Yesterday was Pink Shirt Day in the Lower Mainland. David Shepherd, and Travis Price, first organized Pink Shirt Day in response to new Grade 9 student at their school who was being bullied. They distributed pink shirts to all the boys in their school to send a message that bullying would not be tolerated.
Choosing to wear pink on February 23rd symbolizes that we as a society will not tolerate bullying.
Bullying is often thought of as something that occurs in adolescence but work place bullying is thought to have affected half of all workers at some point of their career. Workplace bullying is described as “the tendency of individuals or groups to use persistent aggressive or unreasonable behaviour against a co-worker or subordinate.”
On January 9th JFSA’s Director of Counseling Alan Stamp posted an article on the West Coast Wellness Blog titled Bullying: A FIRST-CLASS PROBLEM IN SCHOOLS.
“For families, dealing with a bullied child or dealing with a bully or his or her parent’s may require professional guidance and advice. Don’t hesitate in such cases to consult with WCWG or another clinical counselling service provider for information and support.” Alan Stamp
His article generated some really positive feedback and so in honor of Pink Shirt Day we would like to re-post his piece.
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Bullying: A FIRST-CLASS PROBLEM IN SCHOOLS
Recently, I provided a talk/discussion group for parents – here are some of the points covered in hopes that it might bring further attention to a large concern.
Barbara Coloroso, a leading expert in parenting, describes bullying as “a conscious, deliberate and wilful hostile activity intended to harm.” She states that bullying is not about anger or conflict – it is about contempt for another human being. It involves a sense of power and entitlement that allows the bully to control, dominate and abuse his or her victim.
* It is someone who takes advantage of another individual that he or she perceives as more vulnerable
* The goal is to gain control over the victim or over the bully’s social group
* Most adults, if they think about it, have experienced bullying too
In October of 2010, a global report on school violence identifies bullying as the largest problem at US school playgrounds.
How it impacts:
* All forms of youth violence – both in and out of schools cost the nation $158 billion in the US
* The “safe” school playground becomes an ugly arena where children/youth pit themselves against each other
* Up to 65% of children worldwide state that they suffer or have suffered from bullying.
* Bullying is under-reported – the actual % may be much higher
* 1/5 of high school students said they experienced repeated, intentional bullying according to the CDC
* Bullying behaviour is higher in girls than boys
* Being bullied may account for poor attendance at school
* Impacts on learning or having the ability to learn
* Can take place on the Internet – cyber-bullying, which can be relentless
* Can increase suicidal thought and actions, as happened this last year in the US when several adolescents committed suicide after being bullied for being gay
* Research indicates a close relationship between school bullying and youth violence
* Youth violence-related death is the 2nd cause highest cause of death in the US – Canada is not far behind that statistic
* Bullying can have serious and harmful psychological effects (words can never harm you – erroneous)
* There is a “generational” aspect to bullying – if one is bullied, there is a stronger chance for one to bully another
* In Canada, bullying happens every 7 minutes on the playground and every 25 minutes in the classroom
* Adults may dismiss children bullying others as “kids just being kids”
* The escalation from bullying behaviour to violence can be swift
* High-tech bullying occurs on social networks such as Facebook
* Bullying also happens through email, texts – all add new fire to the arsenal of the bully, who can use such sites as threaten his/her victim
* Microsoft Canada (it tracks Internet safety) stated that in 2009, 40% of Canadian youth said that they have been bullied online – up 25% since 2004
* Name-calling, putdowns and violence are considered valid entertainment (a Facebook site encouraged kids to beat up anyone with red hair on “Kick a Ginger Day”, started in response to an episode of “South Park”
* Violence is all forms continues to be glorified through film, video games and extreme sporting events
* The WHO ranks Canada 26th out of 35 developed nations for bullying behaviour (that’s worse than the US and 24 of the nations surveyed)
* WHO calls bullying a global social health problem
* The UK and Norway have instituted successful national campaigns to address bully problems
* Canada dos not have a national anti-bullying programme
* Canadian anti-bullying programmes exist in the private sector
Dealing with a Bully
It is critical to help your child regain a sense of worth and esteem after being bullied.
* Do not tell the child to act on the anger. Being angry with the bully further incites the situation, which is most likely what the bully wants
* Avoid the use of physical force. It is uncertain what the bully can do in response – he/she may be physically harmful
* Tell the bully to “stop NOW”. Then tell the child to walk away and ignore him/her
* Inform an adult immediately. Encourage the child to promptly tell an adult, teacher, school counsellor or parent about the bullying behaviour
* Use the buddy system. Have your child walk to school or take the bus with friends/others. Tell your child to be with friends in halls and on the playground. If the bully is in sight, it is less likely that he/she will strike with others around, and if he/she does, there is the potential support of friends to deal with this situation
How can you help your child deal with the bullying?
First, help teach him/her to avoid being an easy target. Start with posture, voice and eye contact. These can communicate a lot about whether you are vulnerable. Practice with a mirror or even videotape. Tell your child to avoid isolated places where no one can see or hear him. He/she should learn to be vigilant for suspicious individuals or for trouble brewing. If bullying starts, the child might be able to deflect it with humour or by changing the subject. The child should run over a list of positive attributes in his mind. This reminds the child that he/she is worthy of something better than bullying behaviour. Teach your child not to obey the commands of the bully. Often it is better to run away than to comply. The parent may help the child make more positive friends. If he or she sticks around with a group, he/she is less likely to be a target. Finally, if the child sticks up for other children he sees being bullied, people may get the idea that he is not someone who tolerates bullies.
For families, dealing with a bullied child or dealing with a bully or his or her parent’s may require professional guidance and advice. Don’t hesitate in such cases to consult with WCWG or another clinical counselling service provider for information and support.
Alan Stamp
This entry was posted on Sunday, January 9th, 2011 at 6:27 pm and is filed under Counselor Corner. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
