It is important that we all work together to take a stand against bullying. Those who bully and are bullied are prone to suffer from depression, have low self-esteem, experience physical symptoms, perform poorly at school, and may think about suicide or make suicide attempts.
Bullying can take many forms: from physical abuse (pushing, hitting, kicking; ruining another person’s personal items, stealing, or making someone do something against their will. It can take the form of verbal abuse like insults, name calling, harassment, teasing, or threatening another with physical harm; spreading rumors or fabrications. Most people don’t realize that rejection, refusing to speak to another person or even encouraging others to bully is all a form of bullying. We need to expose these hidden aspects of bullying.
Recently, we have seen bullying in the form of “electronic aggression” with the use of the internet, email, texting and social media sites. The effects of bullying can be felt in the short-term as well as the long-term. It is damaging to the person and can have detrimental effects throughout ones lifetime.
Bullying must be stopped. Through open and continuous communication with your child, school, and community, important steps can be taken to end bullying and bring resolution to the problems it can cause. Here is a link to the National Institutes of Health Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development website:
www.nichd.nih.gov/news/resources/spotlight/092110-taking-stand-against-bullying.cfm. Another website that you might find helpful is: www.stopbullyingnow.com/interven.html. You will find research articles and very useful information that can help bring an end to bullying. There are programs that can become part of the school curriculum so that all students, parents, teachers and staff can become familiar with the characteristics of bullying and through education put a stop to it.