NATIONAL BULLYING PREVENTION MONTH

October is National Bullying Prevention Month. Wednesday, Oct. 10, is Unity Day. At Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention Center, they’re urging people to wear orange in a movement around the country to “Make it Orange and Make it End.” Facebook has PACER activities on its safety, educator, and privacy pages. They’re encouraging students to wear orange and hand out “UNITY” ribbons at school. Here’s a link for more information. https://www.facebook.com/events/314141468640954/

Why do people bully others?

According to the Website “Bullying Statistics” http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/bullying-statistics-2010.html

statistics for 2010 show that about one in seven students in grades kindergarten through 12th grade is either a bully or has been a victim of bullying. A child who has been bullied may sometimes become a bully as a way to “get even.” Also, students that shoot others at school may be victims of physical violence or abuse at home or at school. So they retaliate by becoming the abuser. This isn’t always the case, but it sometime is.

There are many reasons why people abuse others.

Cultural causes, institutional causes, social issues are some examples. Whatever the reason a child, teen, or adult uses violence or intimidation or other means to harm someone, organizations around the country are working hard to make life less frightening for those who have experienced abuse, at home, at school, in the workplace.

At http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/psychological-solution-bullying Izzy Kalman, author/creator of the website Bullies2Buddies.com and a serious critic of the anti-bully movement tells us what The Wizard of Oz can teach us about bullying. I had never thought of it, but he has a point. Take a look at his article http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/psychological-solution-bullying/201111/what-the-wizard-oz-can-teach-us-about-bullying and see if you agree.

I don’t know the answers. I’m not sure anyone knows. In searching different sites for information, I discovered that almost every state has a program of some kind to deal with the problem.

Perhaps one day, we can all live together with respect for one another. That would be a major accomplishment for America and other countries of the world. It is the responsibility of each of us to help end what is a nightmare for too many people.

Other links to check:

http://www.stopbullyingnow.com/overview.htm

http://www.nctsn.org/resources/public-awareness-month

http://www.nea.org/home/NEABullyFreeSchools.html

An afterthought.

Have you ever noticed we even have bullies in the animal world? My calico cat, Patches, bullies my new tabby cat, Tiger. She really has him intimidated. I’m working to teach her to get along, but cats are very independent. I’ll never give up, though.

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