Effectively preventing and responding to bullying at a youth-serving organization requires that we understand the difference between everyday conflict, which is inevitable among children, and the more serious problem of bullying.

Conflict can be defined as a struggle between two or more children who are in disagreement. Most conflicts arise in the moment because children, of the same relative amount of power, see a particular situation from two different points of view. What differentiates conflict from bullying is that the conflict is usually resolved, doesn’t develop into a pattern, and both children are equally upset. Typically, bullying can be defined by three specific characteristics: