Monday, November 14, 2005
November 14th through 20th, 2005 has been designated Bullying Awareness Week in Canada. (Hey, I live in Minnesota and that's pretty close, eh.)
According to the National Association of School Psychologists, bullying is the most common form of violence in our society. In a national survey of students in grades six through ten in 2001, 13% reported bullying others, 11% reported being a victim of bullies, and another 6% said that they both bullied others and were bullied themselves. These numbers mean that over five million children are affected by bullying.
With all the issues of violence and school shootings in recent years, the issue of bullying has become very relevant. It is not only the bully who can terrorize our community. Some bullied children, whose cries went unheard, whose pains were ignored, whose oppression went unabated and unrelieved, have struck back with a vengeance and sorrow. Others have committed suicide feeling there was no other way out of the pain and torture heaped on them by their tormentors, no one to turn to, and no way to tell.
Breaking the cycle of violence in our homes, schools and communities involves much more than identifying and stopping the bully. It requires that we as caregivers and parents examine why and how a child becomes a bully or the target of a bully as well as the role the bystanders play in perpetuating the cycle.
Here are some excellent resources for you...
- Bullies2Buddies has some great free resources on their website.
- Bullyng.org has lots of information about how you can help.
- The National Education Association has some great information about bullying.
- Stop Bullying Now is a website geared towards youth, but still has some good information.
- The Bullying Awareness Network shares a lot of news articles about bullying.
- Bullying At School is another information site.
- AntiBully is a site with a lot of information directed primarily towards youth.
Remember these facts:
Fact: Bullying is a serious problem in our schools and in our communities.
Fact: Young people who are scared, have increased trouble learning.
Fact: Bullying occurs in school playgrounds every 7 minutes and once every 25 minutes in class –(Pepler et al., 1997)
Fact: Bullying usually involves bystanders who give the bully power by not acting, by silently watching or even encouraging the bully. -85% of bullying episodes occur in the context of a peer group -(Atlas and Pepler, 1997, Craig and Pepler, 1997).
Fact: -Bullying stops in less than 10 seconds, most of the time when peers intervene on behalf of the victim. -(Pepler et al., 1997). Intervene does NOT mean taking on or trying to confront or fight the bully, but rather, befriending the victim, ignoring the bully, talking and walking away with the victim.
