Take a stand. Lend a hand. Stop bullying now! is the slogan for the Department of Defense Education Activity’s anti-bullying campaign, which began last year. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 28 percent of children ages 12 to 18 reported being bullied during the 2008-2009 school year.

Bullying, according to www.stopbullying.com, is repeated “unwanted, aggressive behavior that involves a real or perceived power imbalance.” There are three types of bullying: verbal, social and physical. Verbal includes teasing, taunting and threatening to cause harm. Social bullying involves behaviors such as starting rumors, embarrassing people in public and purposefully excluding people. Physical bullying involves contact such as spitting, kicking, punching and includes damaging or taking someone else’s property.

Many states have laws that address both bullying and cyber-bullying.

Georgia, for example, defines bullying as “an act which occurs on school property, on school vehicles, at designated school bus stops, at school-related functions or activities, or by use of data or software that is accessed through a computer, computer system, computer network, or other electronic technology of a local school system,” according to state law.