Short answers, pulled from the story.
Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing, comments, or threats to abuse, aggressively dominate, or intimidate others. The key distinction from ordinary conflict is a perceived imbalance of physical or social power between the parties involved. Ordinary conflict does not require that imbalance; bullying is defined by it.
Bullying is divided into four basic types: psychological (sometimes called emotional or relational), verbal, physical, and cyber. A single incident can fall into more than one category. Verbal bullying is among the most common, while cyberbullying typically begins in early adolescence when mobile devices become more widely available.
Research links bullying to the dark triad traits of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Psychopathy has the strongest correlation, in both traditional and cyberbullying, because aggression linked to psychopathy is more likely to be unprovoked. Psychologist Roy Baumeister also identifies inflated but fragile egos as a common characteristic of people prone to abusive behavior.
It is estimated that between 15 and 25 children die by suicide every year in the UK because they are being bullied. Depression is identified as one of the main reasons why bullied children die by suicide, as bullying alone is not considered a sufficient cause.
The first known documented use of the phrase "workplace bullying" appeared in 1992 in a book by Andrea Adams titled Bullying at Work: How to Confront and Overcome It. Workplace bullying is distinct from school bullying because perpetrators often operate within the established rules of their organization rather than breaking them.
A 2019 study by McCallion and Feder found that school-based anti-bullying programs may lower the incidence of bullying by 25%. One specific program called Media Heroes showed that educating teachers on bullying behaviors helped them reduce bullying among students. Anti-bullying laws have also been enacted in 23 of the 50 US states.