Female friendship bullies – research

Research from the University of Auckland has shown “friendship bullying” is common among female high school students with nearly half of Kiwi girls saying they have been picked on by their friends, The NZ Herald reports.

Dr Ro Lange, researcher and school counsellor, said 44 per cent of the 1300 Year 10 girls involved in the study had been bullied by friends.

More than 85 per cent had experienced at least one type of bullying such as being ignored or excluded.

Dr Lange said to The NZ Herald one bullying form is group bullying, which involved a group ostracising one member. Another is triadic group bullying, which involved a third person befriending two best friends and leading to an “awful tug of war” that “just devastates the people involved”.

Puberty was part of the reason bullying among friends happened in high schools, Dr Lange found.

Patrick Walsh, president of the Secondary Principals’ Association was not surprised by the results as female bullying was a “systemic problem” in schools.

Bullying often tended to be over things like jealousy or boyfriends but wasn’t easily fixed, he said.