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Bullying --- It's Killing Our Children!!

What happened to Compassion? Be kind to one another!!!

Bullying is a Life and Death Issue!

What did I do to deserve this?

Homophobia Starts in Elementary School

Bullying and Teasing in school is not annoying, it has become an epidemic and it has to STOP!! The teaching begins at home and our values are brought to school. We need to be tought how to be caring and empathetic children, NOBODY is better than anyone else! EVER! This is killing our children and we can no longer let it continue. Did you know that bullying occurs, on average, every 7 minutes? And that each bullying episode lasts about 37 seconds? Did you also know that 60 percent of kids, who are identified as bullies by the time they are eight years old, will have a criminal conviction by the age of 24? 43% of school children are afraid to use the bathroom at school because of teasing and bullying.

If I wanted to, I could put link after link here about bullying.
Some people don't care and others are very concerned.
There is NO reason for anyone to be bullied!!!

Why Children Tease

Children tease for a number of different reasons:

• Attention. Teasing is a good way of receiving negative attention, and, unfortunately, for many children, negative attention is better than no attention.

• Imitation. Some children model or mimic what is happening to them at home by acting the same way to others at school or in the neighborhood. These teasers are children who may be teased by siblings or who experience aggressive or harsh parenting.

• Feelings of superiority or power. Many teasers feel superior when they put others down, or they may feel powerful when teasing upsets others (Olweus, 1993).

• Peer acceptance. It is not uncommon to see children
engage in teasing behavior because they may perceive it as being the "cool" thing to do. It may help them feel part of a group. The need to belong may be so strong that a child may tease others to be accepted by the "popular" children.

• Misunderstanding differences. A lack of understanding of "differences" may be the underlying factor in some teasing. Many children are not familiar with or do not understand cultural or ethnic differences. In some instances, a child with a physical or a learning disability may be the target of teasing because she is different. Some children criticize anyone who is different instead of
trying to learn or understand what makes others special.

• Media influence. One cannot discuss the reasons children tease without acknowledging the powerful influence of the media. Our children are frequently exposed to teasing, put-downs, sarcasm,
and a lack of respect in many of the television programs geared toward children.

More on Child Bullying from The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

Researchers who have studied bullying have reached the following common conclusions:

About 10 percent to 15 percent of children say they are regularly bullied.

Bullying takes place most frequently in school.

At school, bullying occurs most often where there is little or no adult supervision--on the playground, in the hallways and cafeteria, and in the classroom before lessons begin.

Most bullying is verbal rather than physical.

Bullying begins in elementary school, peaks in middle school, and falls off in high school. It does not, however, disappear altogether.

Boys bully both boys and girls. Girls tend to bully girls.

Although boys are more often the perpetrators and victims of bullying, girls tend to bully in more indirect ways, manipulating friendships, ostracizing classmates, and spreading malicious rumors.

Both bullies and onlookers tend to blame the victims for the treatment they receive.

Although most victims don't look very different from their classmates,
they are taunted most often because of their physical appearance.

Boys who are chronically victimized tend to be more passive and physically weaker than their tormentors.

In middle school, girls who mature early are commonly victims of harassment. --DEBRA VIADERO

To read real stories from KIDS who have bullied go to: Bullying.org

The Roles we Play
Books on Bullying
Confessions of a Bullying Victim/The Headlines are Shocking!