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Bullying can have significant and long term adverse effects on the health and behaviour of children. Not only does the victim suffer psychological and possibly physical damage, but the persistent bullies are at risk of continuing their aggressive, antisocial behaviour. Approximately one third of British schoolchildren report bullying.1 Achieving a reduction in the rate of bullying in schools would be a highly effective public health measure for the 21st century. This article considers interventions that may reduce bullying and ways in which victims of bullying can be helped.#### Key messages Bullying is not always obvious. Most bullying takes place away from the scrutiny of adults and the victim often feels unable to report what is happening because of fear of reprisal. Other sorts of bullying may be so subtle as to be dismissed as teasing, which is often considered to be acceptable. If the teasing involves intimidation and results in distress, it clearly falls within the definition of bullying. In order to clearly recognise bullying for what it is, a definition of bullying is needed. Various authors have defined bullying; there are two essential elements:
Pearce et al. (Tue,) studied this question.