The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.
- Albert Einstein
Chapter 7 Parents and Their School-Age Children
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention bullying is "when a person or group repeatedly tries to harm someone who is weaker or who they think is weaker. Sometimes it involves direct attacks such as hitting, name calling, teasing or taunting. Sometimes it is indirect, such as spreading rumors or trying to make others reject someone."
"Often people dismiss bullying among kids as a normal part of growing up. But bullying is harmful. It can lead children and teenagers to feel tense and afraid. It may lead them to avoid school. In severe cases, teens who are bulled may feel they need to take drastic measures or react violently. Others even consider suicide. For some, the effects of bullying last a lifetime."
Those children that are bullied suffer immediate and long-term negative effects. They have higher levels of anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and they are often are or become underachievers. Victims of bullies have fewer friends, are less outgoing, and insecure. There are instances where bullying is so bad the victims are afraid to go to school.
Children that are bullies also have problems. Many times they act out because of violence or problems at home. Bullies are at greater risk for delinquency, crime and alcohol and substance abuse.
What Can Be Done?
Prevention Tips for Parents
· Monitor your child’s activities and whereabouts
· Develop rules and consequences, and use them consistently
· Praise and Focus on positive behaviors, instead of negative ones
· Be a positive role model
· Talk and listen to your children, get involved in their life.
· Teach your child to speak up and not be a bystander
Heath, P. (2009). Parent-child relations: Context, research, and application. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Time Magazine
“When Bullying Turns Deadly: Can It Be Stopped?”
Bullying has gained attention in the media over the last decade. School shootings have been linked to increased violence and even school shootings. Articles litter the Internet about teens that have committed suicide due to on going attacks from bullies. Time Magazine did an article “When Bullying Turns Deadly: Can It Be Stopped?” This article describes three boys that were bullied and ultimately committed suicide because of the ongoing harassment. The article addresses the concern that perhaps “technology of bullying has advanced mush faster than efforts to stop it even could.” Cell phones can take photos and videos that can be posted to the Internet in seconds. Text messaging and social networks spread rumors and hurtful remarks to the whole school in hours instead of weeks. This is where parents really need to step in and get involved in what their children are doing with this technology, monitor and talk with their kids. Many schools have invested in anti-bullying programs, at this time there really is no research showing these programs are affective, but it isn’t stopping schools from buying into them. There have been good results from schools that use school resource officers. These officers monitor the halls and connect with the kids; they ride that fine line between authority figure and friend. Schools that have SROs have lower rates of bullying. SROs also get kids that are bystanders involved, showing them that they need to stand up instead of just looking on.
Changing the Law
Many states, 21 to be exact, have passed anti-bullying laws. Some of the states have required the schools to keep more of a check on any harassment that happens among the students. These laws have been passed to, hopefully, help reduce the rate of bullying, cyberbullying, and suicides that are due to bullying. Each law also clearly states the definition of bullying, so there is no question to what does and does not constitute bullying.
Zubrzycki, J. (2011). Lawmakers take aim at bullying. Education week, 31(8), 1-16.
The government has also created the website www.stopbullying.org, that gives information to kids, teens, young adults, parents, and educators on how to recognize bullies and what can be done to stop them.
