its early stages, it often becomes an accepted, or supported, norm within the group. unless action is taken, a "culture of bullying" is often perpetuated within a group for months, years, or longer. bystanders who have been able to establish their own "friendship group" or "support group" have been found to be far more likely to opt to speak out against bullying behavior than those who have not. in addition to communication of clear expectations that bystanders should intervene and increasing individual self-efficacy, there is growing research to suggest interventions should build on the foundation that bullying is morally wrong. among adults, being a bystander to workplace bullying was linked to depression. the bystander effect can be detrimental to the person being bullied. people are less likely to stand up for someone or something when others are around. in the case of cyberbullying, people that see bullying happen on social media are less likely to say something back, whether online or in person. people can have good intentions and want to help, but with no action nothing will be accomplished. "the act of others stepping in is what will stop bullying". to stop the bystander effect, people should be confident and stand up for what they believe in. do not worry what people think of you, rather think of what the benefits can be for the person being bullied. victims dr. cook says, "a typical victim is likely to be aggressive, lack social skills, think negative thoughts, experience difficulties in solving social problems, come from a negative family, school and community environments and be noticeably rejected and isolated by peers." victims often have characteristics such as being physically and mentally weak, as well as being easily distraught emotionally. they may also have physical characteristics that make them easier targets for bullies such as being overweight or having some type of physical deformity. boys are more likely to be victims of physical bullying while girls are more likely to be bullied indirectly. low levels of self-esteem has been identified as a frequent antecedent of bullying victimization. victims of traditional bullying tend to have lower global, social, body-related, and emotional self-esteem compared to uninvolved students. victims of cyberbullying, on the other hand, may not have lower self-esteem scores than uninvolved students but might have higher body-related self-esteem than both victims of traditional bullying and bullies. it has also been shown that victims are more likely to employ self-defeating or self-deprecating humor intended to entertain others at the expense of themselves and their own feelings. the results of a meta-analysis conducted by cook and published by the american psychological association in 2010 concluded the main risk factors for children and adolescents being bullied, and also for becoming bullies, are the lack of social problem-solving skills. children who are bullied often show physical or emotional signs, such as: being afraid to attend school, complaining of headaches or a loss of appetite, a lack of interest in school activities, spending time with friends or family, reluctance to go out in public for fear they may encounter their bullies in public places other than school, and having an overall sense of sadness. effects mona o'moore of the anti-bullying centre at trinity college in dublin, has written, "there is a growing body of research which indicates that individuals, whether child or adult, who are persistently subjected to abusive behavior are at risk of stress related illness which can sometimes lead to suicide." those who have been the targets of bullying can develop long-term emotional and behavioral problems. bullying can cause loneliness, depression, anxiety, lead to low self-esteem and increased susceptibility to illness. bullying has also been shown to cause maladjustment in young children, and targets of bullying who were also bullies themselves exhibit even greater social difficulties. a mental health report also found that bullying was linked to eating disorders, anxiety, body dysmorphia and other negative psychological effects. both victims and perpetrators have been shown to exhibit higher levels of loneliness. suicide even though there is evidence that bullying increases the risk of suicide, bullying alone does not cause suicide. depression is one of the main reasons why kids who are bullied die by suicide. it is estimated that between 15 and 25 children die by suicide every year in the uk alone because they are being bullied. certain groups seem to incur a higher risk for suicide, such as native americans, alaskan natives, asian americans, and lgbt people. when someone feels unsupported by family or friends, it can make the situation much worse for the victim. in a self-report study completed in new york by 9th through 12th graders, victims of bullying reported more depressive symptoms and psychological distress than those who did not experience bullying. all types of involvement in bullying among both boys and girls is associated with depression even a couple years later. another study that followed up with finnish teens two years after the initial survey showed that depression and suicidal ideation is higher with teens who are bullied than those who did not report experiencing bullying. a dutch longitudinal study on elementary students reported that boys who are bully-victims, who play both roles of a victim and a bully, were more likely to experience depression or serious suicidal ideation than the other roles, victims or bullies only, while girls who have any involvement in bullying have a higher level of risk for depression. in a study of high school students completed in boston, students who self reported being victims of bullying were more likely to consider suicide when compared to youth who did not report being bullied. the same study also showed a higher risk of suicidal consideration in youth who report being a perpetrator, victim, or victim-perpetrator. victims and victim-bullies are associated with a higher risk of suicide attempts. the place where youth live also appears to differentiate their bullying experiences such that those living in more urban areas who reported both being bullied and bullying others appear to show higher risk of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. a national survey given to american 6th through 10th grade students found that cyberbullying victims experience a higher level of depression than victims experiencing other forms of bullying. this can be related to the anonymity behind social media. if a teen is being bullied and is displaying symptoms of depression it should be questioned and interventions should be implemented. the danish study showed that kids who are bullied talked to their parents and teachers about it and some reported a decrease in bullying or a stop in the bullying after a teacher or parent intervened. the study emphasizes the importance of implementing program-collaborations in schools to have programs and anti-bullying interventions in place to prevent and properly intervene when it occurs. the study also shows the importance of having parents and teachers talk to the bullies about their bullying behavior in order to provide the necessary support for those experiencing bullying. while some people find it very easy to ignore a bully, others may find it very difficult and reach a breaking point. there have been cases of apparent bullying suicides that have been reported closely by the media. these include the deaths of ryan halligan, phoebe prince, dawn-marie wesley, nicola ann raphael, megan meier, audrie pott, tyler clementi, jamey rodemeyer, kenneth weishuhn, jadin bell, kelly yeomans, rehtaeh parsons, amanda todd, brodie panlock, jessica haffer, hamed nastoh, sladjana vidovic, april himes, cherice moralez and rebecca ann sedwick. according to the suicide awareness voices for education, suicide is one of the leading causes of death for youth from 15 to 24 years old. over 16 percent of students seriously consider suicide, 13 percent create a plan, and 8 percent have made a serious attempt. strength and wisdom some have argued that bullying can teach life lessons and instill strength. helene guldberg, a child development academic, sparked controversy when she argued that being a target of bullying can teach a child "how to manage disputes and boost their ability to interact with others", and that teachers should not intervene but leave children to respond to the bullying themselves. others, however, have pointed out that this is only true for normal peer conflicts but not for bullying cases. the teaching of anti-bullying coping skills to children, carers and teachers has been found to be an effective long-term means of reducing bullying incidence rates and a valuable skill-set for individuals. testosterone production statistically controlling for age and pubertal status, results indicated that on average verbally bullied girls produced less testosterone, and verbally bullied boys produced more testosterone than their nonbullied counterparts. dark triad main article: dark triad research on the dark triad (narcissism, machiavellianism, and psychopathy) indicate a correlation with bullying as part of evidence of the aversive nature of those traits. projection a bully may project his/her own feelings of vulnerability onto the target(s) of the bullying activity. despite the fact that a bully's typically denigrating activities are aimed at the bully's targets, the true source of such negativity is ultimately almost always found in the bully's own sense of personal insecurity and/or vulnerability. such aggressive projections of displaced negative emotions can occur anywhere from the micro-level of interpersonal relationships, all the way up through to the macro-level of international politics, or even international armed conflict. emotional intelligence bullying is abusive social interaction between peers which can include aggression, harassment, and violence. bullying is typically repetitive and enacted by those who are in a position of power over the victim. a growing body of research illustrates a significant relationship between bullying and emotional intelligence (ei). mayer et al., (2008) defines the dimensions of overall ei as "accurately perceiving emotion, using emotions to facilitate thought, understanding emotion, and managing emotion". the concept combines emotional and intellectual processes. lower emotional intelligence appears to be related to involvement in bullying, as the bully and/or the victim of bullying. ei seems to play an important role in both bullying behavior and victimization in bullying; given that ei is illustrated to be malleable, ei education could greatly improve bullying prevention and intervention initiatives. context internet cyberbullying is any bullying done through the use of technology. this form of bullying can easily go undetected because of lack of authoritative (including parental) supervision. because bullies can pose as someone else, it is the most anonymous form of bullying. cyberbullying includes abuse using email, instant messaging, text messaging, websites, and social networking sites. particular watchdog organizations have been designed to contain the spread of cyberbullying. disability disabled people are disproportionately affected by bullying and abuse, and such activity has been cited as a hate crime. the bullying is not limited to those who are visibly disabled, such as wheelchair users or physically deformed such as those with a cleft lip, but also those with developmental disabilities such as autism and developmental coordination disorder. there is an additional problem that those with learning disabilities are often not as able to explain things to other people, so are more likely to be disbelieved or ignored if they do complain. homosexuality gay bullying and gay bashing designate direct or indirect verbal or physical actions by a person or group against someone who is gay or lesbian, or perceived to be so due to rumors or because they are considered to fit gay stereotypes. gay and lesbian youth are more likely than straight youth to report bullying, as well as be bullied. law legal bullying is the bringing of a vexatious legal action to control and punish a person. legal bullying can often take the form of frivolous, repetitive, or burdensome lawsuits brought to intimidate the defendant into submitting to the litigant's request, not because of the legal merit of the litigant's position, but principally due to the defendant's inability to maintain the legal battle. this can also take the form of strategic lawsuit against public participation (slapp). it was partially concern about the potential for this kind of abuse that helped to fuel the protests against sopa and pipa in the united states in 2011 and 2012. military in 2000, the uk ministry of defence (mod) defined bullying as "the use of physical strength or the abuse of authority to intimidate or victimize others, or to give unlawful punishments". some argue that this behaviour