Bullying

 

Honestly, anybody who's above 3 years old has heard this word unless your off in you're own magical world. I think almost all of us have been visited by this little thing called bullying.

We may not realize it, but a simple joke intended to harm another is considered bullying. For example, tripping somebody is bullying, making fun of somebody is bullying. I found this quote on my friend's facebook and it said:

The Girl you just called fat? She has been starving herself & has lost over 30lbs. The Boy you called stupid, he has a learning disability & studies over 4hrs a night. The Girl you called ugly? She spends hours putting make-up on hoping people will like her. The Boy you just tripped? He is abused enough at home. There's a lot more to people then you think. Put this as your status if you're against bullying.

Although my friend is not a bully, you should see how many people that bully others put that as their statuses. I'm not joking, and neither should you. I've learned to rub off what other people say and stand up for myself, but some people are yet to find that in themselves. Do you know how many bullying programs there are? Some work, yet others remain ineffective. Bullies words can just go too far, thus leading to suicidal thoughts. 

I searched bullying statistics and what I saw was eye-opening.

Thanks to MBNBD who surveyed students gave us shocking facts. Here are some that caught my eye:

- It is estimated that 160,000 children miss school every day due to fear of attack or intimidation by other students. Source: National Education Association.

- American schools harbor approximately 2.1 million bullies and 2.7 million of their victims. Dan Olweus, National School Safety Center.

- 71% of students report incidents of bullying as a problem at their school.

- 1 out of 20 students has seen a student with a gun at school.

- 90% of 4th through 8th graders report being victims of bullying.

- Bullying statistics say revenge is the strongest motivation for school shootings.

- 87% of students said shootings are motivated by a desire to “get back at those who have hurt them.”

- 86% of students said, “other kids picking on them, making fun of them or bullying them” causes teenagers to turn to lethal violence in the schools.

- 61% of students said students shoot others because they have been victims of physical abuse at home.

- Harassment and bullying have been linked to 75% of school-shooting incidents.

Notice how all the percentages are higher than 50%? Some are as high as 90%. That means that generally 9/10 people have been victims of bullying.

- Suicide remains among the leading causes of death of children under 14. And in most cases, the young people die from hanging. (AAS)

And the most shocking is the LGBTQ statistics:

- In a 2007 study, 86% of LGBT students said that they had experienced harassment at school during the previous year. (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network -- GLSEN)

- Nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT youth reported being verbally harassed at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation

- Nearly half (44.1 percent) reported being physically harassed

- About a quarter (22.1 percent) reported being physically assaulted.

- Nearly two-thirds (60.8 percent) who experienced harassment or assault never reported the incident to the school

- Of those who did report the incident, nearly one-third (31.1 percent) said the school staff did nothing in response.

There you have it, did that change your way of thinking?

Read the full story here:

At my school we had participated in The Day of Silence. I thought it was a great idea. This day supports LGBTQ against their fight from bullying. Many may not agree with being LGBTQ, but it's more of supporting them on fighting their way against bullying. That's what this day is about, to limit suicidal thoughts of our peers. Click HERE for more details and try to get your school involved to fight against bullying.

Thoughts? Comments? Stories to share?

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