CRIMESTOPPERS.NS.CA 15 trouble concentrating in class and a lack of empathy and compassion for others. Gender differences also exist between the risk factors associated with bullying behaviour. For girls, bullying behaviour is closely linked to abuse suffered in the home, whereas bullying behaviour in boys is closely linked to involvement with anti-social or delinquent peers and behaviour. This explains why harm committed by girls is usually masked and difficult to detect in the social forms of bullying, while bullying behaviour exhibited by boys is primarily physical and visible to others. HOW FREQUENT IS BULLYING? In Canada, studies suggest that roughly 6% of students aged 12 to 19, report bullying others on a weekly basis, 8% report that they are victims of bullying weekly, and 1% report that they are both victimized and bully others on a weekly basis. Bullying surveys also indicate that many more boys than girls report being victims of bullying and almost all boys named male peers as the aggressors. A recent self report survey on delinquency among Toronto youth indicates that 16% of youths in grades 7 to 9 had been bullied on more than 12 occasions during the year prior to the survey. • Physical bullying: Research conducted in Canada, Europe and the United States has shown that roughly 10 to 15 percent of students aged 11 to 15 admitted being involved in weekly physical bullying. Physical bullying peaks in grades 6-8, and gradually declines thereafter. More specifically, this research suggests that boys were twice as likely to report frequent bullying than girls, while both genders reported an equal frequency of victimization. An additional 25-30% of students reported involvement in monthly physical bullying, and unlike the findings associated with weekly bullying behaviours, more boys than girls reported being victimized on a monthly basis. • Verbal bullying: 10-15% of all students reported involvement in weekly verbal bullying. Approximately twice as many students reported being victims of verbal bullying than engaging in verbal bullying themselves. No significant differences between girls and boys were found in this type of bullying. • Social bullying: Students who engage in social bullying are not likely to get caught. Instead, their harmful intentions are masked because the consequences cannot always be seen or heard. In one Canadian study, 41% of all students in grades 4 to 7 reported that they were victims of bullying and/or bullied others monthly. 7% of these students said they were victims of social bullying on a weekly basis, and 2% reported that they bullied other students socially on a weekly basis. Girls are more likely than boys to bully socially and to be victims of this form of bullying. publicsafety.gc.ca CVMMZJOH PREVENTION ...continued Images on pages 13 and 15 by Freepik.com
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