behaviours that is intentional and focus on inflicting physical harm or emotion distress on its target. Bullying is for those who are power hungry. Bullying is when an individual or group persistently over a period of time; behave in ways which cause other person to hurt physically or non-physically. Verbal bullying such as name calling. Physical bullying such as being punched; social bullying, playing nasty jokes. Psychological bullying, you are given dirty looks. Bullying is defined as a form of aggressive behaviour where one child or group causes in some form to other child whom they perceived as weak. A power of imbalance exists between the bully and the victim where status or dominance is maintained from the standpoint of the bully. Cyberbullying using technology. Nadine (2014) studied the impact bullying has on children academic performance. It was found that children fear attending school as they as they do not feel safe, and when they do attend school, they find it difficult to concentrate in the class. Bullies can be anyone because they can hide behind the technology becoming anonymous. Cyberbullying is the major concern because technology is such a huge part of our lives. People find these things so serious that the consequences can be as bad as suicide. Physical bullying may be direct like kicking, hitting. Physical or direct bullying can range from slight punches, pushing and shoving to more serious acts like throwing other person down stairs o or basting someone’s head against the wall.
Verbal abuse is the one of the worst forms of direct bullying. It can range from name calling and teasing to embarrassing and humiliation other person. Psychological bullying can be harmful since it can isolate and ostracise someone from their peers and friends.
Sexual harassment, which includes physical and psychological bullying, humiliating, degrading and demeaning to the victim. A more recent kind of bullying is called cyber-bullying; involves sending harmful rude or cruel text messages.
Fried and Fried (1996) in Krige et al. (2000) mention four factors of that contribute to bullying behaviour.
- Individual traits –Children who are antisocial, aggressive, and defiant often become bullies.
- Family context – Children coming from families with high level of violence, lack of clear rules, poor supervision and little interest in their children could become bullies.
- Community influences – Children who grow in the community where they are exposed to violence and aggressive behaviour as means to solve problems could develop patterns of bullying behaviour.
- Cultural factors- Cultural attitudes that are indifferent to violence, sexism and racism influence attitudes towards other people.
