Bullying Awareness
U.S. ADULTS CONCERNED FOR CHILDREN'S SAFETY
For more bullying resources, click here.
If you are worried about your child's safety, you aren't alone. An overwhelming majority of U.S. adults say children are less safe today than five years ago-at school, out in the community and, for some, even at home.
A survey conducted for the American Medical Association (AMA) Alliance, by Harris Interactive, asked how people viewed the safety of children. The AMA Alliance is a nationwide health advocacy network with a particular interest and focus on children's health and safety.
"It's obvious the old ways aren't working and new efforts are needed," said Sandi Frost, president of the AMA Alliance. "It's a clear call for all of us to get more involved."
Asked, "Compared with five years ago, do you think children are safer, not as safe or just as safe in grade school, high school, college, their communities and their own homes?" a majority said "not as safe" everywhere but in the home. The breakdown:
• Not as safe in grade school - 53 percent;
• Not as safe in high school - 68 percent;
• Not as safe in college - 60 percent;
• Not as safe in the communities - 62 percent.
In addition, 60 percent of Americans say that college students are not as safe compared to five years ago. Only in their own homes were children just as safe (50 percent) compared with not as safe (30 percent).
"These results convince us that there is a growing need for volunteer networks such as ours, schools and educators, parents and community groups, counselors and librarians and others to take an active role in creating or expanding violence prevention from coast to coast," said Frost, adding, "We simply cannot sit idly by and wait for others to take action that keeps our children safe from predators and bullies."
New data on bullying: 17% report regular abuse
New data on bullying released today show that 17 percent of American students report being bullied two to three times a month or more within a school semester, with girls and boys having similar rates.
The information was gleaned from an anonymous survey of 524,054 U.S. students in grades 3 through 12, and it comes when bullying is in the news because of a series of suicides by young gays who had been bullied. The survey was conducted by Dan Olweus (pronounced Ol-VEY-us), who is considered the founding father of research on bully/victim issues. It is being released by the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program.
The program for elementary, junior high and middle schools that he created is aimed at preventing and/or reducing bullying and is designed to improve peer relations and make schools safer places. (You can find reports analyzing different bullying programs here.) Researchers say that the approach, which involves every adult and student in the class and helps teach students how to safely not be bystanders when bullying occurs, has been shown to have the strongest and most long-lasting improvements. The co-author of the analysis is Susan P. Limber. Here is some of the information released today:
Being bullied
17 percent of students indicated that they had been bullied with some frequency (two to three times per month or more within the school semester).
There were similar rates for girls (16 percent) and boys (17 percent).
Bullying is most prevalent in third grade, when almost 25 percent of students reported being bullied two, three or more times a month. The rate slowly declines each year through 12th grade, when about 12 percent of boys and less than 10 percent of girls reported being bullied.
Bullying others
10 percent of students indicated they had bullied others with some frequency (two to three times per month or more within the semester).
Boys (12 percent) were more likely than girls (7 percent) to indicate they had bullied others.
How long has the bullying lasted?
For students who have been bullied, significant numbers reported being bullied for long periods:
16 percent of girls and boys reported having been bullied for about a year.
23 percent of girls and 30 percent of boys said they had been bullied for several years.
Bystander behavior
When asked what they feel when they see a student their age being bullied, the vast majority of students (83 percent) indicated that they feel sorry for the bullied student (90 percent of girls, 75 percent of boys).
Students were asked, "How do you usually react if you see or learn that a student your age is being bullied?" and had the following responses:
I have never noticed that students my age have been bullied.
Girls: 24 percent. Boys: 30 percent.
I take part in the bullying.
Girls: 1 percent. Boys: 3 percent.
I don't do anything but think it is OK.
Girls: 1 percent. Boys: 2 percent.
I just watch what goes on.
Girls: 9 percent. Boys: 14 percent.
I don't do anything, but I think I ought to help the bullied students.
Girls: 30 percent. Boys: 22 percent.
I try to help the bullied student.
Girls: 35 percent. Boys: 29 percent.
More than 40 states have some sort of law that makes bullying illegal, yet, as the statistics show, the harassment of young kids by their classmates remains common.Clearly laws alone can't get the job done. Parents have to be involved, and so do schools.
A school-wide assembly to discuss bullying won't work. Schools that are serious about reducing bullying implement programs that involve every adult in the school, from the principal to the janitors, and spend time once a week engaging students in discussion and activities to understand the problem and learn how to deal with it.
This is not a topic that we hear our education leaders talk about very much, except when someone dies.
If we want kids to feel safe enough in schools to do well academically, bullying is a topic that should no longer be ignored.
By Valerie Strauss | October 20, 2010; 3:00 PM ET
Take Action
During National Bullying Prevention Week, there are two observances that provide an opportunity to take action, both co-sponsored by the AMA Alliance:
• SAVE Day, or Stop America's Violence Everywhere. "In cities across America, as a part of SAVE Day observances, AMA Alliance members have mentored young Americans on violence prevention and how to avoid being bullied in school," said Frost.
• Health Cares About Domestic Violence Day. This year the AMA Alliance has partnered with the AMA National Advisory Council on Violence and Abuse and the Family Violence Prevention Fund on SAVE Day to support a national focus on the health consequences of abuse as well as what physicians and their families can do to identify and help victims.
Community leaders wishing to partner with Alliance chapters in launching local SAVE initiatives can contact the Alliance at amaa@ama-assn.org.
Schools and educators, parents and community groups, counselors and librarians may obtain children's activity books on this topic for their classrooms and review and download fact sheets here.
