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Stoptextbully.com Bullying doesn’t just happen at school or in person. Text bullying occurs when someone abuses or threatens another by text messaging. Stoptextbully provides advice and resources on how to deal with and stop bullying via mobile phones. ++++++++++ New Ways to Tame Bullying in the Schools This article from the LA Times features a program that uses simple symbols to help young children grasp the problem. Cool Tools was developed to help young children grasp abstract concepts like integrity, self-reliance, kindness, fairness and responsibility. Eight tools give children a common language for resolving conflicts. A soap bubble represents each child’s personal space. Toothpaste is another tool – you can’t put toothpaste back in the tube and that reminds children that hurtful words, once spoken, can’t be taken back. A kaleidoscope demonstrates that different people see things differently, but that doesn’t mean somebody else’s point of view is wrong. ++++++++++ PACER Curriculum on Bullying The PACER Center is a central source for families of children and young adults with disabilities to obtain support, advocacy, and information. Is Your Child a Target of Bullying? Is a new, one-of-a-kind curriculum developed for parent audiences of children with disabilities? The curriculum covers disability harassment, common views about bullying and types of bullying, how to talk with your child about bullying, and more. ++++++++++ Two Good Videos at Reasonable Prices These two videos won the CINE Gold Eagle Award for excellence in filmmaking in 2001. In Boys on Bullying, five boys tell how bullying impacted their lives. In The Power of Girls: Inside and Out, five girls’ true stories about growing up include bullying, eating disorders, early sexual activity, and loss. Both are about 20 minutes long and can be purchased at the link above. ++++++++++ Watch It on Your Computer – The National Bullying Prevention Campaign Webcast The bullying prevention webcast that ran last month on the internet is now archived and can be viewed at your convenience on your computer at the Maternal and Child Health Bureau web site. Click on the link above and then again on the title of the program to view it. at the Maternal and Child Health Bureau web site. Click on the link above and then again on the title of the program to view it. ++++++++++ National Campaign to Stop Bullying The federal government is launching a $3.4 million campaign aimed at curbing school bullying in which bullying is approached as a public health concern. The goal of the campaign is to create a culture in which bullying is not considered cool. It will - make parents aware of warning signs,
- train teachers to intervene in bullying situations, and
- teach children how to stand up and support each other against bullies.
The only successful and proven bullying prevention program I am aware of at this date is the. Dan Olweus, a Norwegian, created this program after three young men in a Norwegian high school committed suicide after having been bullied. OJJDP’s NTTAC (National Training and Technical Assistance Center ) has Olweus bullying prevention trainers available. OJJDP Publications on Bullying: ++++++++++ UCLA Study Finds Bullying in Schools Pervasive and Disruptive According to a new report released by UCLA researchers, more than one in five 12-year-olds are repeatedly either bullies, victims or both, and bullies are often popular and viewed by classmates as the “coolest” in their classes. According to a new report released by UCLA researchers, , and bullies are often popular and viewed by classmates as the “coolest” in their classes. - Bullies are psychologically strong, popular and respected. They are 7% of all students in the study.
- Depression, social anxiety and loneliness are common among victims of bullies. They are 9% of all students in the study.
Bully-Victims, the 6% of students who both bully and get bullied, are the most disturbed group of all. They are by far the most unpopular students, least engaged in school, most disruptive in class, and reported somewhat elevated levels of depression and loneliness. The researchers advise parents to talk to their children about bullying before it happens. They say the older children get the harder it is for them to bring it up. Read more about the advice to parents in the link to the UCLA press release above.
++++++++++ In Their Own Words “Kids don’t just wake up one day and say, I’m going to be bad.” “You hear about violence everywhere – on the news, the radio. You can’t really run from violence – it will always catch you.” “Drugs are not in one place. They’re everywhere.” “Adults don’t talk to us enough.” “When I go to the movies, I can’t tell you how many people I see die. You get so you don’t think it matters anymore.” The Attorney General of the State of Maryland , in a series of forums held in every county of Maryland , asked the children of the state about what is right and what is wrong in their lives. What they had to say is very good: pithy, to the point, wonderfully frank, and although sometimes despairing, mostly positive. What they had to say is very good: The report is organized in sections, Bullying and Discrimination; Tobacco, Alcohol and Drug Abuse; After School and Evenings; Media Violence and the Internet; and Counselors, Parents and Mentors. Each begins with student comments followed by what the research says and ending with recommendations. Altogether, a fine document and worth your time to look over at least the executive summary. ++++++++++ Bullying Prevention Is Crime Prevention A report released by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids on September 8, 2003 shows that new anti-aggression programs can prevent up to half of all bullying which now affects one out of three children in grades six to ten and can lead to violent crime and death. From the report: A report released by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids on September 8, 2003 shows thatwhich now affects one out of three children in grades six to ten and can lead to violent crime and death. From the report: - For children in sixth through tenth grades, nearly one in six – 3.2 million – are victims of bullying each year. An additional 3.7 million bully other children.
- Kids who are bullied are five times more likely to be depressed than other kids, and also far more likely to be suicidal.
- Bullies are much more likely than other kids to carry a weapon to school.
A study in Norway showed that four of every ten boys who bullied others as kids had three or more convictions by the time they turned 24.
The report profiles proven one anti-bullying and two anti-aggression programs that have proven they can produce results. The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, first developed in Norway following the suicides of three 10-14 year old boys who had been bullied, can be looked at in detail at the Blueprints for Prevention site of the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence. In Norway this program achieved a 50% reduction in the number of incidents of bullying and reductions in antisocial behavior. LIFT, Linking the interests of Families and Teachers, is an anti-aggression program shown to produce long term results from a ten-week intervention. LIFT intervenes on three levels. Classroom-based training in social and problem solving skills for students and LIFT instructors offer six training sessions to all parents to reinforce these skills at home. The skills are also tested on the playground where adult monitors reward individuals and groups when they practice positive behaviors. The Incredible Years is the second anti-aggression program profiled in the report. The program was originally designed for children ages two to eight with high levels of aggressive behavior, including but not limited to bullying. It trains parents and children in problem-solving skills and teaches non-aggressive social skills to children so they can learn to get along with others and make friends. An expanded version serves all children in a classroom to work to improve the behavior of every child. The report includes information on two additional programs of particular interest that have not yet been evaluated strenuously and advice from the Justice Department on elements critical to a successful anti-bullying program as well as strategies that really don’t work: peer mediation, zero tolerance policies, and telling victims to “stand up to bullies.” 26 pages in length. Downloadable pdf file. 26 pages in length. Downloadable pdf file. 26 pages in length. Downloadable pdf file. ++++++++++ For information on bullying by girls, see the Girls file in the Archive Section. ++++++++++ A newly released OJJDP Fact Sheet, Addressing the Problem of Juvenile Bullying, reviews juvenile bullying and its effects and the Blueprint Program that addresses the problem. Two pages, downloadable. Scroll down the page about 25 entries. ++++++++++ |
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