HOW DO CHILDREN BECOME BULLIES?
The literature addresses three areas as to the possible reasons a child becomes a bully: child rearing influences, characteristics of the child and factors of the environment (Ahmad & Smith, 1994; Batsche & Knoff, 1994; Smith & Sharp, 1994). • Child Rearing Influences The child may not have received warmth and caring from the mother: there may have been a failure to bond with the parents or the child may not have felt loved. Many parents fail to set limits for their children’s behavior and the parents may have used assertive disciplinary methods where control and coercion were a part of the discipline. There are also indications that inconsistent discipline on the part of the parents can produce a bully. If a parent exhibits aggressive behavior and if the child is encouraged to assert him/herself in socially unacceptable ways, the child may become a bully. • Characteristics of the Child There are no distinct characteristics of a child who bullies. Boys tend to be more aggressive and mo
