Bullying is about the abuse of power
Jan 11, 2016
Bullying is about the abuse of power
Children who bully abuse
their power to hurt
others, deliberately and
repeatedly.
Boys in grades 6 through 9 who bullied others were 4 times
more likely to be convicted of at least one crime by age 24.
60% of former bullies had committed at
least one crime and 35% had committed 3
or more crimes
Adults who were bullied as children maintain
vivid memories of the events throughout
their lifetime
In cases of extreme bullying, some
tormented victims have resorted to violence
toward themselves or others
15% of 13 -18 year olds said they have been cyberbullied online
Only 35% of teens who had been cyberbullied
told their parents about their experience
Only 9% of teens who have been
cyberbullied told a teacher
Each day 160,000 children in the U.S.
stay home from school for fear of being
bullied
Cyberbullying victims were almost twice as
likely to have attempted suicide than
youth who had not been cyberbullied
Gay and lesbian students are common victims of schoolyard bullies
Studies show being bullied is related to poor psychosocial
adjustment –increased depression, anxiety
Peers intervene in only 11-19% of all bullying
incidents
Where peers intervened, 57% of the interventions were effective – bullying stopped within 10 seconds
Teenaged girls (44%) are
more likely to experience
online bullying than
teenaged boys (28%)
More than one-third (36%) of
teens have had mean,
threatening, or embarrassing
things said about them
online
Roughly 20% of teens admit to participating
in “sexting”
22% of teen girls and 20% of teen boys have sent nude or semi-nude pictures of themselves
over the Internet or their phones
Being a victim of bullying frequently increases the
likelihood of experiencing suicidal thoughts by 10% in boys and by more than 20%
in girls.
When young people have strong
connections with adults, they are more resilient.
Bullying gets worse when adults ignored what was going on, told the bullied student to stop tattling, or told the student to solve the problem themselves.
One good friend can make a crucial difference to children who are bullied, teased or harassed.
Teaching norms for respectful exchange is simply part of the job of teaching young people to participate in a civil discussion.
The first step in stopping antigay speech is talking
about it.
Administrators and system leaders need to fill in gaps in their knowledge and gain skills in responding to homophobic speech.
Administrators and school system leaders
need to regularly remind teachers, staff and colleagues of the
importance of speaking up to interrupt harassment.
Faculty cannot change the culture of incivility alone—they need the help of the students.