When we think of a bully, we think of someone who picks on someone outside their friend group. However, this isn’t always the case. Bullying can occur inside a group of friends as well, and sometimes the individual being bullied might not even be aware of it.

A friend is someone who is supposed to lift your spirits when you’re down and be there for you no matter what, but sometimes friends do the exact opposite.

Sometimes friends tease each other in a good-natured way but, in order to protect one another’s feelings, there is a line that friends should not cross. If one friend is teasing another friend and the one being teased tells that person to stop, that person should stop. It can be hard to tell if a friend “really means it” when s/he is teasing or asking not to be teased and this is often the problem. A good rule to follow is if a person tells you to stop teasing – stop; don’t wait for the problem to grow out of control.

Bullying doesn’t only come in the form of name calling, teasing or even physical abuse. Bullying can also occur with a group of friends when they start to frequently freeze one person out, have inside jokes, or put everyone else’s needs before that person’s.

For example, say you are out with four other people, and all of a sudden one of your “friends” decides to pull the other three off to the side. Now you are standing there all by your lonesome. If this happens consistently, it’s bullying – in this case via isolation. Sometimes one friend can turn the whole group against another person in the group. This is cruel and wrong. This type of behavior can leave the victim feeling worthless, embarrassed, lonely, angry, and depressed.

A friendship should be based on mutual appreciation and caring. If one friend no longer enjoys being around the other, then s/he should separate him or herself. Don’t isolate or ridicule a person until s/he flees the group – this is wrong, and it is bullying.

Similarly, if one friend in a group is consistently a source of frustration or unnecessary drama, talk to him or her about it. Be mature. Taking passive aggressive action – like freezing her out – only causes harm and ill will.

Dealing with people who you don’t like or who don’t like you (as hard as this is to admit) means you have to lose some friends in the process, but this is okay. Your true friends will stick by your side.