School Bullying Council

Whether it is Cyber, Mental, Physical or emotional, It hurts, Oh so much. And it NEEDS to stop. These are just some of the stories and points I have seen. Bullying is pathetic, It sickens me. Critism is acceptable, aslong as it isn’t Mean, or racist or horrible… ~ Jacki Brown PS The signs read. And the signs say from the start. ~Bullying. ~Whether it’s cyber or not, Doesn’t matter… ~It hurts people… ~ But there can be many sides to a story… ~Just Remember to speak out against it… ~ Wit

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Poll finds social networks the place where Australian kids are most likely to be bullied online. Picture: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images

AUSTRALIA rates number one in the world for bullying on social networks like Facebook, according to a global poll.

While Australia ranked fifth for cyber-bullying overall, nine out of ten parents said when the harassment occurred it was on these types of sites – much higher than the global average of six in 10.

The Ipsos Social Research Institute survey of 24 countries ranked Australia worse for bullying than all of the European countries, along with the US, Britain and China.

The four countries ranking higher than us, in order, were India, Indonesia, Sweden and Canada.

The research comes just a week after Victorian schoolgirl Sheniz Erkan took her own life after being tormented by Facebook bullies.

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Ispsos director Ryan Williams said the goal was to find out how prevalent cyber-bullying was and to find out where it was taking place.

“According to parents, Australian children were less likely to experience bullying in an online chat room, via email, or on their mobile phone, compared to global averages – but were more likely than any other nation to experience bullying via social networking sites, such as Facebook,” Mr Williams said.

Australia ranked 15th for mobile devices, 22nd for online chat, 17th for emails, 20th for instant messages, 21st for general websites and 18th for other forms of technology.

No Australian parent reported bullying was a persistent issue with their children.

Kids Helpline manager of strategy and research John Dalgleish said the rise of cyber bullying was a massive concern as it took it harassment from the playground directly into victim’s bedrooms.

Mr Dalgleish said the rise of social networking sites meant bullying was no longer limited to the classroom and teenagers faced further exposure to harassment thanks to the rise of social networking sites such as Facebook.

“Cyber bullying has a profound impact as it widens the audience (from school) and means it can be seen by anyone,” he said.

“It can be used as an extension of face-to-face bullying and takes it from the classroom and into a child’s own bedroom undermining their sense of safety and security.”

KidsHelpline, which offers hundreds of counselling services to bullying victims a year, urged young people affected by the harassment to come forward and speak out.

Mr Dalgleish said victims should tell a trusted adult or parent who can take action on their behalf, and in extreme cases take it to the police.

He added previous studies on the long-term effects of bullying had showed positive outcomes and an end to the behaviour after victims had told someone about it.

“The first thing victims need to know is it’s not their fault,” he said.

“Action can be taken and it can be stopped.”

Bullying can result in chronic anxiety, depression, fear, anxiety, withdrawal from school and in the worst cases, self-harm.

Parents are urged to monitor their children’s social networking use and speak to them about appropriate behaviour on the internet.

Anyone experiencing bullying or harassment is urged to visit KidsHelpline.

http://www.news.com.au/technology/anti-social-network-australia-the-facebook-bullying-capital/story-e6frfro0-1226246496953

Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation aims to explore ways to better the safety of school children. PHOTO: FILE

WASHINGTON: 

Eccentric pop diva Lady Gaga took her anti-bullying campaign to the White House on December 6 where she was lauded as a source of strength for many young people who are scared at school.

Her visit follows a White House bullying conference earlier this year, called to mitigate the plight of nearly a third of US schoolchildren, or 13 million students, who are bullied each year, according to official figures.

President Barack Obama was away making a major speech on the economy in Kansas, but Lady Gaga was welcomed to the White House by Valerie Jarrett, one of his most senior political advisers.

“Lady Gaga has described this cause as a personal one — she has said that as a child, she was often picked on for being different,” Jarrett said in a White House blog post.

“I am deeply moved by the way she has used her story, and her success, to inspire young people, and shine the spotlight on important issues. Over the last three years, we have seen that when we work together on behalf of human rights, we can accomplish truly amazing things, yet too many young people still remain at risk,” added Jarrett.

The “Bad Romance” singer has linked up with the MacArthur Foundation and Harvard University to launch the Born This Way Foundation, which will explore ways to enhance the safety of children at school.

Obama encountered an extravagantly dressed Lady Gaga during a fundraising event in California in September, and ABC News said she brought up bullying with the president during a closed question and answer session.

Lady Gaga told fans in September that she would bring up the case of a 14-year-old New York boy Jamie Rodemeyer, who committed suicide after complaining in an online video that he had been bullied. 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 8^th, 2011.

The exchange between the Echols Middle School students soon turned sour. The classmate criticized Rachel, 13, for a comment she left on another girl’s photo, and the messages became insulting.

A few days later, one of the other girl’s friends created a Facebook page called “I Hate Rachel Smith.”

Between 50 and 70 classmates joined. They called Rachel fat. They called her ugly. They called her a lesbian — she’s not.

Rachel wrote the girl, asking her to take the page down. Rachel’s mother, Peggy, reported the group to Facebook administrators, and it was eventually removed. Her own friends created a group called “Rachel Smith is Loved.”

Months later, the relationship between the girls is still tense.

“It’s just drama,” Rachel said. “I’m pretty sure that everyone in the eighth grade knows the situation. I just try to ignore it. I wish I could change schools.”

Bullying has become an increasing problem for school officials nationwide than perhaps ever before.

Because so many teens are tech-savvy, most of the bullying has been cyberbullying, either through cellphone text messages or online social networking sites. Some cases have led to teenagers killing themselves, in some cases because they were being bullied.

The Alabama Legislature has tried to crack down on bullying, passing the Student Harassment Prevention Act, which went into effect on Oct. 1, 2009.

The Student Harassment Prevention Act requires that all public school systems in the state adopt policies to prevent students from being bullied, defined as being harassed, intimidated, threatened or hurt in an act of violence by other students.

The law also requires schools to document incidents of bullying.

Greg Hurst, coordinator of student services for the Tuscaloosa County School System, said that in the 2010-11 school year, there were 51 incidents of bullying and harassment in the Tuscaloosa County School System.

So far this school year, there have been 12 documented incidents of bullying and harassment, Hurst said.

He said that none of the incidents were classified as cyberbullying. Four of the incidents led to suspensions.

Vickie Brown, director of student services for the Tuscaloosa City Schools, said that in the city system, there were 22 incidents of threats or intimidation and 84 incidents of harassment that resulted in out-of-school suspensions in the 2010-11 school year.

So far this school year, there have been 41 reports of bullying or threats, Brown said.

She said cyberbullying is not documented separately from other types of bullying, so she couldn’t provide the number of incidents in the city school system that involved cyberbullying, but she did say there have been more cases of it.

“Cyberbullying is certainly an area that has increased over the past few years and is an area we are addressing frequently in the school setting,” Brown said in a written statement.

Despite school officials’ efforts, some parents say it’s not enough. Peggy Smith said she has complained to her daughter’s school about continued harassment of her daughter. Rachel and the other girl are in the same gym class, and have had unpleasant exchanges in the locker room, where there is no adult supervision. Smith said she called the school resource officer after the other girl allegedly threatened Rachel, who was in turn blamed for a prank phone call. Both girls were warned, but no further action was taken.

“They’ve called my daughter a drama queen,” she said of school officials. “Her grades have fallen because of this. It’s just devastating that she’s tormented every day.”

Both school systems, however, say they have done a lot to try to end bullying in school.

Hurst said the county has started educating students about bullying and cyberbullying, provided small group counseling for students at Davis Emerson Middle School twice a week, educated teachers about bullying and created a committee of school district leaders who are creating procedures to assist with appropriate use of social networking and prohibit cyberbullying.

“The Tuscaloosa County School System, students, parents and community will continue our relentless pursuit to decrease bullying in all schools,” Hurst said in a written statement. “Children go to school to learn and should be allowed to do so in a safe environment. Therefore, it is everyone’s goal to make sure that our students are safe and protected.”

Since the state’s student harassment law went into effect, the city school system has revised its anti-harassment and anti-bullying policies by extending the system’s jurisdiction beyond school.

“Since cyberbullying is on the rise, we may have a situation that manifest itself at school the next day such as a fight that originated on Facebook the night before,” Brown said. “(The jurisdiction extension) allows the school system to deal with issues that affect the educational process, even if they did not initially occur during the instructional day.”

The city system has also trained its employees how to report cases of bullying and harassment, hosted community forums to raise awareness about bullying and trained people on how to deal with it. The system has also sent Brown to a national training session on preventing bullying. The training was conducted by Dennis Lewis, who is considered a national leader in providing training on establishing and maintaining safe schools.

Brown said she plans to teach what she learned there to other administrators in the system.

“The administration of Tuscaloosa City Schools is making every effort to ensure a safe learning environment is provided for every student in our district by aggressively addressing the area of bullying and harassment in our system by creating a positive school climate,” Brown said. “We want to be proactive, not just reactive.”

Reach Stephanie Taylor at stephanie.taylor@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0210. Reach Jamon Smith at jamon.smith@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0204.

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20111113/NEWS/111119729

Workplace bullying complaints have doubled in the past year. Photo: Getty Images

THE number of Victorians claiming to have been bullied at work has skyrocketed, with complaints to WorkSafe Victoria more than doubling to 6000 in the past year.

But no action was taken on the vast majority of complaints, as most fell well short of what constitutes workplace bullying under the law. People complained of bullying after being sacked for assaulting a manager, missing out on a pay rise or not being invited to a work party.

WorkSafe’s executive director of health and safety, Ian Forsyth, believes the huge surge in complaints can largely be attributed to greater awareness about bullying and, in particular, to the case of 19-year-old waitress Brodie Panlock, who committed suicide in 2006 after being relentlessly bullied by four colleagues at a Hawthorn cafe.

Illustration: Matt Golding

Mr Forsyth says the most significant spike in bullying complaints to WorkSafe came immediately after Ms Panlock’s former colleagues and the owner of Cafe Vamp were found guilty and fined a total of $335,000 in February last year. A month earlier it received 150 complaints. In February 2010 it rose to 550 calls and in March 2010 to 750.

Of the 6000 bullying complaints made to WorkSafe, only 10 per cent were referred to the bullying response unit. Of those referrals, one in 10 resulted in an inspector visiting a workplace to conduct further inquiries.

Many of the complaints have been referred to other organisations such as Fair Work Australia, which deals with issues relating to industrial disputes, unfair dismissal and employment conditions, and the Australian Human Rights Commission, which deals with issues such as equal opportunity and discrimination.

”I think what we are seeing is that the term bullying is being used quite loosely in the community now in many instances to describe something that has ‘gone against me’ or ‘that I haven’t liked’ or something that ‘I haven’t wanted to do’,” says Mr Forsyth.

”As a result, we are seeing a mismatch between what is being labelled bullying and what would really constitute bullying under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

”We’re certainly not saying that these people aren’t suffering from some form of ill treatment or some form of injustice or that they’re not genuinely feeling that they’ve been disadvantaged or put under pressure. But in the vast majority of incidents these types of behaviours which they might describe as bullying are not going to meet the criteria for us to investigate or prosecute.”

The Occupational Health and Safety Act defines bullying as ”repeated unreasonable behaviour directed towards a worker or group of workers that creates a risk to health and safety”. Under a new bill passed last month, called Brodie’s Law, bullying now carries a penalty of up to 10 years in jail.

Kevin Jones, an occupational health and safety consultant and the editor of SafetyAtWorkBlog, says the increase in complaints could also be attributed to a shift in attitudes about what is deemed acceptable behaviour.

”I think workplaces have improved the management of personnel substantially.”

Mr Forsyth said anyone worried about mistreatment or bullying at work should immediately raise the issue with the appropriate person in their workplace.

”If it’s not adequately addressed in the workplace then they need to look at what are the best avenues to get the issues addressed, whether it be through Fair Work Australia, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission or WorkSafe.”

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/most-workplace-bullying-claims-fall-short-20110723-1hub7.html

The Australia Communications and Media Authority has launched an out of home campaign – a first for the government body – as it looks to raise awareness about digital reputation, sexting, geolocation and cyberbullying among teenagers in Sydney. The posters contain QR codes that enable teens to directly access the cybersmart website by using their cameraphones. Creative and media were devised by Mediabrands.

ACMA is using outdoor following research from the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, which suggested that teenagers pay attention to ads on street fixtures.

“The key message is presented in a strong bold typeface, in a tone of voice that aims to speak with the target rather than at them,’ explained ACMA chairman, Chris Chapman.

The campaign runs until June 19.

The cybersmart website hosts a video targeted at parents that helps them understand the online space in which their children exist.

June 13th, 2011 at 5:11 pm

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http://mumbrella.com.au/acma-tries-outdoor-to-reach-teens-on-cyberbullying-48922

Bullying is rife among teens in some areas, the survey shows.
Source: Supplied

MORE than half of all teenagers in some suburbs and country areas have reported being bullied, according to a major survey of youth wellbeing.

High numbers of young people have also admitted trying alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana.

Released yesterday, the 2010 Adolescent Community Profiles gives a snapshot of youth health and social issues for each Victorian municipality.

Bullying was a big problem in Melton, with 54 per cent saying they had experienced recent incidents.

In southeastern suburbs such as Clayton and Oakleigh the figure was around 51 per cent. The City of Bayside, which includes Brighton and Sandringham, had the lowest incidence, with less than one in three reporting recent bullying.

Smoking was popular in Whittlesea, with 53 per cent of 15-17 year olds saying they had tried it.

Teenagers in Moonee Valley, Richmond and Collingwood also had high rates of having tried smoking.

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Quit Victoria executive director Fiona Sharkie said smoking rates in lower socio-economic areas were likely to be higher and children of parents who smoked were more likely to try smoking or be a smoker.

A big proportion of inner-suburban youth had tried marijuana, reaching 43 per cent in the City of Yarra.

Almost one in three 15-17-year-olds in Wodonga had also experienced the drug. More than half of 12-14-year-olds in Frankston and regional areas such as Geelong and the Central Goldfields said they had tried alcohol.

The percentage of 15-17-year-olds who had had sexual intercourse varied considerably, from around 10 per cent in Greater Dandenong to almost 40 per cent in the Geelong region.

In Latrobe City Council’s region, which includes Moe and Morwell, there was the highest rate of teenagers having babies – 28.3 babies for every 1000 people.

State Higher Education and Skills Minister Peter Hall said the profiles identified areas of strengths and weaknesses.

“They are designed to guide decision-making across government so we can more effectively set priorities and allocate resources,” he said.

The Adolescent Community Profiles include data from the Victorian Adolescent Health and Wellbeing survey of more than 10,000 students.

Netlink: education.vic.gov.au

For more on the half of Australian youth who are being bullied go to the Herald Sun.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/most-teens-bullied-study-shows/story-e6frf7l6-1226055700790

The Children studying in the schools located in Massachusetts have been facing major bullying problems. In a new study, it has been confirmed that more than one-fourth of the total middle school children and around 16% of the children in the High School are regularly bullied.

The federal report has caused major concerns for the authorities, parents and children. During the study, the health authorities in Massachusetts for the first time ever included questions regarding the problems faced by children because of bullying. The main conclusion of the study was that there are behavioral and health damages done to the child. The violence at home and constant bullying makes the child more violent and destructive.

The Governor, Deval Patrick has introduced a law. According to the law, the bullying in schools has to be reported and investigated. The schools will be required to follow strict procedures to stop the bullying in their premises.

The authorities at the schools in the Massachusetts have assured that they will make sure that the bullying in the schools is immediately stopped. They also confirmed that they will work with the government officials to invent new preventive procedures for bullying. Hopefully the changes in the law will provide the required relief from bullying for the children, parents and authorities.

http://topnews.us/content/238957-bullying-schools-causes-concern

The message will be plastered on some Metro Buses and billboards.

“Buffalo Bulldozes Bullying.” The catchy phrase has been selected as the city’s official anti-bullying slogan.

Students at the Emerson School of Hospitality on West Chippewa Street submitted the winning entry in a slogan contest.

The competition was part of an anti-bullying summit held in January. The forum brought together about 200 city school students, 100 educators and other interested people to discuss ways to prevent bullying.

The new awareness poster was unveiled Thursday in a ceremony at Main and Greenfield streets. Mayor Byron W. Brown thanked ATT, Lamar Advertising and the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority for their involvement in the advertising blitz. He described raising awareness about bullying as critical and noted that the problem is a “very serious issue.”

Buffalo’s Commission on Citizens Rights and Community Relations has been sponsoring anti-bullying campaigns. Experts stressed that bullying can affect school attendance, grades and even graduation rates.

citydesk@buffnews.comnull

http://www.buffalonews.com/city/communities/buffalo/article387643.ece