WHAT IS BULLYING?
Behavior must meet three criteria to be defined as bullying:
- Behavior that is aggressive and meant to hurt, humiliate, or harass another person
- Bully behavior occurs repeatedly over time
- Bullying takes place when there is a physical or social imbalance between the individuals involved
FOUR TYPES OF BULLYING
| 1. Physical Bullying – Someone’s body or property is harmed. Examples: punching, kicking, shoving, spitting, stealing, vandalizing |
| 2. Verbal Bullying – Someone’s self-esteem is damaged or they begin to feel unsafe. Examples: name calling, insults, verbal humiliation, threats |
| 3. Social Bullying (relational aggression) – Someone’s relationships are negatively impacted Examples: gossiping, excluding someone deliberately, spreading rumors, public humiliation |
| 4. Cyberbullying – Someone is harassed through the use of technology. Examples: sending cruel messages by text or email, pretending to be someone else online, hacking into social networks or email, posting mean comments & photos, creating a website meant to humiliate someone. |
DEALING WITH A BULLY
STOP—students are taught a signal for STOP which communicates to the “bully” that they do not want to hear anymore.
WALK– when the STOP signal doesn’t work, students should WALK away from the situation.
TALK—when STOP & WALK does not stop the problem, students should TALK to a adult in the school.
TALKING is not tattling because if the 3 step response is followed, the student has made an attempt to solve the problem on their own.
Will the Bully Be Punished?
YES! Following is Bullitt County’s Disciplinary Procedure for bullying:
· 1st Offense: counselor conference with the “bully,” parent contact.
· 2nd Offense: principal conference, a school-level disciplinary consequence, parent contact.
· 3rd Offense: principal conference, behavior contract, victim’s parents given option of filing complaint with Court Designated Worker
WHY DO TEENS BULLY?
Research suggests that bullies have low levels of empathy for others. Many bullies also don’t have good coping skills. They dominate others in order to feel stronger or better about themselves. Some bullies have been victimized themselves; they then lash out at others in misdirected anger. Others feel pressure to harass weaker students in order to fit in with the crowd.
Consider this: 60% of boys who bully in middle school are convicted of a crime by the age 24.
Source: Olweus Bully Prevention Program
SPOTLIGHT ON CYBERBULLYING
Up to 33% of students have been cyberbullied & 50% of students think cyberbullying is worse than real-world bullying
TAKE ACTION TO STOP BULLYING!
1. Be smart about what you post online and use caution when posting personal details online. THINK—Never post anything you wouldn’t want your entire school to read.
2. If you experience cyberbullying, STOP – do not retailliate. This will only make the problem worse.
3. Know how to report people and BLOCK people from social networks like Facebook and Myspace. You can also contact your cell phone company to block texts or calls from specific phone numbers.
4. Always REPORT bullying to an adult (parent, counselor, principal, or the police) especially if you have been threatened. Save all web pages and text or email messages as evidence.
Many teens say that people cyberbully because they think it is funny. Harassment & bullying is not funny, it is illegal. If you cyberbully, your words can be traced back to you.
SHOUT OUT BOXES
Each Bullitt County Public Schools has a SHOUT OUT box located in their school. This box is used for students to submit a concern if they do not feel comfortable approaching an adult with the specific concern.
