Stopbullyingnow09's Blog

Take a Stand Against Bullying!

stopbullyingnow09 — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:26:46 +0000

According to dictionary.com, the definition of a bully is as follows:

Bully: A blustering, quarrelsome, overbearing person who habitually badgers or intimidates smaller or weaker people.

In the past ten years, there have been 167 deaths related to bullying. This blog provides information on bullying, statistics related to bullying, and ways that you can recognize and prevent bullying from happening in the future!

Some Statistics

stopbullyingnow09 — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:50:28 +0000

30 Percent of all kids are bullied at some point in their lives, are considered the bully, or both.
In a survey conducted in 2001, called Bullying Behaviors Among U.S. Youth, it is reported that in students grades 6-10, 13% reported bullying others, 11% reported being the target of a bully, and another 6% said that they have bullied others and were also bullied themslves.
Bullies are in fact very confident with high self esteem. They generally have aggressive personalities, with a strong need to dominate over others who are usually smaller in size than them.
Bullies are more likely to dislike and do poorly in school.
They also are more likely to fight, drink, and smoke than other peers their age.
Kids who are bullied tend to be shy, reserved, lack confidence, and tend to not defend themselves in these types of situations.
According to the study, Bullying: Perceptions of adolescent victims in the Midwestern USA, the main reason student’s claim they are bullied is because they simply “don’t fit in.
Bullying affects student’s ability to concentrate in school, can cause nervousness, anxiousness, and self esteem issues.
There are many long term affects for children affected by bullying. They are said to have higher rates of depression, and lower self esteem than other adults.

Why do students bully?

stopbullyingnow09 — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:39:57 +0000

There are lots of different factors that can contribute to the reason some students bully. Individual reasons, family issues, peer relationships, school and community factors, etc., are all elements that can contribute to a student bullying.

Some examples of family issues that contribute to bullying:

a lack of warmth and/or attention from parents or guardians.
harsh discipline
lack of parental supervision
parental modeling of bullying behavior

Some examples of peer issues that contribute to bullying:

friends who have positive attitudes about violence
Having peers who bully
peers who use bullying to make their social status higher, enhance power, etc.
peers who use bullying to deflect from their own taunting and aggression that is placed upon them.

Media, television, movies, etc., can also contribute to bullying in children and adolescents.

Other factors include wanting to be popular, showing off, getting attention, the desire to make people afraid of them, jealousy, etc.

http://www.education.com/reference/article/why-do-kids-bully/

http://www.police.govt.nz/service/yes/nobully/bully_info.html#three

Boy, 13, ‘hanged himself after he was bullied’

stopbullyingnow09 — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:30:53 +0000

Sam Leeson

How to Recognize Bullying

stopbullyingnow09 — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:47:45 +0000

If a students shows signs of being bullied, take action immediately and put a stop to disruptive behavior! If someone is being bullied they may:

be frightened of walking to and from school
change their usual route
not want you to go on the school bus
beg you to drive them to school
be unwilling to go to school (or be ‘school phobic’)
feel ill in the mornings
begin truanting
begin doing poorly in their school work
come home regularly with clothes or books destroyed
come home starving (bully taking dinner money)
become withdrawn, start stammering, lack confidence
become distressed and anxious, stop eating
attempt or threaten suicide
cry themselves to sleep, have nightmares
have their possessions go missing
ask for money or start stealing (to pay the bully)
continually ‘lose’ their pocket money
refuse to talk about what’s wrong
have unexplained bruises, cuts, scratches
begin to bully other children, siblings
become aggressive and unreasonable
give improbable excuses for any of the above

Don’t wait, act now! If you know someone is being bullied do something to help.

Prevention

stopbullyingnow09 — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:08:58 +0000

Some different ideas for what adults can do to prevent bullying in schools:

Teachers can devote class time each week (20-30 minutes) to discuss bullying and improving peer relationships.
Intervene consistently and in a timely manner to bullying behaviors. This behavior should never be ignored. Meetings should be held with both the bully and the target to obtain accurate information and to discuss the behavior.
Increase adult supervision in bullying “hot spots.” These spots tend to be those in which adults are usually not present.
Develop clear rules about bullying and strictly follow them.
School administration should provide teacher in-service training to prepare teachers for bullying and the protocol to follow in these instances.
Form support groups within the school that center around bully prevention and awareness.
Focus on the school environment. Make the social environment a positive one and enhance school spirit