Bullying History

The word ‘bully’ is traced back to the 1530's (Donegan, 2012).

First official report and definition of bullying by The Times in 1862 following the death of a soldier due to bullying (Allanson, et al., 2015).

Olweus (professor of psychology) believed bullying was physical, psychological and continuous (Allanson et al., 2015).

In US: prior to 1980's bullying was not seen as a serious threat, rather as the norm or rite of passage (Allanson et al., 2015)

1999: Columbine High School: 2 students brought 50 bombs to school, shot 23 students (13 fatalities) and took their own lives after being bullied (Allanson et al., 2015)

J.S v. Bethlehem Area School: Student expelled for creating an online page that had threatening and derogatory comments on members of the administration (Donegan, 2012).

2000: Bullying in schools has drawn national awareness (Allanson et al., 2015).

13 year old Ryan Halligan committed suicide after being bullied at school and online (Allanson et al., 2015).

Vermont adopts Bullying Prevention Law (Allanson et al., 2015).

Drew & daughter created a fake Myspace account to send hateful comments to 13 year old Megan Meier, which led to Meier committing suicide. Court ruled in Meier’s favor and led to state establishment of cyberbullying laws (Donegan, 2012).