Video: What is Bullying?

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ABERDEEN, Miss. (WCBI)- When a child is bullied, it can have a lasting affect on school work and self-esteem.

Omline group pacer.org reports that one out of 5 students feel picked on throughout the year.

Now, Aberdeen middle school teachers and administrators are trying to raise students’ awareness.

It can sometimes be hard to define, but teachers and administrators at Shiver middle school in Aberdeen say they know what bullying is when they see it.

“We classify it as a student who is continually, constantly harassing a student or threatening a student, that’s when it becomes harassment,” Shivers Middle School Counselor Shankia McKinney said.

Bullying can occur in person or online.

The most common forms of bullying at school include cyber bullying, verbal and physical bullying.

Although it’s natural for kids to run around and play, teachers say sometimes its difficult to determine if students are horse playing, or actually being bullied.

“That’s hard and so many times you have to determine the intent of what somebody is doing. Are they doing it because they’re having fun, or are they doing it to be mean,” Shivers Middle School principal Rusty Greene said.

Many times, administrators can see when physical bullying is happening, but cyber bullying on the other hand, is the one that can be difficult to stop.

“You’re able to hide behind a screen, you’re getting messages 24 hours a day all the time on your phone, it just makes the accessibility and the convenience of trying to talk about someone else so much easier,” Greene said.

When it comes to handling bullying cases, Shiver Middle School administrators says they follow the School District policies.

“We talk with them, we investigate the situation, we talk with the students, parents and we decide, ok, well if you guys don’t want to stop bullying here, then that’s when we get involved with law enforcement,” McKinney said.

The school says continuing to educate students and raising awareness is the only way to make bullying go away.