Motivation for this, he thinks, is due to the tall poppy syndrome, where if you don't fit the normal peer profile, every attempt is made to make you do so. Fuller's research turned up some new and curious trends. Verbal bullying is on the he said. Whereas, physical bullying is decreasing. In a way, this is easy to understand.
Physical bullying is really about short term outcomes.
Verbal bullying is more insidious and lasting. There are no figures to measure the extent of cyber bullying. At a conference on children's Oral Culture at Sheffield University earlier this year, Elizabeth Grugeon, senior lecturer in teacher education at De Montfort University in Bedford, suggested girls are quickly becoming more proactive in bullying through verbal comments. Those cheerful, indeed innocent, appearing playground games of dancing, clapping and singing may actually be, so Grugeon says, mantras of abuse pertaining to boys such as Girls go to Mars to get more stars. Boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider.