Why Talk About Bullying? Bullying Is encountered by the majority of students. Can cause serious harm to its victims. Has been associated with victims’ acts of extreme violence against themselves and others in recent years. Can be stopped

A. Aggressive behavior or intentional harm B. It is carried out repeatedly and over time C. It occurs with an imbalance of power, real or perceived, between the bully and the victim. What is Bullying?

Bullying can be: DIRECT Face to face face Verbal Insults, putdowns, teasing, harassment Physical Shoves, pushes, hitting, assault Psychological Rolling eyes, dirty looks, uttering threats, extortion

Bullying can be: Relational Aggression Telling people not to be friends with a victim INDIRECT Behind someone’s back Exclusion Leaving out Shunning Gossip Lowering people’s opinion About the victim

CYBER BULLYING IS… Being cruel to others by sending or posting harmful material using technological means; an individual or group that uses information and communication involving electronic technologies to facilitate deliberate and repeated harassment or threat to an individual or group. Also known as: ‘Electronic Bullying’ & ‘Online Social Cruelty’

CYBER BULLY CATEGORIES {Parry Aftab. Esq., Executive Director, WiredSafety.org} “Inadvertent”  Role-play  Responding  May not realize it’s cyber bullying “Vengeful Angel”  Righting wrongs  Protecting themselves “Mean Girls”  Bored; Entertainment  Ego based; promote own social status  Often do in a group  Intimidate on and off line  Need others to bully; if isolated, stop “Power-Hungry”  Want reaction  Controlling with fear “Revenge of the Nerds” (“Subset of Power-Hungry”)  Often Victims of school-yard bullies  Throw ‘cyber-weight’ around  Not school-yard bullies like Power-Hungry & Mean Girls

CYBER BULLYING LEGAL ISSUES Criminal Law Limits The following kinds of speech can lead to arrest & prosecution: Making threats of violence to people or their property Engaging in coercion Making obscene or harassing phone calls Harassment or stalking Hate or bias crimes Creating or sending sexually explicit images of teens Sexual exploitation Taking a photo of someone in place where privacy is expected General (Willard, 2005)

ESTERO, Fla. — Two teenage girls have been charged under Florida's law against cyberbullying after authorities say they created a Facebook account in a classmate's name and posted a faked nude photograph of her. The 16- and 15-year-old high school students were charged Wednesday after a lengthy investigation into two Facebook accounts created in April. They each face a felony charge of aggravated stalking under a 2008 law passed after a student suicide blamed on bullying. Officials say the accounts included a photo of a nude female doctored to add the victim's head. Authorities say the victim was ridiculed by classmates after the pages became active. The teens have been ordered to serve 21 days of home confinement and will be arraigned on the charges Feb. 8, 2011.

Even if you are not the bully, what part do you play?

Bully Starts the bullying and takes an active partFollower/Henchman Takes an active part, but does not start the bullying Supporter Supports the bullying but does not take an active part Passive Supporter (Possible Bully) Likes the bullying but does not display open support Disengaged Onlooker Possible Defender Dislikes the bullying and thinks he ought to help but doesn’t Defender of the Victim Dislikes the bullying and helps or tries to help the victim

Is it Teasing or Taunting? 1.The teaser and the person teased swap roles with ease. 2.The teaser doesn’t intend to hurt the other. 3.The teaser believes in the basic dignity of everyone involved. 4.The teasing is meant to get BOTH persons to laugh. 5.The teasing is discontinued when the person teased becomes upset or objects to the teasing. 6.The teasing is only a small part of the activities shared by the two. TEASING:

Is it Teasing or Taunting? Taunting: 1.Is intended to harm. 2.Is based on an imbalance of power in is one-sided. 3.Involves humiliating, cruel, demeaning, or bigoted comments thinly disguised as jokes. 4.Includes laughter direct at the target not with the target. 5.Is meant to hurt the self-worth of the target. 6.Induces fear of further taunting or can lead to physical bullying. 7.Continues especially when targeted kid becomes distressed or objects to the taunt.

What Bullying is NOT! Mutual conflict: there is an argument or disagreement between student but not an imbalance of power. Both parties are upset and usually both want a resolution. Social rejection or dislike unless deliberate and repeated attempts to cause distress, exclude, or create dislike by others. Single-episode acts of nastiness or meanness, or random acts of aggression or intimidation.

What kind of school do you want to be a part of? Let’s continue T.R. Miller’s Legacy of Greatness!

What kind of school experience do you want? What can you do to make you and others feel more a part of T.R. Miller? It only takes a LITTLE effort !

Courage is fire, and bullying is smoke. Benjamin Disraeli I've been actually really very pleased to see how much awareness was raised around bullying, and how deeply it affects everyone. You know, you don't have to be the loser kid in high school to be bullied. Bullying and being picked on comes in so many different forms. Lady Gaga

How do we begin to build relationships with each other and help T.R. Miller become more than a school? How do we begin to build relationships with each other and help T.R. Miller become a community? Better yet, a FAMILY! We must create

Now EVERYONE greet and shake hands with everyone around you!