CDC develops uniform definition of bullying 

Earlier this year, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report on youth bullying titled Bullying Surveillance among Youths: Uniform Definitions for Public Health and Recommended Data Elements. In the report, the CDC provides a uniform definition of bullying which is predicted to increase consistency, allow for comparison across data collection systems, and facilitate the comparison of research on intervention and prevention programs. In this report, the CDC defines bullying as “any unwanted aggressive behavior(s) by another youth or group of youths who are not siblings or current dating partners that involves an observed or perceived power imbalance and is repeated multiple times or is highly likely to be repeated; bullying may inflict harm or distress on the targeted youth including physical, psychological, social, or educational harm.” This definition encompasses two modes of bullying (direct and indirect) as well as four types of bullying (physical, verbal, relational, and damage to property). 

For more information and access to this report, please visit: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/youthviolence/bullyingresearch/index.html.