1. Bullying Presentation

2. Bullying Questions How many people in this audience have or have known someone who has been bullied? What do you think of when you hear the word bullying?

3. Definition of Bullying is any ongoing physical or verbal mistreatment where there is an imbalance of power and the victim (target) is repeatedly exposed to negative actions on the part of one or more people. The behavior is intentional, hurtful, and repeated. Violence is any mean word, look, sign, or act that hurts a person’s body, feelings, or things.

4. Bullying Statistics for school age children and youth According to USA Today, 1 in 6 American school children report being bullied verbally, physically, or online (cyber bullying) Teachers notice and intervene in only 1 out of 25 episodes. Many times, teachers are unaware of bullying in the school. (need to communicate with our kids school and become involved when necessary).

5. Bullying Statistics for school age children and youth In 2012, it was estimated that 13 million American children are teased, taunted, or physically assaulted by their peers. According to statistics reported by ABC News, nearly 30 percent of students are either bullies or victims of bullying, and 160,000 kids stay home from school every day because of fear of bullying.

6. Types of Bullying Direct – face to face -Verbal – Insults, putdowns, teasing, harassment. -Physical – shoving, pushing, hitting, assault. -Psychological – Rolling eyes, dirty looks, uttering threats, extortion Indirect – Behind someone’s back -Exclusion – leaving out or shunning. -Relational Aggression – telling people not to be friends with the person -Gossip – Lowering people’s opinion about the person. Spreading rumors and lies about someone. Did you hear?

7. Warning Signs Isolating or disconnecting Physical Complaints – stomachaches, headaches, loss of appetite… Down mood, loss of interest, anxiety Declining Grade Complaints about going to school Nightmares or other sleep problems Sudden Change in Language (I’m a loser..)

8. Bullying is not restricted to culture, school, age, status, or geography. Slavery

9. Modern Slavery

10. The Holocaust The Holocaust began in January 1933 when Hitler came to power and technically ended on May 8, 1945 In the initial stages of the destruction of European Jews, the Nazis forced Jews into ghettos and instigated a policy of planned, indirect annihilation by denying them the basic means of survival. In the Warsaw ghetto in Poland, the largest ghetto, about 1% of the population died each month. Between 1933 and 1945, more than 11 million men, women, and children were murdered in the Holocaust. Approximately six million of these were Jews. The majority of people who were deported to labor and death camps were transported in cattle wagons. These wagons did not have water, food, a toilet, or ventilation.

11. The Holocaust Hitler was able to build a network of over 1,000 concentration camps in several ways. First, he established a legal basis for acts of brutal inhumanity by creating the Enabling Act, which allowed him to do whatever he wanted. Second, he used propaganda and media to dehumanize Jewish people and, finally, he used a system of brutality to terrorize the people into submission. At some concentration camps, selected prisoners were used for medical experimentation, including exposing the body to various conditions such as high altitude, freezing temperatures, and extreme atmospheric pressure. Others underwent experiments with diseases such as hepatitis, tuberculosis, and malaria.

12. Hitler’s Regime Historians note that Hitler’s regime is particularly chilling because it reveals how a modern, advanced, cultured society can rapidly sink into barbarity and genocide. In short, Hitler’s dictatorship reveals what we are capable of.

13. Edmund Burke – “All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.” What should our response be to bullying?

14. Our Response Teach Empathy Teach Skills to our children – Using humor, avoiding or walking away, assertiveness skills Encourage other bystanders to help stop the bullying incident by being assertive. Be a friend to someone who is alienated. Report or talk to a trusted official – principle, school board, superintendant, pastor… Educate others about bullying Promote anti-bullying campaigns in schools…

15. Our Response Be attentive – notice any changes in behavior, mood… Ask questions – What was school like? I’ve noticed you’ve been sad… Listen - sometimes kids communicate with more than words. Reiterate your Role of Love -Children may not confide in an adult because of embarrassment, shame, or fear that the bullying will intensify. Let them know that you love them and are on their side. You laugh when they laugh and you cry when they cry. Their hurts hurt you also.

16. Our Response Speak Truth into their Hearts -Satan is the father of lies. Bullies speak lies into our children’s identity. Counteract those lies with continual truth from the Word of God. Have children hide that Truth into their hearts. Model that Truth with every interaction you have with a child. Discuss why people bully, teach against bullying, and tell them how God abhors it. Teach them to know how much God loves them specifically and to receive their value from His Word.

17. Our Response to Bullies Do Not Enable – Do not protect a person from the consequences of their actions out of a sense of love, compassion, fear, or survival instincts. -Hold the person accountable for their behavior. Do not Tolerate – Do not accept violence or bullying as the norm. (This is just part of life; It happens all the time.) Do not Ignore, rationalize, or minimize - (It will make him/her stronger, Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me; Boys will be boys, all teenagers do this…) Provide counseling assistance to bullies.

18. When and How Should Bullying be Addressed? As soon as it occurs Peer mediation is not effective -Bullying is not a conflict, but is abuse. -There is not a question of “some right” or “some wrong” on both sides. -The “playing field” or balance of power is not level. -Adults need to claim responsibility and take action to help.

19. Consequences of Bullying Academic Consequences - Every day 160,000 American children miss school for fear of being bullied. Emotional Consequences – Depression, Anxiety, Suicide -Bully victims are between 2 to 9 times more likely to consider suicide than non-victims, according to studies by Yale University. A study in Britain found that at least half of suicides among young people are related to bullying. Bullying is a leading factor in suicide among kids 11-16 years old.

20. Consequences of Bullying Increased Violence and Homicides - 71% of school shooters had been the victims of bullying Legal - By age 24, 60% of bullies have been charged with a crime.

21. Psalm 139 – Every Life is Precious to God 1) For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. O LORD, You have searched me and known [me]. 2) You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. 3)You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. 4) For [there is] not a word on my tongue, [But] behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. 5) You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. 6) [Such] knowledge [is] too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot [attain] it. 7) Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8) If I ascend into heaven, You [are] there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. 9) If I take the wings of the morning, [And] dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10) Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me. 11) If I say, "Surely the darkness shall fall on me," Even the night shall be light about me; 12) Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light [are] both alike [to You]. 13) For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb.

22. Psalm 139 – Every Life is Precious to God 14) I will praise You, for I am fearfully [and] wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And [that] my soul knows very well. 15) My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, [And] skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16) Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When [as yet there were] none of them. 17) How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! 18) [If] I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You. 19) Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God! Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men. 20) For they speak against You wickedly; Your enemies take [Your name] in vain. 21) Do I not hate them, O LORD, who hate You? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? 22) I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies. 23) Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; 24)And see if [there is any] wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.

23. What Does God Say About Bullying Mar 12:30-31 NKJV – 30) 'And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This [is] the first commandment. 31) "And the second, like [it, is] this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these.“ -Treat others the way you want to be treated. God is Close to the Brokenhearted. Psa 34:18 KJV - The LORD [is] nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

24. The Power of Our Words Are we Using Our Words to Build Someone Up or Tear Someone Down? -Jam 3:2-18 NKJV – 2) For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he [is] a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. 3) Indeed, we put bits in horses' mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. 4) Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. 5) Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! 6) And the tongue [is] a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. 7) For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8) NKJV - But no man can tame the tongue. [It is] an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9) With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. 10) Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.

25. The Power of Our Words 11) Does a spring send forth fresh [water] and bitter from the same opening? 12) Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.13) Who [is] wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct [that] his works [are done] in the meekness of wisdom. 14) But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15) This wisdom does not descend from above, but [is] earthly, sensual, demonic. 16) For where envy and self-seeking [exist], confusion and every evil thing [are] there. 17) But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18) Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

26. Our Response – It’s All About the Heart Pray that God would search the heart. Pray for a heartfelt conviction and repentance where needed. Pray that we would reflect the Love of God in our words and actions. Pray God would break through the hard heart and give us a heart after Him. Pray to become more Christ like. WWJD