Fighting doesnt have to be with your fist or mouth; the

strongest battle is one where you use your mind- any idiot
can use his hands, but what matters in the end is what
you do with your head.

11 FACTS OF BULLYING

1.

1. Over 3.2 million students are victims of bullying each year.

2.

2. Approximately 160,000 teens skip school every day

because of bullying.

3.

3. 17% of American students report being bullied 2 to 3

times a month or more within a school semester. Take a stand in
your community by hosting a Bye Bye Bullies event customizing
your schools anti-bullying policy.
4.
4. 1 in 4 teachers see nothing wrong with bullying and will
only intervene 4% of the time.
5.

By age 14 less than 30% of boys and 40% of girls will talk to
their peers about bullying.

6.

Over 67% of students believe that schools respond poorly to

bullying, with a high percentage of students believing that adult
help is infrequent and ineffective.

7.

71% of students report incidents of bullying as a problem at

their school.

8.

90% of 4th through 8th graders report being victims of

bullying.

9.

1 in 10 students drop out of school because of repeated

bullying.

10.
As boys age they are less and less likely to feel sympathy for
victims of bullying. In fact they are more likely to add to the
problem than solve it.
11.
Physical bullying increases in elementary school, peaks in
middle school and declines in high school. Verbal abuse, on the
other hand, remains constant.

Bully victims have thousands of stories to tell, about their

bullying experiences. Some bully victims stories are
totally heartbreaking, for both the victims and the
listeners. Bully victims have to deal with a history shame,
humiliation, guilt and abuse. Bullies do not realize the
terrible impact they have on their victims life, or they do
know, and they just simply do not care.
Bully victims are often the target of bullies who wants to tease,
torment, humiliate, upset, threaten, or intimidate them. Bully
victims are not only bullies, but they themselves might also be
victims of bullies. Bully victims live with the shame of being
abused, emotionally, physically, and psychologically. Bullying
comes from one bully or a group of bullies. Bullies make their
victims like helpless.
According to an article posted on Wise geek, bullies and bully
victims have poor social skills, and problems developing and
maintaining positive friendships. The symptoms of the victims
could be related to the victims inability to accept help from
adults or others in authority positions such as teachers. For the
most part, most bullies have been bullying victims themselves.
When they turn to bullying it is a way for them to release the pain
they themselves are experiencing or have experienced.

Most bully victims come from violent environments. They might

be abused by an older sibling or they might have seen someone
in their home inflict pain or abuse on someone else. Most
negative behaviors are learned behaviors, and so is bullying.
Other Symptoms Bullying Victims Suffer From
Bullying victims most often suffer from emotional stress. Bullying
inflicts psychological stress on their victims, which leaves behind
some damaging emotional stress. Bullying victims suffer from any
emotional illness, that often leads to physical illness. These
illnesses include depression, anxiety and loneliness. After a while
of experiencing these negative emotions, bullying victims turn to
substance abuse, and develop an anti social disposition.
Bullying victims withdraw from social settings altogether, and
prefer to spend time alone. Interacting with others is a problem
for bullying victims. They are not happy, nor do they feel like they
will ever be happy. The victims feel like their life is useless, and no
one cares or understands what they are going through.
Bullying victims are often targeted by bullies because they display
certain characteristics that bullies feel they can use to their
advantage. For instance, bullying victims have a difficult time
fitting in with other students of their own peers. They are not
sociable, or approachable, and are mostly shy and sensitive. They
are perceived as being loners, because they have few friends and
they spend most of their time alone. This type of isolation bullying
victims display is attractive to bullies.
Emotional State of Bullying Victims
Most research believes that people, who are bullied, may feel
unsafe while at school. Their lack of social interaction excludes
them from social functions, due to their feelings of inadequacy.
They experience a difficult time following classroom rules, which
makes them at risk for being suspended from school, or dropping

out of school. Most of the inner turmoil comes from being a bully
as well as being a bullying victim.
Most bullying victims cannot manage their pain or emotions well.
Most bullying victims unintentionally attract negative attention to
themselves. Bullies get their power from fear and feedback. When
bullies are teasing, name calling and making threats to their
victims, the victims often times lash out in an uncontrollable
manner. This lets the bullies know that the words and behaviors
they are inflicting on their victims is working. Bullying victims
experience maintaining little control over their emotions.
Therefore, when victims display such emotions as anger and
frustration, bullies uses these emotions to continually inflict pain
on their victims. Knowing that the bullying victims cannot control
these emotions allow the bullies to use this fact to keep up the
cycle of bullying over and over again. This type of bullying also
allows bully victims to become bullies in this repeated cycle of
emotional bullying.
Negative Results to Bullying Victims Dealing With Stress
and Aggressive Behaviors
After children have been bullied for so long, they respond to their
bullies in a dangerous manner. Research shows that bullying
victims are more likely to carry weapons to school such as guns
and knives. Most fights, shooting and stabbing in both public and
private school are consequences of bullying. Bullying victims
believe it is ok to bring these weapons to school, so they can
protect themselves. Most victims do not feel safe at school. This is
when the bully victim fights back, but not in a positive way.
They put little trust in others, they are high strung, always
stressing, defensive, and they are always looking over their
shoulders. They are anxiously waiting for one more person to
attack them, because they are getting tired of being teased,
humiliated and threaten. This is when bullying victims will mostly

display hostile and unfriendly behaviors. These feelings and

emotional behaviors are the direct result of being bullied to a
point, where bullying victims feel like enough is enough, and they
cannot and will not take any more abuse.
Summary
A bully victim endures much abuse from the hands and actions of
a bully. As a result, bullying victims, even cyber bully victims
suffer from several physical and psychological illnesses such as
eating disorders, stress, depression and anxiety. In most cases,
bullying victims often think about taking their own lives. They feel
that suicide is the only way out of their pain. Bullying victims
experience dire risks, and unless they get the help they need,
they themselves can transform into bullies. Thus, leading the way
for a cycle of bullying to continue.
BULLYING- HOW CAN PARENTS, KIDS, TEACHERS CAN
TAKE ACTION
Introduction

Bullying is aggressive behavior that is intentional and involves an

imbalance of power or strength. It is a repeated behavior and can be
physical, verbal, or relational. While boys may bully others using more
physical means; girls often bully others by social exclusion. Bullying has
been part of school, and even workplaces, for years. More recently, though,
technology and social media have created a new venue for bullying that
has expanded its reach. Cyberbullying is bullying that happens online and
via cell phones. Websites like Facebook, MySpace, Tumblr and Formspring
allow kids to send hurtful, ongoing messages to other children 24 hours a
day. Some sites, such as Tumblr and Formspring allow messages to be left
anonymously.

Preventing and stopping bullying involves a commitment to creating a safe

environment where children can thrive, socially and academically, without
being afraid. APA recommends that teachers, parents and students take
the following actions to address bullying.

Be knowledgeable and observant

Teachers and administrators need to be aware that although bullying
generally happens in areas such as the bathroom, playground, crowded
hallways, and school buses as well as via cell phones and computers
(where supervision is limited or absent), it must be taken seriously.
Teachers and administrators should emphasize that telling is not tattling. If
a teacher observes bullying in a classroom, he/she needs to immediately
intervene to stop it, record the incident and inform the appropriate school
administrators so the incident can be investigated. Having a joint meeting
with the bullied student and the student who is bullying is not
recommended it is embarrassing and very intimidating for the student
that is being bullied.
Involve students and parents
Students and parents need to be a part of the solution and involved in
safety teams and antibullying task forces. Students can inform adults about
what is really going on and also teach adults about new technologies that
kids are using to bully. Parents, teachers, and school administrators can
help students engage in positive behavior and teach them skills so that
they know how to intervene when bullying occurs. Older students can serve
as mentors and inform younger students about safe practices on the
Internet.

Set positive expectations about behavior for students and adults

Schools and classrooms must offer students a safe learning environment.
Teachers and coaches need to explicitly remind students that bullying is not
accepted in school and such behaviors will have consequences. Creating
an anti-bullying document and having both the student and the
parents/guardians sign and return it to the school office helps students
understand the seriousness of bullying. Also, for students who have a hard
time adjusting or finding friends, teachers and administrators can facilitate
friendships or provide jobs for the student to do during lunch and recess
so that children do not feel isolated or in danger of becoming targets for
bullying.

Observe your child for signs they might be being bullied

Children may not always be vocal about being bullied. Signs include: ripped
clothing, hesitation about going to school, decreased appetite, nightmares,
crying, or general depression and anxiety. If you discover your child is
being bullied, dont tell them to let it go or suck it up. Instead, have openended conversations where you can learn what is really going on at school
so that you can take the appropriate steps to rectify the situation. Most
importantly, let your child know you will help him/her and that they should
try not to fight back
Teach your child how to handle being bullied
Until something can be done on an administrative level, work with your
child to handle bullying without being crushed or defeated. Practice
scenarios at home where your child learns how to ignore a bully and/or
develop assertive strategies for coping with bullying. Help your child identify

teachers and friends that can help them if theyre worried about being
bullied.
Set boundaries with technology
Educate your children and yourself about cyberbullying and teach your
children not to respond or forward threatening emails. Friend your child on
Facebook or Myspace and set up proper filters on your childs computer.
Make the family computer the only computer for children, and have it in a
public place in the home where it is visible and can be monitored. If you
decide to give your child a cell phone think carefully before allowing them to
have a camera option. Let them know you will be monitoring their text
messages. As a parent, you can insist that phones are stored in a public
area, such as the kitchen, by a certain time at night to eliminate nighttime
bullying and inappropriate messaging. Parents should report bullying to the
school, and follow up with a letter that is copied to the school
superintendent if their initial inquiry receives no response.
Parents should report all threatening messages to the police and should
document any text messages, emails or posts on websites.

Report bullying and cyberbullying

It is important for students to report any bullying to a parent or an adult they
trust. Often kids dont report cyberbullying because they fear their parents
will take away their phone or computer. Parents will support their childs
reports of bullying and not take away their phones as a consequence. It is

important for kids to remember that bullying is wrong and should be

handled by an adult.

Dont bully back

It may be difficult to not bully back, but as the saying goes, two wrongs
dont make a right. Try not to show anger or tears. Either calmly tell the
bully

to

stop

bullying

or

simply

walk

away.

Avoid being alone

Whenever possible, avoid situations where there are no other students or
teachers. Try to go to the bathroom with a friend or eat lunch in a group.
When riding the bus, sit near the front. If you know a student who likes to
bully others is in an area where you normally walk to lunch or class, try to
use

alternative

hallway

routes.

Remember, report bullying of yourself or other students to your teacher,

coach, principal and/or parent.
Students who experience bullying may feel overwhelmed, depressed or
anxious. If your child or student is having trouble at school or with friends
as a result of bullying, a mental health professional, such as a psychologist,
can help your child develop resilience and confidence. This will enable your
child to be more successful both socially and academically.