The Truth About Bullying in College

When you think of bullying, you might think of a kid getting picked on at the playground, or maybe you imagine a group of middle school girls telling someone they can’t sit at the popular table. The images that pop up when we hear the word “bullying” are rarely in the college setting, but just because you aren’t in grade school anymore doesn’t mean bullying is over. In many ways, bullying can get harder to deal with in college — you’re living out of the house and don’t have your family to turn to for support, plus you’re already stressed about everything from money to a heavy course load.
 
So how do you deal when your roommate is going out of her way to make your life miserable or someone won’t stop sending you nasty texts? Her Campus talked to Rachel Simmons, New York Times best-selling author of Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls, and collegiettes™ who have dealt with bullying, to find out how you can combat aggressive, hurtful behavior.
 
What Does Bullying Look Like in College?
 
Logging on to Bullying
As collegiettes™, we spend a large portion of our day on the Internet. For many of us, it’s the main way to catch up with friends, flirt with a crush, or study for a final. It’s also becoming a tool for bullying. A recent study from HealthDay News found that 15 percent of college students said they were bullied while at college, and 22 percent reported being cyber-bullied. Another study found that 9 out of 10 teenagers have witnessed bullying on a social networking site.
 
Lauren*, a junior at Bucknell, faced cyber-bullying this past year.  “I was tagged in a picture with a girl’s ex-boyfriend,” she says. “His arm was around me and we were being flirty in the picture. The next thing I knew, I was getting Facebook messages from six different girls, calling me a b*tch and a slut.”
 
Lauren chose to ignore the messages and pursue her crush. “At first, I honestly just thought it was sad and pathetic on their part,” she says. “I wasn’t going to let them change the way I acted. I’ve dealt with catty girls before. I assumed they would get over it.”
 
The more Lauren talked to her crush, the more intense the cyber-bullying got. She changed the privacy settings on her Facebook, but the girls found her cell phone number and began texting her the same cruel names. Lauren is still dealing with this situation and, although the bullying has subsided, she still gets nervous when she gets a text from a number she doesn’t know.
 
Cyberbullying has seen a major rise in the past few years. Simmons is adamant that you don’t try and respond to the online cruelty. “Block the individuals who are hurting you and prevent them from contacting you. It's best to turn off your devices, too, even for a day or so, to give yourself some room to breathe,” she says. “If the bullying is severe and constant, you may be entitled to press harassment charges with law enforcement. It wouldn't hurt to call your local precinct and ask if they can do anything.” Simmons also suggests talking to the dean or the assistant dean about the issue. If you’re not comfortable doing that, she strongly urges that you go to your school’s counseling services to talk about the emotional effects of what is going on.