Addressing psychiatric and psychosocial issues related to children and adolescents Youth in Mind

School violence is a widespread and serious social problem. Much of school violence involves bullying, a practice found in school settings around the world. The effects of bullying are traumatic and long lasting. New technology has engendered a new form of bullying: cyberbullying. This article describes various forms of bullying (verbal, physical, relational, and cyber) and offers several anti-bullying tactics. teenA M. McGuinness, PhD, APrn-Bc * Names changed for anonymity purposes. Kirsten * started her senior year with optimism and confidence. But by graduation, she was anxious, traumatized, and glad that high school was ending. A bully had ruined her senior year. The source of the bullying utterly surprised Kirsten: It was Belinda, with whom she had been good friends since elementary school. There were several things Kirsten did not know about the behavior of bullies; for example, bullying can occur anywhere, bullies have friends and admirers, and bullying is often a social event. The damage from bullying extends beyond the target; like tossing a Journal of Psychosocial nursing, Vol. 45, no. 10 19 © M as te rfi le / Ra di us Im ag es