When you hear the word “bully” you may
think little kids in the school yard. Maybe 8 year old bugging a 6 year old for
his toys or goodies in his lunch box. But bullying can happen at any age. Everyday
thousands of kids, teens and adults wake up in fear to go to school or work
because of bullying.
Studies show that people who are abused by
their peers are at risk for mental health problems, such as low self-esteem,
stress, depression, anxiety, even suicide.
“Bullying involves an initial desire to hurt, this desire is expressed in action, someone is hurt, the action is directed by a more powerful person or group, it is without justification, it is typically repeated, and it is done so with evident enjoyment." Ken Rigby ( 1998).
Forms of bullying include extortion,
threats, malicious rumours, physical violence, damage to property.
Bullying includes
behaviours that are verbal, physical, cyber instigated or anti-social, such as
exclusion, gossip and non-verbal body language.
Now, living in a world of technology and
various tools of social networking such as “twitter”, “facebook” and on line
blogging, cyber-bullying may be harder on the victims than face to face name
calling. Imagine the effects on someone after reading a mass “facebook” post
bullying them, or posting rumors or personal information online. That hurtful
information is available to the general public and can be easily accessed by
many. Cyber victims may feel more isolated or
helpless at the time of the attack rather than a victim from a face-to-face
bully encounter. Cyber bullying can however, be traced and blocked.
A study on bullying by
the University of British Columbia,
based on 490 students (half female, half male) in Grades 8-10 in a B.C. city in
the winter of 1999, showed:
· 64
per cent of kids had been bullied at school.
· »
12 per cent were bullied regularly (once or more a week).
· »
13 per cent bullied other students regularly (once or more a week).
· »
72 per cent observed bullying at school at least once in a while.
· »
40 per cent tried to intervene.
· »
64 per cent considered bullying a normal part of school life.
· »
20-50 per cent said bullying can be a good thing (makes people tougher, is a
good way to solve problems, etc.).
· »
25-33 per cent said bullying is sometimes OK and/or that it is OK to pick on
losers.
· »
61-80 per cent said bullies are often popular and enjoy high status among their
peers.
Source: Centre For
Youth Social Development, UBC Faculty of Education
Bullying Stats and Facts:
One in seven Canadian
children aged 11 to 16 are victims of bullying
Bullying occurs once
every 7 minutes on the playground and once every 25 minutes in the classroom
Adults who were
bullied as children are more likely to suffer from depression in adulthood.
Source: Craig
&. Pepler, 1997
2 in 5 parents report
their child has been involved in a cyberbullying incident; 1 in 4 educators
have been cyber-harassment victims.
38% of girls online
report being bullied, compared with 26% of online boys.
Source: Microsoft's
Truthyworthy Computing division
According to stopabully.ca
There are 3 R’s to Stop Bullying:
RECOGNIZE bullying.
Increase your understanding & awareness of bullying
behaviour and its effects. Recognize when you or someone you know is
being bullied and take steps to make it stop.
REFUSE to be a Bully Bystander.
- DO NOT Laugh if Someone is Being Teased
- DO NOT Go Watch a School Fight
- DO NOT Participate in Sending Hurtful Messages
- DO NOT Allow people to be Singled Out
- DO NOT Laugh at Inappropriate Jokes
- DO NOT Forward Private Messages to Others
- DO NOT Participate in Spreading Rumours
- DO NOT Stand By and Do Nothing
- DO NOT Be a Bully Bystander!
REPORT bullying.
If you are a victim of witness to bullying, Report
It! Talk to your parent, talk to a friend, talk to
a coworker, talk to a teacher, talk to the counsellor, talk to the Principal,
your boss or for students: Report
it Anonymously at Stop A Bully.
Tell someone so action can be taken to make the bullying stop.
The most important thing to remember if you
are a victim of bullying is to talk to someone. There are many resources out
there for you to report bullying anonymously such as:
1-800-668-6868
