Stop the Bullying!!

         In honor of National Bullying Prevention month, I wanted to share a little bit of the numerous hours of research that I did on the topic.  It is a topic that is very near and dear to my heart.

       Bullying by definition is "to treat abusively; to affect by means of force or coercion." Did you know that “1 in 7 students in grades K-12 is either a bully or a victim of bullying.”  This could be your child.  Be warned bullying isn’t just physical violence and verbal torture.  It is now a vast problem on the internet, called cyberbullying.  This is the worst form of school aged bullying.  Our children can’t escape their abuse.  It follows them to school and back into the comfort of their home.  Home is a place for our children to feel safe and loved, but has become the breeding ground for cyberbullying.  Bullying has become a growing problem within our nation’s school systems, and drastic measures need to be taken to protect our youth. (Do Something)

    Bertha Manninen, Assistant Professor of Philosophy in the Division of Humanities, Arts and Cultral Studies in ASU's New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, was the victim of bullying.  At the young age of 17, Bertha tried to commit suicide and seriously injure a classmate that relentlessly bullied her at school and home.  Bertha’s story started in the second grade.  Being a little different, a girl who wore glasses, and was overweight and very quiet, made her the target of her first bully.  She was stabbed in thigh with a sharp pencil for no reason other than she was different, and she still carries the scare as a reminder of her mental anguish.  By the eighth grade, the bullying she received escalated to more violent episodes.  While walking in the hallway to the bathroom, Bertha was attacked by a girl who grabbed her around the neck and banged her head against the wall.  In her senior year of high school after being taunted for the millionth time, Bertha, snapped.  Her primary bully started his daily abuse with words, she had enough and threw a chair at him.  She missed him by inches.  He fled the sight and wanting to cause him harm she took off after him.  When she finally chased him down, she began choking him.  It was only by the graces of her friends pulling her off of him that he survived.  After years of physical, mental and emotional torture she tried to commit suicide.  Bertha says, “Years of bullying at school and physical, mental and emotional abuse led me to this very dark place.”  For the most part teachers and her parents knew nothing of her daily demise.  She said, “of the ones that did notice, they turned a blind eye.”  Her story is one of determination and perserance.  Despite her years of abuse, Bertha went on to earn a PhD in Philosophy in 2006 (Manninen).

        As we dig deeper into the numbers, it becomes clearer that the prevalence of bullying in our school systems is astounding.  Numbers and statistics do not lie.  Analyzing different statistical reports, Dr. Sheldon Horowitz, Director of Professional Services at the National Center of Learning Disabilities, informs that, "10 percent of children report having been the victims of severe bullying at least once during the school year and 75 percent report being bullied at least once during the past 10 months."  Every day, in fear of being bullied, more than 160,000 children skip school.  Dr. Horowitz states, "40-70 percent of bullying incidents in school take place during class breaks, in the lunchroom, bathroom, or hallways."  A staggering 30 percent of students who report being bullied have brought weapons to school.  Dr. Horowitz says, "60 percent of boys who engage in bullying behavior during grades 1-9 were convicted of a least one crime by age 24."  Typically an average bullying incident lasts 37 seconds, and it is reported that only 1 in 25 cases are brought to school staffs attention or have an intervention by school administration.  The message is clear, whether it is 10 percent or 75 percent, bullying is nationwide, often goes unnoticed, and can have instantaneous and life-long consequences. (Horowitz)
          

    We can respond in several effective ways to bullying in our school systems.  Parents, teachers and administration should respond to the bullying on the spot.  Responding promptly and consistently will send the message that the behavior is unacceptable.  Next, find out what happened to determine whether or not the situation was bullying or just a typical disagreement.  We can do this by separating the kids involved and getting the story from each of them and all other witnesses.  Brush up on the history between the children involved.  This will help to determine if it’s an isolated event or if it’s an ongoing problem.  Finally, show support to the child that has been bullied.  Listen to the child. Make sure he or she knows that you are there to give support. Be sure that the bullied child knows that the bullying is not their fault.  It’s important to give advice about what to do.  Find ways to work together to resolve the issue and to keep the child safe from future bullying. (U.S. Department of Health)(Trump)

           

        Bertha may have had a different school experience if steps had been in place to prevent bullying.  The most important step in preventing bullying is talking about it.  It’s imperative that we educate our youth about bullying and its consequences.  They should know how to safely stand up for themselves; assertively saying stop or walking away.  It’s vital that they know how to get help.  Spending 15 minutes a day talking to a child can give them reassurance that they can come to you with difficult problems.  Assessing bullying within your school is another step.  Conducting assessments will help to determine how prevalent bullying is among your students.  Bullying not only threatens our children's physical and emotional safety, but it also affects their ability to learn.  We can engage parents and everyone in the community so that we can work together to send a united message that bullying will not be tolerated.  The school administration can create policies and rules that will help to establish an environment that is conducive to safe learning.  Finally, building a safe environment.  Parents and school administration can establish an environment that requires respect and welcomes all students.  Teachers will set the tone in the classroom.  Managed behavior in the classroom means students are less likely to be a victim of bullying.  If we all work together to prevent bullying we offer our children a safer more enjoyable learning environment at school. (U.S. Department of Health)(Perkins)

    Broward County Public School system was the first school district in Florida to implement an anti-bullying policy.  The Department of Education will use this policy as a model for the state’s 66 other school districts.  Their policy prohibits bullying by any student or employee.  For those who participate in bullying consequences will be inevitable. “The policy sets forth guidelines for the identification and reporting of bullying…”  Teachers and staff are mandated to utilize numerous prevention and intervention activities.  While bullying still continues, the new policy has lessened the occurrences. (Broward County Public Schools)

        Some argue that we are blowing bullying out of proportion.  Larry Magid, an American journalist says, “Cyber bullying is a serious problem, but not an epidemic.”  Mr. Magid believes, “misinformation can actually have the unintended consequence of increasing bullying.”  A Study from the Crimes Against Children Research Center, reported that bullying has decreased over recent years, and that there is not any reliable studies that show it has increased. Author, Helene Guldberg argues that “bullying is not a serious problem for most children.”  She further states that, “most conflict between children is normal, healthy and positively impacts their development.”  Guldberg believes that anti-bullying campaigns push teachers and administration to intervene on children’s conflict on a daily basis. She feels that the daily interference threatens our children’s ability to cope with hurtful experiences and makes it more likely that they will be unable to cope with difficult situations in the future. (Magid)(Guldberg)

    Seokjin Jeong, a criminologist, analyzed data from 7,000 students from all 50 states.  The results he thought would be predictable were just the opposite.  Jeong said it was, “A very disappointing and a very surprising thing.  Our anti-bullying programs, either intervention or prevention does not work.”  His study concluded that children at schools with anti-bullying policies might be more likely to become a victim of bullying.  It also found that children who attended schools with no anti-bullying policies were less likely to be bullied. Jeong believes that, “until the message delivered by anti-bullying programs improve – some programs may be doing more harm than good.”(Jeong)

        While others believe that bullying has not reached the level of being an epidemic, I cannot help, but to see the issue through the eyes of its victims.  How can we look into the eyes of a physically, mentally and emotionally beaten down child and tell them, that this issue is being blown out of proportion?  Protecting our children is our job; our duty..  We can do this by creating policies within our school systems that will allow children like Bertha, or any other victim, the chance for a good education without the threat of being harmed. I dedicate this proposal to children I know personally who are currently dealing with the daily torment of bullying and all other children suffering the same agony, that we may find them peace.  Don’t our children deserve that?  Stand with me and Stop the Bullying!