Passive victims, as the name suggests, don't do anything to motivate a bully's attack. Usually lacking in social skills, they often go to great lengths to avoid bullies--including skipping school or running away from home. Provocative victims have a habit of verbally lashing out at bullies, heedless of the fact that the bullies are physically stronger and will attack. Bully-victims are a subcategory of provocative victims: They provoke attacks from bullies who are physically stronger than they are and then prey on kids who are physically weaker.
Students who are bullied often become depressed, sometimes develop health problems and may even become suicidal. According to the U.S. Department of Education, the effects are often long term. Victims of bullying tend to have emotional problems in adulthood, even when they are no longer being persecuted and have the same level of social interaction as those who were never victimized. Some may become "perpetual victims," constantly seeing themselves as being persecuted in situations where they are not.
Bullying UK, an international charity and 2005 recipient of the Daily Mirror British Pride Award, suggests that even kids who are adept at hiding their feelings from their parents will show definite signs if they are victims of bullying. If they frequently come home with torn clothes or cuts and bruises, if their grades take a sudden drop or if they are constantly "losing" personal items or lunch money, they are likely to be victims. Anxiety, social withdrawal and insomnia are other indicators.
The Schenectady City Schools website suggests that the parents of victims not only contact the school but keep their emotions in check when dealing with the child. Although they shouldn't encourage a victim to physically retaliate, they should never criticize a child for reacting to bullying in inappropriate ways. Empathizing with the child's feelings, parents should encourage the child to become involved in social activities and groups within and outside the school system that will help her build confidence. Parents can help children develop strategies for reporting bullying to adults, assuring them that such reporting is not "tattling."
With the ubiquity of the Internet, cyberbullying--attacks on students through online social networking sites, emails and text messages--has added a new dimension to an age-old problem. According to the National Crime Prevention Council, cyberbullying has all the same negative consequences for victims that bullying in the school does, but--because it happens at home on the computer--it makes the victim's home feel as unsafe as the school.