Horowhenua District Council
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Mental HelpBullying

What is Bullying?

What is it?

Bullying occurs when someone who is less powerful than another person or a group is deliberately and usually repeatedly hurt without in any way deserving the treatment.

Bullying includes:

  • Calling someone names 
  • Writing horrible comments about a person 
  • Sending nasty texts, emails or making unkind phonecalls 
  • Threatening someone 
  • Physically hurting someone eg, punching or kicking them 
  • Excluding someone from activities 
  • Stealing or damaging a person’s property 
  • Playing tricks on someone 
  • Making a person feel uncomfortable or scared

If you are being bullied you are not dumb or silly or weak. When people are being bullied they may feel like they are worthless or silly or that no one cares and that isn’t true.  Bullying is something that needs to be talked about not hidden.  You may feel that you are the only person in the world being bullied but that is not true. Research shows that every child will go through some level of bullying before they leave high school.

Why do some youth bully?

There are lots of reasons why children bully others.  Some common reasons include:

  • Lack of confidence
  • Showing off to others
  • Getting attention 
  • Jealousy
  • They see bullying at home 
  • Overly aggressive nature 
  • They can’t cope with others who are different 
  • Joining or copying others who are bullying to be part of a group 
  • They have been bullied themselves 
  • They don't know that it is wrong and/or haven't learnt how to socialise with others 
  • They are unhappy

What Can You do?

Speak to someone - Letting someone else know about the situation may help you to solve the problem. A teacher, counsellor, or another adult could be helpful people to talk to.

Listed below are some websites to help give advice and resources

Information on Mental Health in the Horowhenua here

Whats Bullying is a website dedicated to those who want help or information on bullying and its effects

Advice on dealing with text Bullying is here

Advice on cyberspace safety here

Skylight gives information and advice as well as a listening ear to youth who are going through hard times

The Spinz website is there for those who feel lost and have no where to go

If you are feeling down the Lowdown website has great tips and advice for you