5 Crucial Facts to Know for National Bullying Awareness Month
October is National Bullying Prevention Month, making it an ideal time to examine some of the crucial factors surrounding this hot-button issue. Bullying touches families from coast to coast and in all demographic areas. The more we can shed light on it and learn to understand it, the better equipped we will be as a nation to help prevent it from happening.
“Bullying is an issue that most of us have had to deal with at some point, in one way or another,” says Kirk Smalley, co-founder of Stand for the Silent. “We need to learn more about it and do what we can to take action to help prevent it in our homes, schools and communities.”
According to the American Psychological Association, it is a form of aggressive behavior in which someone intentionally and repeatedly causes another person injury or discomfort. This can happen in multiple ways, including words, physical contact, threats, etc. Bullying can be done online and in person.
Some may believe that bullying is not necessarily on the rise but that today, we merely have the means to hear more about it and have become more sensitive to it. Yet, a recent survey by the Boys & Girls Club of America found that 18% of the 140,000 youth who participated reported that they had been cyberbullied in the last year. Social media and smartphones have opened up a whole new avenue of bullying that prior generations didn’t have to contend with.
Here are 5 crucial bullying facts to become aware of this month:
- Your child will likely be impacted. Considering how many children are impacted by bullying, there is a good chance your child will as well. Whether they are the bully, the one being bullied, or they are witnessing it, it’s touching the lives of many.
- Schools may need to do more. While many schools are taking a stand against bullying with zero-tolerance policies, others still need to step up their game. Parents may need to get involved to help schools become more proactive in preventing bullying and creating an atmosphere where it is not tolerated.
- More people need to get involved. We as a society cannot expect schools to do it all regarding bullying. There is only so much they can do, and they have a lot of students to monitor. Plus, students spend only a certain amount of time at school and the rest of the time at home and in the community. We need communities to get involved so that it becomes an issue and everyone is on the same page and doing what they can to prevent and stop it.
- Many kids suffer silently from bullying. Some kids tell their parents they are being bullied, and there are many more who suffer in silence. Parents and teachers need to learn all they can about the issue to watch for it and stand up for those who may feel they can’t speak up.
- Parents may be contributing to the problem. This is sobering for many people to hear, but some parents contribute to the issue. Some forms of parenting create a bully, even if it’s being done with unintentional consequences. Numerous studies have found that particular parenting styles can contribute to creating a bully, including one published in the journal Enfermería Clínica, which found that authoritarian parenting is related to bullying, which is a parenting style that focuses on strict rules, high expectations and little flexibility.
“Some of these are hard facts for people to consider, but we have to if we want to succeed at reducing bullying in our communities,” said Smalley. “Together, there is so much we can do to help reduce bullying and help kids focus on simply being kids.”
Stand for the Silent has a new program, Student Stand Out, which encourage teachers to nominate students who stand out and display excellent behavior and lead by example. Some of the behaviors they hope teachers will recognize and nominate their students for include addressing bullying, being a positive role model, being kind, having good leadership skills, being respectful, having integrity, and more. They also want to emphasize nominating those students who show initiative in helping to end bullying at their school.
Every week throughout the school year, Stand for the Silent will choose one of the nominated students to receive a $50 Visa gift card. At the end of each semester, one student will be selected to win a $100 Visa gift card. There will be two nomination periods, August 1 to December 1 and then from January 1 to April 1. Teachers can nominate as many students as they feel have earned the recognition. For more information about the Student Stand out program, visit the site at: https://standforthesilent.org/schools/standout
Smalley started the anti-bullying organization with his late wife, Laura, after their 11-year-old son committed suicide due to bullying. Having turned their pain and loss into a mission of helping others, he travels the country giving presentations about bullying, among other things. The mission is to help end bullying by raising awareness, sharing the facts, and offering solutions.
Stand for the Silent travels the country, giving presentations about bullying to schools, providing bullying prevention, giving out scholarships, offering intervention strategies, and more. Those interested in getting involved can start a chapter of the group in their area, obtain a free K-2 bullying prevention curriculum or cyberbullying handbook for parents, host a presentation at their school, introduce the How All Started video, and donate to help support the cause. To get more information, visit the site at: https://standforthesilent.org/
