Is Verbal Bullying Most Prevalent? - Savvy School Counselor

Hello, Savvy Friends! Last week, I conducted a poll on my Facebook page and Instagram. The question: What kind of bullying do you see happening most often? Thanks to all who participated in the poll on both platforms. I tallied my results and found verbal bullying to be the most prevalent with emotional bullying in a close second. Interestingly enough, there were no votes for physical bullying. Many adults and kids immediately think of physical examples of bullying when asked, but it is true that verbal bullying happens most often. In their “Myths About Bullying” PDF article, StopBullying.gov says, “Physical bullying may be what first comes to mind when adults think about bullying. However, the most common form of bullying–both for boys and girls–is verbal bullying (e.g., name-calling).”

In my book, The No More Bullying Book for Kids, I address verbal bullying in a way that helps kids understand what it is and how it makes others feel. As many of you mentioned in your answers to the poll, verbal bullying can be coupled with emotional bullying. Emotional bullying includes the social piece that some of you mentioned. Verbal bullying also happens online which ties with cyberbullying. Here’s the sneak peek PDF from my new book.

I’m sure many of you have seen the effect of verbal bullying in your schools and can probably recall several examples of how your students have suffered through it. Many kids like to follow verbal bullying with “I was just kidding” or “It was only a joke.” I believe it’s super important for us as school counselors, teachers, and parents to teach our kids how hurtful and devastating cruel words can be. Teaching empathy from an early age is key.

I look forward to sharing more sneak peeks from The No More Bullying Book for Kids with you in the coming days. If you haven’t seen the most recent sneak peek, here’s the PDF of Is it Tattling or Telling? from the book.

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