Anti-Bullying Efforts Gain the Spotlight

Phoebe Prince . . . Tyler Clementi . . . Bully the documentary . . . The subject of bullying is drawing increasing attention across the country as a major problem in education. Campaigns to stop bullying, especially in schools, are gaining momentum. State boards of education are revising curricula to address the issue, and the White House cosponsored a national conference on safe schools in March 2012 attended by more than 400 educators. Even Lady Gaga has gotten behind the push to end this form of harmful aggression, launching the Born This Way Foundation last year.

Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school-age children where a real or perceived power imbalance occurs. In other words, a bully uses his or her power—whether physical strength, popularity, or knowledge of embarrassing information—to control, harm, or humiliate another person. Teasing, name-calling, inappropriate sexual comments, and taunting are aspects of verbal bullying. Physical bullying can involve not just hurting a person’s body but spitting at or on someone and taking or breaking someone’s possessions. Behavior that is considered bullying includes not just attacking a physically weaker person or verbally abusing someone. Social bullying involves excluding a person from a group or activity on purpose, spreading rumors about someone, or embarrassing someone in public. Children who are bullied and those who perpetrate bullying behavior can experience serious, lasting problems as a result.

Federal and local partners joined up in Arlington, Texas, to host the first ever LGBT Conference on Safe Schools and Communities in late March. The conference focused on topics ranging from civil rights and cyber bullying to family acceptance and domestic violence. Its aim was to empower and inform advocates about the resources available to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered (LGBT) community in particular to address this critical problem. The urgency of the topic is highlighted by a 10-year study that found 9 out of 10 LGBT students experienced harassment in school.

Image credit: © Vuk Vukmirovic/Fotolia

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32 Comments

  1. essence says:

    i agree many people should stop the violence its not good for the invirment and not good for us eather

  2. Amber says:

    I’m 13 years old and i like that people are taking notice in some places.Here were i am the teachers or any one at that do not care.like right now their is a fight going on between two of my friends and the teaches dont care.A couple of days ago their was a fist fight about someone calling someone a BITC* and guess what the teachers did. Nothing! T whatched them turn their back and do nothing about it. I from WI and I think some ome should do something like that here.

    • MITCH!! says:

      don’t tell people were you are from then they can make rude statements about you 🙁

    • jessica says:

      dont worry as long as you dont get in the middle of you will be safe try and be the nice kid that hangs out with the bullied they need a friend by their side ,ps eventually one day bullying will be gone just trust god in your heart and be strong for others and your self 🙂

  3. roberto says:

    I hate bullies two people can help other people they just don’t want to

  4. gabbi goreckyo says:

    it was very good

  5. ginger tears says:

    you should stop bullying! 🙂

  6. o says:

    not nice

  7. MITCH!! says:

    STOP BULLYING bullying is rude and unkind also it sucks.

  8. Anonymus says:

    When a i get bullied, the teachers don’t care. When i fight back, i get detention.

  9. Sexy Mama says:

    Bullying is fun u should try it

    • anonymous says:

      Look this is a serious subject and people die because bullying they either get killed or ill them selves in serious cases so go make your stupid jokes somewhere else

  10. Sasha says:

    Bullying is not cool. It hurts people’s feelings. Thumbs up if you agree :)<3

  11. Anonymous says:

    not nice

    • Shehzad says:

      I have a mentally calhlenged grandson, now 12 years old. He looks like any other 12 year old, but he acts about 6 or 7 years old. Sweet still and people accept him (especially once they get to know him). My worry is when he’s 20 or 30, how are people going to react to him then. So far I don’t think he realizes that he is different .so I feel your pain and your fears. We just have to pray that these special children will be strong and know that God will bless them in special ways.

      • Sara says:

        Physically abusive buliels are much different than psychological buliels. You can tear someone, especially someone young, to shreds without ever leaving a physical mark on them. Also young girls often far more discouraged from anything violent, even in self defense, than boys. I only remember one girl in my school ever physically defending herself, and she was ostracized and punished far more for it than her buliels were. I know as a girl my parents would much rather I have been submissive than ever defended myself from anyone who wasn’t actually beating me to the ground. But maybe that reflects how we look at different genders in society

  12. Sabi says:

    Bullying is everywhere and I believe that the more Anti-Bullying efforts get more attention, the better the outcomes will be.

  13. slim says:

    people how bully are low
    they love to bully people but as soon as someone bullys them or a relative they get sensative about it and tell a adult
    i have been bullyed befor
    but if someone tries to get phsicale a fight back but not were a teacher can see me i aint stupid
    if ur getting bullied fight back everyone tells me not to but i dont care their not i n my feet right no so they could butt ot their not making the problem any better

    dont bullie it aint nice 🙂 <3

  14. Jin says:

    Bullying is not nice. No one should take part in it. If you see someone getting bullied stand up for them. I see people do it all the time at my school!

    • Catracho says:

      Hi,I am 24 and my bully came from a place that is supposed to make me feel safe and suecre He came from home, my uncle. I grew up with a single mother who was always at work. So the people I turned to for anything were my uncles and aunties I remember being made fun of for because I wasn’t tough enough, or had many girlfriends or acting slightly feminine. My uncle never failed to call me out about it in front of guests at family parties. Almost everytime I was pushed to stay with my uncle, I would always get made fun of for one reason or another. Many of the male figures in my family expected me to be as tough as they but its not who I am. This affects me now because at work, I feel like I cannot develop a friendship with people because I feel I am not good enough. I feel as though I carry an that insecurity of being made fun of or losing the people I am currently friends with because they’d be embarassed to hang out with the guy that gets picked on. I am unsure of who to reach out to because I feel singled out in my family and no one can seem to relate.

  15. rachelle r says:

    bulling is not wanted and un needed its one thing to kid around but bulling is un called for

  16. Lexi says:

    this is good for kids to read because GOD created everyone special in their own way! 🙂

    • Rosicleia says:

      We have lost too many kids to bullying. It’s time to start cirtaeng some awareness, and more importantly, to give the victims of bullying hope. They need to know they are not alone in their suffering.Please listen to this song I wrote in tribute to Phoebe Prince, the Irish immigrant who took her own life after being mercilessly bullied at her high school.Let’s all take a stand against bullying

    • Linda says:

      this is an amazing song .I can retlae to this song I’ve have experienced bullying myself and I’ve learned just to keep my head up high because in the day it’s the bullies who are jelous .Thank You Pixie Lott! <3xxxxx

  17. kalli says:

    bullying is so rude who does that to different people they only do it to make themselves feel better

  18. Nijae says:

    I don’t understand why people bully other people just because someone is bullying them at home. What is the point of bullying someone just to make yourself feel better. The Bully need to understand that when you make fun of somebody or bully them their feelings end up getting hurt, and they end up killing themeselves. This Bullying thing needs to stop. I hate to here that a child or teenager had killed themselves just because they were being bullied. If you have never seen a movie when someone was being bullied then watch Cyberbully.

  19. anomynus says:

    bullying is not good. im against it completely

  20. victor fisher says:

    bullying is sometimes against the rules at schools. I am with you Anomynus.

  21. Malik says:

    it pains me to look at the top picture!!!