Bullying

Office of Health Promotion and Prevention

Youth bullying

Youth bullying is defined as aggressive violent behavior by an individual or group toward another and involves a power imbalance and is repeated over time. Bullying can also happen through technology.

  • Physical such as hitting, kicking, and tripping.
  • Verbal including name-calling and teasing.
  • Relational or social such as spreading rumors and leaving out of the groups.
  • Damage to victim’s property.
  • Technology (cyber bullying) is the use of digital devices and online platforms to repeatedly harass, threaten, or humiliate someone.
Bullying can also occur through technology, called electronic bullying or cyberbullying. A young person can be a perpetrator, a victim, or both (also known as a “bully/victim”).

How common is bullying

According to parents, almost half of children in Utah ages 6–17 were bullied in 2024.

Amont 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students in 2025:

  • 265 reported being bullied on school property.
  • 16% reported being bullied electronically.
  • 10% felt unsafe at school.

How can we prevent bullying

Preventing bullying involves teaching kids safe ways to stand up against it and enhancing their interpersonal skills, like empathy and conflict management.

Parents, school staff, and other adults can help prevent youth bullying by:

  • Helping children understand what bullying is and why it’s wrong.
  • Keeping the lines of communication open.
  • Encouraging children to do what they enjoy.
  • Modeling how to treat others with kindness and respect.
Learn more about youth bullying

Adult bullying

Adult bullying is a persistent pattern of aggressive, manipulative, or controlling behavior meant to intimidate or demean. Manifesting through public shaming, malicious rumors, or condescension, it frequently occurs in workplaces, families, and online communities.

Understanding adult bullying requires looking at how the dynamics shift from schoolyards into workplaces, homes, and social groups.

  • Workplace bullying: Colleagues or supervisors taking credit for your work, withholding crucial information, sabotaging projects, or performative public reprimands designed to humiliate rather than correct.
  • Social & relational bullying: Spreading malicious gossip, excluding targets from groups events, or actively turning mutual friends against the individual.
  • Passive-aggressive tactics: Utilizing sarcasm to deliver insults with plausible deniability, or disregarding personal boundaries like repeatedly contacting someone after they ask for space.

How to protect yourself

Because adult bullies often exploit power imbalances or social dynamics to get their way, effective responses require firm action:
  • Document everything: Keep a detailed, factual log of dates, times, exact behaviors or comments.
  • Set clear boundaries: State exactly what you find unacceptable without over-explaining. For example: “When you speak to me that way, it is disrespectful and unacceptable.”
  • Enforce consequences: Boundaries require consequences to be effective. If the behavior continues, remove yourself from the situation, end the conversation, or block the individual.
  • Formalize complaints: If the bullying is occurring at work, use the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) resource if the behavior crosses the line into protected harassment, or escalate the issue to human resource with your documentation.