eGuide Archives: Bullying

Bullying

In grades 6 through 10 over 3.2 million children are bullying victims (about 1 in 6) and there are about 3.7 million bullies (1 in 5). Read More

And the remaining 62% may be the key to preventing bullying.

160,000 American school children skipped school today, and do on any given day, because they fear a bully at school. Read More

When children are bullied, they are 5 times more likely to become depressed. Bullied boys are four times more likely to be suicidal than their peers. Bullied girls are eight times more likely to be suicidal. And a significant percentage of school shooters were bullying victims.

Bullying victims, many of whom are already suffer from self esteem issues, need support from both school and home to combat the problem. Bullying cannot be ignored and will not go away on its own.

Vanderbilt University's Learning Center has tips on "bully-proofing" your child available online here. They include teaching children to give themselves silent pep talks, encouraging friendships, teaching your child how to be a friend, role playing, and teaching children to literally stand up straight with their heads held high.

Vanderbilt also recommends the HA HA SO strategy. It means:

Help. Assert yourself.
Humor. Avoid.
Self talk. Own It.

There are also reasons to be concerned for children who are bullies. Nearly 60 % of boys who were identified as bullies in grades 6 through 9 were convicted of at least one crime by time they were 24. Read More Even more dramatic, 40% of them had three or more criminal convictions by age 24.

A new study published in the February 2008 issue of the journal Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology found that children with ADHD were almost four times as likely as other youngsters to be bullies. Read More Additionally, children with ADHD were ten times more likely to be regular victims of bullying prior to the onset of ADHD symptoms.

Technology has made bullies' access to victims much greater. Cell phones, Instant Messager, text messages and other forms of cyberbullying can make bullying a 24/7 exercise for some children. For more information on cyberbullying, we recommend visiting www.stopcyberbullying.org.

In all types of bullying, whether in school, at home or online, the majority of kids who are neither bullies nor bullied may be the key to success in preventing bullying. If these kids do not tolerate it, it will not be tolerated. Specifically, bystanders and witness need to be taught to report bullying to adults, to support someone who is being bullied, and to stand up to the bully simply by telling him or her that what they are doing is bullying and it is wrong.

Reminder of the week:  Talk to your children about bullying.  Do they know the signs that they might be a bully?  (See  "Do You Bully Others?")  Do they exhibit signs of victimization?  (See  "Bullying: How to Help the Victim")