Cyber Bullying & School Bullying » Stop Bullying

Bullying is not simple conflict, it’s a serious problem

admin — Sat, 14 May 2011 16:18:40 +0000

We all remember the days when conflicts among children were considered fighting or simple problem. But majority of those conflicts were in fact a form of bullying. As our society gets more complex and the tech tools become more available to children of all ages, bullying is becoming a more complex and serious problem. A girl can be bullied to commit suicide or all into deep depression because of bullying in school. Many children are afraid to go to school or attend social activities. Parents even have taken the responsibilities of solving bullying problems on their own hands by riding the school bus with their children.

The funny thing is that many parents themselves are being bullied also. At work, and among friends. There’s one simple rule that is bullying can happen anywhere: face-to-face, by text messages or on the web. Don’t take it for granted that adults will know better to bully someone. The truth is that it is not limited by age, gender, or education level. Many people believe that bullying is just a phase. Children will grow up and grow out of it. But bullying can cause lasting harm if it is not prevented or stopped early.

Bullying is the not same thing as conflict

admin — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 03:35:49 +0000

Unlike what many people’s belief, bullying is not the same thing as conflict. Bullying is aggressive behavior that involves an imbalance of power or strength. In most cases, bullying is repeated over and over.

Conflict involves antagonism among two or more people. Any two people can have a conflict or a fight. In the case of bullying, only one child has a hard time defending himself or herself. Why is the difference between bullying and conflict important? Conflict resolution or mediation strategies are sometimes misused to solve bullying problems. These strategies can send the message that both children are “partly right and partly wrong,” or that, “We need to work out the conflict between you.” These messages are not appropriate messages in cases of bullying.

We should let the bullied children know that they’re being bullied and it’s wrong. We will do everything we could to stop bullying and help them.

Source: Department of Health & Human Services

Group treatment for bullies doesn’t usually work

admin — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 02:58:55 +0000

As more school administrators take bullies seriously, more group treatment plans are emerging. But often these group treatment plans are counter productive. Although they were well intentioned, not all programs help the victims or the bullies. These programs usually include anger management, skill-building, empathy-building, and seeking ways to build the self-esteem of bullies. Since children learn from each other and take role models, by putting a group of children who bully together encourages that kind of behavior.

Group therapy doesn’t work for bullying victim either. Individualized therapy work much better to cater each child’s needs. There’s no short cut to fix bullying behaviors quickly.

Source: Department of Health & Human Services

Bullying happens in out-of-school programs too

admin — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 02:42:34 +0000

Bullying not only happens in school, it also happens in out-of-school programs too. Because out-of-school time programs fill the gap for working parents, communities are concerned about how and where youth spend their free time. Professionals and volunteers in this field cover a diverse range of activities and organizations.

Because children spend some time in these facilities, parents should be aware that children and youth are also involved in bullying in out-of-school time programs. Because there is less supervision, bullying is more likely to happen. Youth-serving professionals and volunteers should be made aware of the bullying situation in these organizations.

Source: Department of Health & Human Services

There’s no short term or simple solution to prevent bullying

admin — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 00:51:03 +0000

It’s true that schools have their primary goal of educating children. Bullying is just one of the issues that the school administrators face. Often, school administrators and their staff adopt a short-term, piecemeal approach to bullying prevention. By introducing some lessons and assembly, schools try to prevent and solve the issues simply. But bullying is not a simple matter.

Although these simple efforts such as staff inservice training, a PTA meeting, a school-wide assembly, or lessons taught by individual teachers can get the anti-bullying programs going, they are far from the long term solution. For schools to prevent and stop bullying, a comprehensive, long-term bullying prevention strategy must be implemented. If possible, the school climate and its exceptions for student behavior needs to be changed.

Source: Department of Health & Human Services

How to tell the children who bully to stop

admin — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 02:28:28 +0000

As adults, whether you’re the parent, teacher, school bus driver, or counselor, you need to keep in mind that bullying is a form of victimization, not conflict. So conflict resolution and peer mediation will not work. When you see bullying, you need to take actions right away and tell the bullying children that their behavior is wrong and they need to stop immediately.

If you ever try to get the children to sit down and solve the conflicts by mediating, you are actually sending inappropriate messages to the students who are involved. So the best way to handle this is to ask the bullying children to stop immediately in front of both party. But do not show special attention to the victim. Make an appointment to speak with the bullied child later on.

You need to make the children who bully to get your attention that you will do everything to stop what they’re doing.

Source: Department of Health & Human Services

Can communities help stop bullying?

admin — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 03:26:35 +0000

The answer is yes! The participation of local communities can help preventing and stopping bullying. The most important community-based initiatives are to raise By using Campaign materials, these community-based initiatives are helping raising awareness about the issue of bullying and reduce bullying among “tweens.”

What can communities do? They can help planning long term strategy.

Consensus on goals, messages, prevention tactics, follow-up, enforcement and evaluation factors
Engagement by relevant, diverse audiences
Family, school-community, law enforcement, policymakers, and youth working together to get the message out
Local media involvement

Sometimes it takes a few people to organize the events and get the whole community involved.

Source: Department of Health & Human Services

The consequences of bullying are serious

admin — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 03:37:11 +0000

Bullying can have a lasting negative impact on a child’s life. The immediate consequence can be stress. The bullied child may feel so stressed that it can interfere his engagement in school. Many researches have shown that bullied children are more likely to experience depression later on. Many of them feel lonely and anxious. Some may have low self-esteem, and even think about suicide.

If you notice changes of learning patterns and behaviors of your students, take note and pay attention whether the child is being bullied in the classroom or outside of the classroom.

Source: Department of Health & Human Services

Don’t show too much support to the bullied children in public

admin — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 01:34:46 +0000

On the contrary to what most people would do, it’s actually a bad idea to show too much support to the bullied children in public.

Don’t do further damage by lending too much support in public. Children are concerned about what their peer group sees and knows. It may be more helpful to lend your supportive words and gestures in private. If you see bullying happening, stop it right away.

Tell the bullies what they’re doing and it’s wrong. But don’t show excessive support to the bullied children in front of the bullies and other children. You can, arrange a private meeting with the children later on. You can let them know why you do that.

Source: Department of Health & Human Services

School zero tolerance might have a negative impact on bullying prevention

admin — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 02:48:00 +0000

Many schools now implemented “zero tolerance policies” for bullying. This policy is working most of the time, but it’s not the best solution in many cases. Because bullying, not just physical bullying is so common among students. It affects a large number of students.

Recent surveys of elementary and middle school students indicate that approximately one in five students admit to bullying their peers periodically, not limited to physical bullying. So this policy can affect many students. Because of that, many other students and adults may feel discourage to report bullying that they see.

Children who bully usually need help and bullying is a warning sign. They could develop other problems if left alone. These children are in need of positive role models including adults and students in their school. While it’s a good idea to have “zero tolerance policy” in some case, implementing it in most schools might just bring negative impact on the society.

Source: www.ask.hrsa.gov