School Bullying Announcements
- Bullying can take many forms. It can be physical, and it can also be emotional and social-using words to hurt someone, leaving someone out, or gossiping and spreading rumors. Bullying also happens over cell phones and the Internet. Bullying affects everyone. Together, through a united effort, everyone can affect how bullying is addressed in school.
- For many years, bullying was thought to be a normal part of childhood and that targets just needed to toughen up and deal with it. We now know that bullying has long-term negative effects. Students who are bullied often have a loss of self-esteem, suffer from stomachaches and headaches, begin to miss school, have slips in grades, and become depressed. Students who bully are more likely to have a criminal record as an adult. Witnesses report feeling less safe at school, and they fear that the bullying might happen to them. Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life, but define yourself.
- Bystanders are powerful. In fact, more than half of bullying situations will end if bystanders step in. Direct confrontation is one way to intervene. Indirect help-such as not encouraging the situation or offering support to the person being bullied- is also effective. Bystanders can also let other students know that bullying is not okay. To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.
- Bullying prevention takes a united effort of students and adults. It also takes an individual effort. It is about each person taking responsibility. The end of bullying comes when the principals, teachers, school personnel, and the students are all working together. It ends with students being willing to say that bullying will not be accepted and that everyone has a right to be safe at school.
- Bullies like attention and feel powerful when they can make other cry or get upset or if the kids laugh along with their jokes and teasing. Remember, NO ONE enjoys being laughed at or teased all the time. Stand up to bullying and don’t join in or laugh at mean teasing. Be a good role model and show friends how NOT to bully.
- Have you ever felt excluded from a group? Exclusion means you feel purposefully left out of what a group is doing. Repeatedly leaving others out on purpose is a type of bullying. No one likes to feel unwanted. Always try to include others to help them feel accepted and important. You never know, you may be in their shoes one day.
- Cyberbullying has to do with sending cruel written words or pictures online. Don’t write unkind things about others on the computer by email, texting, instant messaging, blogs or any other form. Spreading rumors, gossip, and other lies are types of bullying. Even if you think you are having a private conversation with someone, your message could be forwarded to other people and really hurt someone. Oprah once said to “let your light shine. Shine within you so that it can shine on someone else.”
- Do you know the difference between tattling and reporting a bullying incident? Tattling is telling on someone mainly to get them into trouble or make yourself look good. However, sometimes kids need to report to adults what is going on, especially if someone or something is being hurt. Another reason to report bullying is if you have tried to handle a situation and your strategies aren’t working. So when you tell on someone who needs to be stopped, it is called reporting. Eleanor Roosevelt once said that “no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
- If you are being called names or bullied remember the four ways to stay SAFE- S stands for say what you feel. Tell the person how calling you names makes you feel. A stands for ask for help. F stands for find a friend. Hanging out with people who make you feel good about yourself is important and the person may think twice about calling you names when you’re with your friends. E stands for exit the area. While it may feel like you aren’t doing anything, sometimes the best way to end things is to just walk away from someone who is picking on you. Always act like you’re wearing an invisible crown.
- When it comes to bullying, students and adults don’t always see eye-to-eye. In one survey, teachers said they intervened in bullying situations 75% of the time. Students said that adults intervened only 10% of the time. Why the difference? Bullying often happens outside the view of adults. Bullying is not always easily recognized, and adults may not see a situation and think it is bullying. Don’t be afraid to report a bullying incident to a teacher, principal, or guidance counselor. And remember, hero boxes are in the library, office, and guidance office if you need to report something that happened to you or someone else.