Myths and facts about bullying in schools: effective interventions depend upon debunking long-held misconceptions.

Bullying among schoolchildren is receiving a lot of public attention. The news media implicates bullying as a reason underlying serious school shooting incidents. Popular press and entertainment media, in turn, depict bullying tactics that manipulate social relationships among girls as particularly mean and hurtful (for example, as in the film Mean Girls). The attention that bullying is receiving in the media has increased the public's awareness of bullying as a problem, but the portrayals also frequently promote misconceptions about bullying that are not supported by contemporary research. In this article, I question some of these depictions in light of the most recent empiric evidence. I start by defining what bullying entails and, after reviewing some of the common myths, conclude with guidelines for intervention.

One Definition, Multiple Manifestations

Bullying involves an imbalance of power between the perpetrator and the target, such as a strong child intimidating a weaker one. Intimidation can be achieved by many means. (1) Across multiple age groups, name-calling is by far the most common form of bullying among boys and girls. Young children, and boys of all ages, are more physically aggressive than are adolescents and girls of any age. Although the popular media depicts girls as the masters of covert social tactics of meanness, boys engage in spreading rumors and social exclusion, as well. Most targets of bullying are victimized in multiple ways. Moreover, experiences of bullying hurt regardless of the means. Based on the current evidence, we cannot presume a slap on the face hurts more than a nasty rumor, or vice versa.

Challenging Myths About Bullying

Myth: Bullies suffer from low self-esteem. When bullies are identified by means other than self-report (i.e., based on teacher or peer ratings), no evidence suggests that bullies suffer from low self-esteem. To the contrary, many studies report that aggressive youth perceive themselves in a positive light, at times displaying inflated self-views. Recent evidence shows that bullies are less depressed, socially anxious, and lonely than socially adjusted youth who are uninvolved in bullying. (2) These findings regarding positive self-perceptions and lack of emotional …