We Must Take A Stand Against Bullying
The entire month of October is bullying prevention month and all month long I will be sharing stories, stats, and insights in hopes of bringing awareness to this very important topic.
Stay tuned and check back for more information on bullying and what you can do to help!
You may have heard of fifteen year old Amanda Todd who killed herself a month after posting a video on YouTube in which she uses a series of flash cards to tell her story of being cyber-bullied, physically assaulted, and blackmailed into showing her breast on a webcam.
Despite numerous stories like Amanda’s, there are still people who believe that bullying is just kids being kids and that we are blowing things out of proportion. Granted, not every child who is being bullied commits suicide, but the lasting effects of being bullied can be detrimental to a child’s well-being.
Effects of Bullying
According to Stopbullying.gov,”kids who are bullied can experience negative physical, school, and mental health issues.” These kids are more likely to experience:
- Depression and anxiety
- Increased feelings of sadness and loneliness
- Changes in sleep and eating patterns
- Loss of interest in activities they used to enjoy
- Health complaints
- Decreased academic achievement (i.e. low GPA and standardized test scores)
- Decreased school participation (more likely to miss, skip, or drop out of school)
Did You Know
Another argument that people have is that bullying is not happening as frequently as we think. Well, here are the national statistics from Stopbullying.gov. They seem pretty startling to me.
- Been Bullied
28% of U.S. students in grades 6–12 experienced bullying.
20% of U.S. students in grades 9–12 experienced bullying. - Bullied Others
Approximately 30% of young people admit to bullying others in surveys. - Seen Bullying
70.6% of young people say they have seen bullying in their schools.
70.4% of school staff have seen bullying. 62% witnessed bullying two or more times in the last month and 41% witness bullying once a week or more.
When bystanders intervene, bullying stops within 10 seconds 57% of the time. - Been Cyberbullied
9% of students in grades 6–12 experienced cyberbullying.
15% of high school students (grades 9–12) were electronically bullied in the past year. However, 55.2% of LGBT students experienced cyberbullying.
To find out what you can do to help prevent bullying, visit Stopbullying.gov
Next week I will be sharing with you common signs that a child is being bullied. In the meantime, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments about the state of children and bullying.
If you like this article, you might also like, Activities That Boost Children’s Self-Esteem
It’s sad that a child or any human being has to deal with being bullied no matter what type of bullying it is, cyberbullying or being bullied in person. . Bullying can affect a person the rest of their life. Parents need to start asking questions, get involved in their children’s lives, school, check their children’s social media periodically. And when a child/person says they’re being bullied don’t take it lightly. Stand up for your child make their voice heard! Don’t chalk it up as kids play or think it will go away!!
As a person that was bullied her entire childhood and teenage years, being bullied haunts you the rest of you life. Even as an adult I have issues from being bullied especially since I moved back home to the town where I was bullied badly during my teenage years in high school. I am always looking over my shoulders or hiding in stores or wherever I am if I see one of the people that bullied me.
But, I can honestly say I am glad I never committed suicide even though when I was a teenager I had thoughts about it. I have many things to be thankful for now in my life! My advice to anyone that is being bullied speak up ..don’t let anyone make you feel intimidated and silence you. And, please remember you are beautiful and deserve to live a happy life! It may hurt like hell now, but you deserve to live, don’t let a bully win! Tell whoever will listen ..get therapy and surround yourself with loved ones and peers that have the same interest you do.
I’ve learned a lot about bullying in the last year. A family member was a victim of bullying for over 6 years by his group of so-called friends. The sad part about it is that most people want to attack the children–the attackers and the victims. I’ve read so much nonsense from people. They say that the victims need to grow thicker skin or fight back. They say that the bullies should be beaten or other ridiculous comments. Many bullies are created by dysfunctional families. So, there is a reason why that child has resorted to bullying others. I certainly don’t condone bullying behavior but we need to look at the family dynamic to help the bully. We also need better education around the signs of bullying as my family missed the signs. I’m glad to see that you are writing an article about the signs. Finally, kids who have been bullied repeatedly need professional help immediately. Often they sink into depression and try to numb themselves with drugs, alcohol or video games. We naively thought removing the bullied child from the situation would fix everything. These bullied kids frequently fail to launch when they are 18-20 because the damage to their worth is so terrible. We need less talk and more real programs – programs to educate the teachers and parents of bullied kids and parents of bullies.. I encourage everyone to talk to the administrators in their schools and get something positive to happen. Thanks for writing about this important topic.