Bullying Awareness

What is Bullying? Bullying is aggressive behavior that is intentional and that involves an imbalance of power or strength. Typically, it is repeated over time. A child who is being bullied has a hard time defending him or herself.

Bullying can take many forms, such as hitting or punching (physical bullying); teasing or name calling (verbal bullying); intimidation using gestures or social exclusion (nonverbal bullying or emotional bullying); and sending insulting messages by (cyberbullying).

Facts about Bullying Stresses of being bullied can interfere with student's engagement and learning in school. Children and youth who are bullied are more likely than other children to be depressed, lonely, anxious, have low self-esteem, feel unwell, and think about suicide. Students who are bullied may fear going to school, using the bathroom, and riding on the school bus.

Facts about Bullying - 2 In a survey of third through eighth graders in 14 Massachusetts schools, more than 14 percent reported that they were often afraid of being bullied. Research shows that bullying can be a sign of other serious antisocial or violent behavior. Children and youth who frequently bully their peers are more likely than others to get into frequent fights, be injured in a fight, vandalize or steal property, drink alcohol, smoke, be truant from school, drop out of school, and carry a weapon.

Facts about Bullying - 3 Bullying also has an impact on other students at school who are bystanders to bullying. Bullying creates a climate of fear and disrespect in schools and has a negative impact on student learning.

Facts about Bullying – 4 An estimated 160,000 students miss school every day due to a fear of bullying or harassment. Bullying causes fear and creates a climate of disrespect in schools. It has a negative impact on student learning. There appears to be a strong relationship between bullying as a youth and experiencing legal and criminal problems as an adult. One study showed 60% of those characterized as a bully in grades 6-9 had one or more criminal convictions by age 24.

Facts about Bullying – 5 The National Threat Assessment Center found that the attackers in more than two thirds of 37 mass school shootings felt “persecuted, bullied, threatened, attached, or injured by others”. Recent surveys show that American children eight to 15 years of age rate bullying as a greater problem than racism, sexual pressure or the use of drugs & alcohol. Bullying takes place most often at school and where there is no or little adult supervision.

Facts about Bullying – 6 Bullying peaks in middle school and starts to decline in high school. However, it never disappears completely. Boys tend to bully boys and girls. Girls tend to bully other girls. In middle school, boys who are more passive or less physically mature than their peers are most often the target of bullies. Girls who physically mature early are most often the target of bullies.

Why People Bully People bully because other people do it. People bully because it makes them feel smarter, stronger and/or better than the person being bullied. People bully because they want to be accepted by a certain group. People bully because it keeps them from being bullied.

What is a Bystander? A bystander is a person who observes a conflict or unacceptable behavior. It might be something serious or minor, one-time or repeated, but the Bystander knows that the behavior is destructive or likely to make a bad situation worse.

What makes a bystander different from a victim or a bully? Bystanders are very different from either victims or bullies mainly because they make a decision to stay on the outside of the situation. Whereas victims and bullies are directly involved, bystanders think that avoiding the conflict altogether is either the right move or the best thing for them personally.

How exactly is someone a bystander? It is difficult to describe what makes a person a bystander. There are several things a person does, or does not do, that can make them a bystander. Purposefully ignoring the event entirely; Witnessing the event and choosing not to take the appropriate actions; Witnessing the event thinking something on the lines of, “at least that person wasn’t me.”

What is so wrong with being a bystander? Research on bullying has often concluded that it occurs most frequently in the presence of bystanders who choose to merely watch the events unfold instead of doing something. By being there, you may give bullies more incentive to embarrass and threaten their victims because they will have an audience.

What is so wrong with being a bystander? (2) Unfortunately, many people believe that being a bystander is the best option to take. There are many reasons for this. Some may believe that the bullying scenario is “none of their business,” and therefore they choose not to take sides because it seems too nosy; Others feel that stepping in will make them the new target for the bully, making it seem as though intervening would only make things worse;

What is so wrong with being a bystander? (3) There is also a fear that intervening in a bullying situation by telling a teacher or a counselor will give them the unwanted stigma of being a “tattletale;” Bystanders may feel that intervening will also do little. This is especially true in students who have approached teachers before regarding bullying, only to find that no action was taken.

If you are in a bystander situation, how do you intervene? Bystanders need to realize that bullying is a serious problem, and that a lack of action on their part will only give bullies more opportunities to torment their victims. Some argue that close to 50% of all bullying events stop when a bystander decides to intervene (Dr. Ken Rigby), which just further shows the importance of intervening.Dr. Ken Rigby

Things to Keep in Mind When You Witness Bullying (1) Don’t assume that this is a private matter between the bully and the victim. Incidents of bullying, especially those that are frequent, are often not because of personal reasons; Don’t combat violence with violence. It takes a lot of courage for someone to step up on behalf of a bullied person. However, don’t use insults or physical violence to defend the victim. Now is not the time to show off. You will most likely only make it harder for the victim

Things to Keep in Mind When You Witness Bullying (2) Do not get discouraged if you have already talked to the teachers and nothing happened. Keep trying. Teachers and other school authorities will respond if they find out that the bullying is becoming a recurrent problem. Try talking to other teachers and counselors so that you can get more people involved in trying to stop the situation; If you feel that this is none of your business, put yourself in the victim’s shoes. Bullying can cause severe anxiety, depression, anger, and frustration in a person, and can turn their life into a nightmare. You wouldn’t want to feel that way.

Is stepping in yourself the only way? You should never step in to protect a bullied victim if it might also put your own safety at risk. If this is the case, you should talk to a teacher, counselor, or even the school principal if the problem keeps happening. Be sure to ask if you can speak to them in private, in case you are afraid of being the next target for bullies. Even if you are not directly stopping the bullying, by taking action and going to seek outside help, you are taking steps away from being a bystander.