Bullying happens to everyone, but it begs the question ~ who is meaner?  Who would you fear more, boys or girls?

As part of our Journalism I bullying focus, we conducted an anonymous survey focusing on the differences in bullying between boys and girls.  For guys, when they were asked why they bullied, their answers ranged from “to feel cool” and “to be seen” but also included self-preservation.

 “I bully to stand up for myself,” one guy said. Another just admitted that it is a crime of opportunity, “It (bullying) makes me feel cool and I know I can.”

Almost all boys agree on how they bully; they call their victims names.

“I call names to make them (the kids I bully) feel uncomfortable,” one boy said.

Sadly, girls pretty much bully for the same reasons and in the same ways.

“I bully to feel cool,” one girl said.

Again, the girls admitted that they call names and say mean things.

“I would spread bad rumors,” one girl said.

Ironically, though it may seem that physical bullying would be more common among boys, the survey indicated that boys aren’t any worse than girls.

“It’s honestly pretty much the same and it doesn’t matter which grade you are in, a bully is just a bully,” one student said.

Too, we discovered that both boys and girls are feared the same.  Whether the bullying took the form of talking badly about other students, calling them names and or just making them feel uncomfortable, it seems that bullying behaviors did not respect genders..