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Bullying not easy problem to overcome

Monday August 28, 2006

Wetaskiwin Times Advertiser — (MS)

Few students make it through their school careers without a little teasing or taunting, which seems par for the course.

Most can handle it and go on to be confident, successful individuals. However, more and more, students in schools across the country and the world are facing much worse: beatings, threats, emotional ridicule, and humiliation on a daily basis.

The trend seems to be escalating, say experts. Or perhaps it’s just that others are taking a more active concern in bullying and bringing the topic into the limelight.

Defining a bully

Bullying occurs when an individual repeatedly picks on another individual.

It can be physical, verbal or psychological, according to the Canada Safety Council. With today’s electronic age, bullying doesn’t even have to be face-to-face.

Harassment e-mails, text messages or instant message pop-ups on the computer can spread words of hate electronically. Professionals agree that there are many reasons behind bullying.

• It can be a means to lashing out against an insecurity that a bully has, such as a learning disability, mental impairment or other shortcoming.

When the frustration builds, bullying makes this individual feel powerful.

• It is learned behavior. A bully may be the child of an abusive relationship or is disciplined in this manner at home. He or she transfers this aggression to others at school.

• The individual may have fallen in with the wrong crowd or is experiencing limited supervision at home. Bullying is a form of acceptance or initiation to an elite club of “friends.”

Bullying may lead to more destructive or criminal behavior as a child ages.

Early beginnings

While many equate bullying to schoolyard antics, there is reason to be concerned that this behavior may initiate earlier on in an individual’s life.

There is concern that this type of behavior needs to be curtailed at this impressionable age when real behavior modification is possible. If left unchecked, children can carry on bullying throughout life, as many in fact do. Teachers feel that parents should work together with the school staff to recognize inappropriate behavior and instill lessons early on.

Not just a boys’ club

While it may be easy to categorize boys as the main offenders in bullying, girls are equally represented.

Boys are more likely to engage in a physical type of bullying, while girls are experts at the emotional and psychological type.
 
They often employ relational aggression, meaning they use their relationship as a weapon to get what they want. For example, “Do this or I won’t be your friend anymore.”

In other cases, girls use rumors and innuendo to ruin the lives of other classmates. This is especially effective through e-mail or other electronic methods because of mass reach. Some girls who are on the receiving end of bullying say rumors are oftentimes more hurtful than physical abuse.

Making changes

Bullying is wrong, but not so easily overcome.

First and foremost, many students who are being bullied do not report the incidents for fear of further retaliation.
 
What is agreed upon is that bringing the topic of bullying to a conversational forum goes a long way in educating students that this type of behavior is offensive and wrong.

For information on bullying, visit www.bullybeware.com, www.bullypolice.org or www.bullybuster.org.

 

 

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