From Slam Books to the Global Village - How to Bully-Proof Your Kids
Bullying and violence among youth is on the rise.
30% of 6th through 10th graders report being bullied or have bullied others with some frequency according to an ABC News study.
720,000 10-24 year olds are treated in emergency rooms every year as a result of violence.
The recent accounts of children who have committed suicide as a result of being bullied has drawn attention to the connection between, being bullied and suicide, now being called bullycide.
Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people, resulting in about 4,400 deaths per year, and according to the CDC, for every suicide among young people, there are at least 100 suicide attempts.
Over 14 percent of high school students have considered suicide, and almost 7 percent have attempted it.
Unfortunately, adults often don't intervene in bullying situations even when it's their own child who is being victimized.
Many adults are misinformed and uneducated about the effects of bullying and youth violence.
All too often adults subscribe to an old- fashioned notion that children must learn to solve their own problems, or that bullying and fighting are a normal part of life.
Still, other adults remember bullying some strange kid when they were young and think that the child suffered no ill effects, so why get involved.
The interesting thing is if you asked those same adults to stop and think for a minute, they could probably remember a time in their lives when someone had the power to humiliate or intimidate them and how bad they felt or how afraid they were.
In the early 1960's Slam Books were all the rage in high schools.
Students would write anonymous comments about one another in a spiral bound notebook that was passed from student to student, each student adding his or her comment..
Slam books were so named, because when the teacher approached, the student slammed the note book shut for fear of detection.
As insidious and hurtful as slam books were, they usually traveled no farther than a select group of students.
Rarely did they even fall into the hands of students in a different "home room".
Today, many students attend schools outside of their neighborhoods.
Electronic media has exploded and therefore children are able to carry rumors far and wide.
We've gone from a few hateful words written in a notebook read by fifteen to twenty students, to uploading images and messages to the Internet where millions of people across the globe view the material within seconds.
These factors cause bullying to be far more sinister and dangerous than in the past.
By definition, bullying occurs when one is picked on over and over again by an individual or group with more power than the victim in terms of physical strength or social standing.
Bullying can be • physical-hitting, slapping, fist fighting • verbal-insulting, threatening • emotional-demeaning or forcing a person do something he or she doesn't want to do • social-exclusion Cyber bullying is using cell phones, Instant Messages, email messages, Face Book or Twitter for posting insults or mean, vulgar or threatening messages.
Cyber bullying also includes • posting sensitive, private information and/or pretending to be someone else to make the victim look bad or weak.
Adult authority figures are essential to resolving bullying issues.
Bullying should not be viewed as a test of character for the victim.
Problem resolution skills, however effective in other situations are not applicable to bullying.
These techniques assume the victim is a part of the problem to be resolved.
Bullies simply victimize others because they perceive an imbalance of power.
Intimating others makes the bully feel powerful.
Adults must create an atmosphere of trust and safety where young people are comfortable talking about what's going in their lives.
Empowering your child and encouraging positive self esteem is simply the best way to bully-proof your child.
Help your child make friends in the neighborhood or at school and and encourage him or her to engage in activities that they excel in.
Empowering young people and encouraging positive self esteem is simply the best way to bully-proof your child.
• Listen to your child, trust their judgment • If your child tells you he or she is being "picked on", believe the situation is serious,; it has taken a lot of courage for the child to speak up • Never tell the child to ignore it, what the child hears is that you are going to ignore it If your child is being bullied: • Resist the urge to call the other parent, many times this makes the situation worse • Become familiar with the school's policies on bullying and violence • Talk to your child's teacher or go directly to the principal Remember, bullies enjoy their perceived power over others.
When a child is confident he or she takes their power back.
The bully gets no reward from the behavior and moves on.
Teach your child that he or she has the right to feel safe at school, and the power to stop bullies.
For more information: Taking the H.
E.
A.
T..
..
against youth violence http://takingtheheat.
webs.
com Stop Bullying Now! http://www.
stopbullyingnow.
hrsa.
gov
30% of 6th through 10th graders report being bullied or have bullied others with some frequency according to an ABC News study.
720,000 10-24 year olds are treated in emergency rooms every year as a result of violence.
The recent accounts of children who have committed suicide as a result of being bullied has drawn attention to the connection between, being bullied and suicide, now being called bullycide.
Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people, resulting in about 4,400 deaths per year, and according to the CDC, for every suicide among young people, there are at least 100 suicide attempts.
Over 14 percent of high school students have considered suicide, and almost 7 percent have attempted it.
Unfortunately, adults often don't intervene in bullying situations even when it's their own child who is being victimized.
Many adults are misinformed and uneducated about the effects of bullying and youth violence.
All too often adults subscribe to an old- fashioned notion that children must learn to solve their own problems, or that bullying and fighting are a normal part of life.
Still, other adults remember bullying some strange kid when they were young and think that the child suffered no ill effects, so why get involved.
The interesting thing is if you asked those same adults to stop and think for a minute, they could probably remember a time in their lives when someone had the power to humiliate or intimidate them and how bad they felt or how afraid they were.
In the early 1960's Slam Books were all the rage in high schools.
Students would write anonymous comments about one another in a spiral bound notebook that was passed from student to student, each student adding his or her comment..
Slam books were so named, because when the teacher approached, the student slammed the note book shut for fear of detection.
As insidious and hurtful as slam books were, they usually traveled no farther than a select group of students.
Rarely did they even fall into the hands of students in a different "home room".
Today, many students attend schools outside of their neighborhoods.
Electronic media has exploded and therefore children are able to carry rumors far and wide.
We've gone from a few hateful words written in a notebook read by fifteen to twenty students, to uploading images and messages to the Internet where millions of people across the globe view the material within seconds.
These factors cause bullying to be far more sinister and dangerous than in the past.
By definition, bullying occurs when one is picked on over and over again by an individual or group with more power than the victim in terms of physical strength or social standing.
Bullying can be • physical-hitting, slapping, fist fighting • verbal-insulting, threatening • emotional-demeaning or forcing a person do something he or she doesn't want to do • social-exclusion Cyber bullying is using cell phones, Instant Messages, email messages, Face Book or Twitter for posting insults or mean, vulgar or threatening messages.
Cyber bullying also includes • posting sensitive, private information and/or pretending to be someone else to make the victim look bad or weak.
Adult authority figures are essential to resolving bullying issues.
Bullying should not be viewed as a test of character for the victim.
Problem resolution skills, however effective in other situations are not applicable to bullying.
These techniques assume the victim is a part of the problem to be resolved.
Bullies simply victimize others because they perceive an imbalance of power.
Intimating others makes the bully feel powerful.
Adults must create an atmosphere of trust and safety where young people are comfortable talking about what's going in their lives.
Empowering your child and encouraging positive self esteem is simply the best way to bully-proof your child.
Help your child make friends in the neighborhood or at school and and encourage him or her to engage in activities that they excel in.
Empowering young people and encouraging positive self esteem is simply the best way to bully-proof your child.
• Listen to your child, trust their judgment • If your child tells you he or she is being "picked on", believe the situation is serious,; it has taken a lot of courage for the child to speak up • Never tell the child to ignore it, what the child hears is that you are going to ignore it If your child is being bullied: • Resist the urge to call the other parent, many times this makes the situation worse • Become familiar with the school's policies on bullying and violence • Talk to your child's teacher or go directly to the principal Remember, bullies enjoy their perceived power over others.
When a child is confident he or she takes their power back.
The bully gets no reward from the behavior and moves on.
Teach your child that he or she has the right to feel safe at school, and the power to stop bullies.
For more information: Taking the H.
E.
A.
T..
..
against youth violence http://takingtheheat.
webs.
com Stop Bullying Now! http://www.
stopbullyingnow.
hrsa.
gov