DON'T BE A BULLY

Bullying in our schools and on social media is increasingly in the spotlight... what's going on? Emily Pettit-Coetzee finds out how to know whether it's happening to your child and how you can protect and empower them.

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Virtually every month, it seems we see new and more disturbing cases of bullying in the media. Although there are no recent studies, the increase in media coverage suggests that bullying is on the rise. If it's not on the rise, then a case can be made that the problem has been there for some time but is only now coming to light.

A 2013 survey found that over 50% of South African children were at risk of being bullied at school, and you may be familiar with the 'bullying' videos that went viral in 2016: in one, a pupil repeatedly hits a classmate in the face and in another, a girl's friend filmed her rambling speech laced with disturbing, threatening remarks directed at another girl.

The fact that the bullies in the viral videos were female points to a common misconception: that the majority of perpetrators are boys. There are a number of common beliefs about bullying that are simply not true, says Dr Gillian Mooney, the dean of academic development and support at the Independent Institute of Education. These include the notion that 'adults should stay out of it' (false: bullying needs to be monitored and deterred), and that being bullied helps to 'toughen kids up' (also false - bullying can cause lasting harm).