Workplace Bullying

When people think of bullying it is mostly thought of as something that happens to our youth.  However, bullying at the work place is a very real thing and it happens every day in businesses around the world.  In fact, in a 2010 survey conducted by the Workplace Bullying Institute, they estimated that 35% of workers experience bullying first hand.  The similarities with the school yard are uncanny too. Workplace bullying does not discriminate when it comes to gender or race, and with the majority of the bullying being same gender harassment it's like high school all over again.  The main difference between the two, however, is that in the workplace it could be as subtle and as clandestine as sabotaging another person's work or as extreme as in your face violence.  It can also either take place between a boss and their subordinates or between co-workers.  

I dare you to pull my finger!        

Workplace bullying is the ultimate undermining to legitimate business practices.  It has the ability to damage the bottom line, which is the sole purpose of any business.  If a co-worker is harassing you and stopping you from doing your job properly wouldn’t it be in the best interest of your boss to stop such behavior? You bet it would be, especially if that person has their own boss to answer to.  Working in a professional environment is all about accountability.  Part of being a boss or manager is making sure productivity stays at a high and that all interpersonal issues get resolved.  However, many of the reasons why a person never comes forward when being bullied at the office is the same reason why a child will not tell their peers.  The fear of repercussions from the bully are a scary thought when you job and income are on the line.  There are very few of us out there that can jeopardize their employment by accusing another of harassment.

You have to remember though that bullying takes place for the same reasons at both the schoolyard and workplace.  Bullies are driven by deep-seated insecurities that can arise at opportune times.  Whether to make themselves feel better or to further drive their ambitions by targeting the best employees, bulling can take the form of many different types.  They can be really aggressive or extremely secretive of their behavior towards their targets.  Pushing you as you get in the elevator may get you heated and give you the ability to focus your annoyance on someone, but secretly eating your lunch will probably have a bigger effect on you on the whole.  It’s the bullies we don’t see in the workplace that sometimes have the longest lasting effects. A loss of money and lack of energy from malnutrition will definitely set you back farther in your career than a shove.

Larger corporate jobs will have human resource departments that specialize in deterring and stopping work place bullying, but they are not always aware that such behavior even exists.  If you do work for such a corporation it would be best to alert your human resources representative in a private manner to discuss your concerns.  They will most assuredly reprimand the bully if such behavior is occurring due to the corporate mentality of steering clear of law suits and protecting themselves. However, understand that there are no laws in this country that are in place to stop such behavior.  If nothing is done and you say attain a lawyer, there is no guarantee that it is something that can be proven in a court of law.  You will also run the risk of ostracizing yourself from your other co-workers if such claims are not witnessed by others. I don't know of many companies that like to hire employees with what they might see as frivolous lawsuits against past employers either.  Of course it is wrong, but that is why you have to be very very careful how you proceed in the world of adult workplace bullying.

The bottom line is that you will find bullying no matter where you go, and no matter how old you are.  It is up to us, the individual, to help put a stop to bullying when it rears its ugly head.  Ignoring it will not make it go away, and running from it will sometimes only make it worse by feeding the bully. 

See how The Prevention Team  helps to stop bullying in your neighborhood.

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The Adventures of Karen Klein

I’m sure everyone by now has seen the video that has been posted online about a 68 year woman named Karen Klein who was bullied by a pack of middle schoolers.  Their insults are so brutal it brought the poor woman to tears.

Little did one of the kids know that when he commented that she does not have family because "they all killed themselves because they didn't want to be near you” that her oldest son took his own life 10 years ago.  This is the ignorance of bullying at its best, and I can guarantee it will be something that kid will regret saying for the rest of his life. 

I myself had to ride the middle school bus when I was that age and I don’t remember having the need for bus monitors.  I guess the times have changed.  Sure there was bullying back then, but I remember a time where we respected our elders.  Sure we might have made fun of the bus driver, but never to the point where you would drive them to tears.  Don’t any of these kids have grandparents or common sense?  I understand the needing to fit in, but respect is something you teach at home.  I guarantee not one of those kids would let anyone talk to their grandmother that way.  Yet there they are ganging up on her like a pack of wolves on an injured lamb.  I know I must sound like the crotchety old man waving his fist in the air, but there has to be a line drawn in the sand. 

Kudos goes out to the kid who recorded and posted the video online for others to see.  It is individuals like that who help the world see how this bullying trend has to stop.  That person should get an award because you very well know that they had to take heat from other bullies on the bus and at school for being a “snitch”.  It definitely took a lot of courage to come forward.  I’m sure the last thing that whistle blower needed was to have the profanity laced bullying directed at them instead.

The police department that is handling the matter is treating it as a harassment case and not a crime.  I can understand the reasons why, and the woman in question just wanted an apology.  Well as of today she has gotten those apologies, and then some.  There was an online petition started to send Karen Klein on a vacation and that has raised over 500,000 dollars!  It is a shining example of human kindness, and one that I hope will be passed along to others.  I look forward to the future news reports of Karen Klein taking her whole family on a nice vacation and getting to hear about some of those amazing adventures.

Hopefully, the kids in question learned their lesson and they did not just give her empty apologies. Only time will tell if they continue their ways, but at least the public was notified that such behavior was going on.  Bullying like this can only be helped if people become aware that it is taking place, and can only be rectified if we continue to care.  For those of us out there that are still being bullied, stay strong.  And for those that are witnesses to such behavior take a lesson from this and remember that it is okay to stand up for others.  After all, if Karen Klein was your grandmother, wouldn't you do the same? 

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Social Network Bullying

Bullying has become an American epidemic as of late.  With the advent of social media, not only has it become easier to pick on someone, but it has become more visible to the public in general.  Even though the technology has progressed the speed and ways someone can bully, the reasons have remained the same.   Bullying isn’t blind, but it is most definitely ignorant.  Underlying factors to why a person is bullied can still be attributed to looks, speech, sexuality, ethnicity, religion, social beliefs, or just simply a way to show off and prove dominance.  Just because it takes place in social media does not change the "whys". 

 An Old man has scars on his face? Definitely an opening to why a young person would make fun of him, but what they wouldn’t realize is those scars might be from his military career and he got those from protecting our rights.  Those same rights that are being abused by a bully making fun of him.  This ignorance can be passed along to a young pregnant girl.  Sure she makes for an easy target for a pack of juveniles, especially because of shows like 16 and Pregnant on MTV, but little would they know she might be pregnant because of an unfortunate rape.  It is this very ignorance of facts that drive most bullies down their destructive paths.    

However, when we speak of social media bullying this can be a direct effect on how a person acts or speaks on camera or on their Facebook page.  It’s a general consensus that people say and do stupid things all the time.  But never before in human history has the stupid things we say and do become permanent on a social platform.  Many times these are not even self-inflicting screw ups.  What if a young kid slips and falls walking down the hallway at school and someone happens to catch it on camera? It might become viral on their school network, and yes, it will be embarrassing to all the kids that person sees on a daily basis, but imagine if you were that person and it goes viral on YouTube.  I’ve read the comments people post on there and they are brutal.  And the fact that it is anonymous makes it even worse. Up until the last decade or so bullying was a face to face problem.  Now anyone from anywhere in the world has the ability to throw racial and sexual slurs to anyone that is on a social network.  All you need for that is an email address, and you can acquire a new one of those very easily from any number of internet providers.  Unfortunately, it is like the Wild West out there. Except this time there are no Wyatt Earps to help corral the bad guys and make sure justice is served.  And sure posts can be removed, but usually only after the damage is done.  It is not just the typical bullies either.  There are kids out there that are usually the ones being bullied in life that find a release in becoming bullies online.  Anger that is directed at those who otherwise they could not make fun of are now the focus of their rage. 

If there were to be a silver lining to all the state of the art bullying, it would be that cries for help can no longer go unnoticed.  For ignoring them usually comes with huge penalties.  It seems like every day in the news young children and adults everywhere are committing suicide that can be linked back to bullying of some kind.  And usually you can find their previous cries for help on their social network accounts.  With our growing knowledge of these avenues of interaction we are learning to look for early signs of severe depression and misconduct.  Prior to the age of technology we wouldn't be able to spot these troubled individuals before it was too late.

  So who are these new sheriffs that are going to stop this cyber-bulling from taking place? It's not going to come down to a single person.  It is going to take a collective effort from all of us who frequent these sites to patrol them for offenders.  But even before that it starts at home.  It starts with what we teach our children.  How they interact with their siblings and peers, and especially how they respond to criticism.  Because one thing we will not be short of in our internet lives is criticism.  This isn't a place were people will be polite to you if they do not like something about you, or about your taste or distaste for something.  We are going to have to teach our future generations that with every effort of positivity you put into something there is more than likely going to be an equal effort of negativity being pushed back at you.  It is how you handle these potential bullies that will make or break you and them.  Take away a bullies need for superiority and you take away their power.  Bullies without that power are not bullies at all, they become sad and desperate people that hopefully change their ways of social interaction.

The awareness the media has for bullying these days is at an all time high, but we need to make sure it continues until ultimately it is abolished.  However, we do have to be careful not to eventually cross the line and become a nation and world that stands against our deepest values.  The ability to talk freely must always thrive, but it is in our own natures and our own educations and social lives that we have to turn the Wild West of the internet into the promised land of the New American Frontier.

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Disney to Bully Obese Kids With It's New Theme Park

Disney had to close a new theme park exhibit promoting healthy eating and exercise, but not because it was ineffectual. 
The reason? 
It was deemed too offensive to overweight children. 

Habit Heroes, an attraction at Disney's Epcot resort in Orlando, Florida, used obese cartoon villains called Snacker, Lead Bottom and The Glutton to highlight the dangers of junk food, too much television, and inactivity. 

But critics accused Disney of taking "the side of the bullies" by reinforcing stereotypes of overweight children and stigmatising them for their condition, prompting the entertainment giant to shutter the attraction for a "retooling".

Children in Grades 3 through 6 who are obese are more likely to be bullied than their normal-weight peers, a new study has found. 

"When we started this study, I really suspected that we might find that the obesity or overweight might not be the driving force," says the lead author of the study, Julie Lumeng, M.D., a professor of pediatrics at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. "What we found is that it didn't matter. No matter how good your social skills, if you were overweight or obese you were more likely to be bullied." 

The study involved 821 US boys and girls 8 to 11 years old. In third grade, 17 percent of the children were obese and 15 percent were overweight.

A quarter of the children reported being bullied, although their mothers said about 45 percent of them were bullied.

According to the investigators, the odds of being bullied were 63 percent higher for an obese child, compared to a healthy-weight peer.

Positive Effect of Bullying the Obese

Can the bullying be considered a positive thing if it motivates a child to acquire good habits? See yourself:

Just a year ago the 6th grader Mason Harvey weighed 206 pounds. Today he's 85 pounds lighter.

Harvey says the reason he decided to lose weight was because he was being bullied. Starting in the third grade, the other kids would call him names like "fat" and "jelly roll" and push him around.

Harvey was fed up with the bullying. So he began to take small steps. He hit the gym, stopped drinking soda pop, burgers and pizza.

Today he eats carrots at school for snacks, with a bit of ranch dressing. He says he can't believe he was 85 pounds heavier.

But Harvey decided not to stop there, he insisted that his parents join him.

"We're not just sleeping in all day, laying around," explains Mike Harvey. "We're getting up, we're moving and it's making us feel better."

His father once weighed more than 324 pounds, now he's down to 298.




Obese Boys Are More Likely to Be Bullied

The researchers claim that boys more often experience overt bullying victimization than girls. Gender differences are also reported in relational victimization before adolescence in the USA. Boys are more often victims of physical bullying if they are physically weaker, while recent evidence also suggests that overweight and obese adolescent boys are more likely to be perpetrators of bullying than their average weight peers. 

See how The Prevention Team http://thepreventionteam.com/helps school kids stop bullying here: 
http://thepreventionteam.com/

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Self-Bullying: Fight a Bully Within

Psychology Today: "Bullies couldn't exist without victims, and they don't pick on just anyone; those singled out lack assertiveness and radiate fear long before they ever encounter a bully. No one likes a bully, but no one likes a victim either..."
You know how bad it feels when another person negatively judges you. It's awful. 
How does negative self-judgment make you feel? Each time you call yourself stupid, ugly, not good enough, etc you are taking positive energy from yourself.  
Have you ever negatively judged yourself? Ever compare yourself to others? 
This is self-bullying.




How to Cancel Out All the Negative Judgments

"Take your index finger and press it to your thumb like you were squishing a piece of dirt between those fingers. Now, each time you make a negative judgement about others or yourself, press those fingers together and squish out that negativity. Immediately  replace the negative judgement with a positive statement. The more you do this the easier it will be to not make negative judgments at all. Practice, practice, practice and it's ll get easier over time..."

-Hey U.G.L.Y, non-profit organization founded in response to the daily headlines describing the increase in teen suicide, gun violence in schools, bullying, drug abuse, eating disorders, and the obesity epidemic facing American youth. 

Read More on Defending Yourself Against Self-Bullying

Building Confidence Thru Play

The Goddard School, Gilbertsville. Playful learning activities are teacher-planned and child-directed, and designed to nurture each child’s self confidence. This approach to learning, which helps introduce children to new skills in a playful and engaging way, is supported by a growing body of research from Play for Tomorrow, the consortium behind the respected “playful learning” movement.

“We make learning enjoyable and we build in lots of opportunity for each child to experience the satisfaction of success. A key benefit of this approach to learning is its emphasis on building self-esteem and confidence as children try, and succeed at, new challenges,” said Salvatore Boccella, the owner. “A   confident child is much less likely to develop into a bully or to accept bullying from another child.”


Read More on Confidence is Best Defense Against Bullying

Face Bullying With Confidence

Walk With Awareness, Calm, Respect, and Confidence

People are less likely to be picked on and more likely to be listened to if they walk, sit, and act with awareness, calm, respect, and confidence. This means keeping one's head up, back straight, taking brisk steps, looking around, having a peaceful face and body, noticing what is happening around you, and moving away from people who might cause trouble.

Show your kid the differences between acting passive, aggressive and assertive in body language, tone of voice, and choice of words. Coach your child to walk across the floor, coaching her or him to be successful, by saying for example; "That's great!" "Now take bigger steps", "Look around you" "Straighten your back." etc.

-"Bullying - What Adults Need to Know and Do to Keep Kids Safe" by Irene van der Zande

Read More on 8 Anti-Bullying Skills Kids Can Use Right Away

Check out What The Prevention Team Does to Help School Kids Protect Themselves Against Bullying 

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The Real George Zimmerman

George Zimmerman, a Florida man who shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin to death last February, has recently created a website in which he defends his actions and requests donations for legal support. The website’s title is conveniently, “The Real George Zimmerman”. Zimmerman shows absolutely no remorse for his actions and actually paints himself as the victim. An excerpt from TheRealGeorgeZimmerman.com quotes Zimmerman as saying, “I have not received any funds collected, intended to support my family and I through this trying, tragic time.” He also says, “I was involved in a life altering event which led me to become the subject of intense media coverage. As a result of the incident and subsequent media coverage, I have been forced to leave my home, my school, my employer, my family and ultimately, my entire life.”

Zimmerman took the life of a 17-year-old boy, yet he insists this is a tragic time in his life? He explains how this experience has virtually ruined his life, having to go into hiding after the incident. A mother and father have lost their son. A child’s life has been taken from him. Yet, Zimmerman feels as though his life has been ruined. Zimmerman never once mentions Trayvon Martin or his family. This website is an extremely selfish attempt to gain the support of misguided followers. Zimmerman supports his pleas by decorating his website with famous quotes such as “The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion” by Thomas Paine and “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is that good men do nothing” by Edmund Burke.

George Zimmerman is a criminal, yet he remains a free man. Justice must be served! Visit Zimmerman’s website (The Real George Zimmerman) by visiting the following link: 

http://therealgeorgezimmerman.com/Home_Page.php            

411 PAIN LAUNCHES A PROACTIVE ANTI BULLYING CAMPAIGN IN SOUTH FLORIDA SCHOOLS!

411 Pain, a medical and lawyer referral service, has gone beyond the norm to make a difference in the South Florida community. In addition to their numerous donations to underprivileged Elementary schools through the 411 Pain Read and Rise Campaign, they have recently teamed up with The Prevention Team to tackle one of the biggest issues in our middle & high schools today, Bullies! “The Prevention Team specializes in bringing Pro Athletes to Schools Nationwide to stop bullying before it happens. As a father, I know how serious this epidemic has become & knew this would be a great program to bring to the South Florida school system,” says Dr. Robert Lewin, president of 411 Pain.

As Title Sponsor of The Prevention Team, 411 Pain is launching their Anti Bullying Campaign beginning this month by funding ten school assemblies in Dade County and Broward County schools. Thanks to 411 Pain, students will have the tremendous opportunity to be educated by an NFL Player on what to do if they are a victim of being bullied, harassed on the internet, see others being bullied, and much more! Rhonda Beier, President of The Prevention Team states, “These assemblies are creating awareness, bringing solutions, and putting a STOP to bullying. We have had tremendous success so far and thanks to Dr. Robert Lewin and the 411 Pain Team, we will now be able to reac411 Pain 1-800-411-Pain 411-Pain Bullying CyberBullying The Prevention Team Anti-Bullying AntiBullyingh thousands of students and staff members throughout Florida.”

For information on scheduling an assembly in your school, please visit www.thepreventionteam.com!

411 PAIN CONTRIBUTES THOUSANDS TO ELEMENTARY LITERACY CAMPAIGN

The excitement was in the air as Castle Hill Elementary students entered the 411 PAIN Scholastic Read and Rise Assembly. An exhilarating speech from local radio DJ’s prepared the cheerful youth for the 411 Pain representatives, who gave an awesome read-a-long . As the kids cheered and applauded, 411 Pain presented a check to the sea of young smiling faces for over $2,900. A roar from the elementary school assembly hall echoed from door to door as the 411 Pain Team informed the students they will each receive a $5 gift certificate to allow them to purchase at least 1 book at the Scholastic book fair. This amazing event sent chills through the crowd. "To see the smile and amazement in a child's face when they realize it is their own personal book, is the most rewarding part of this program" mentions Cici Seda, Director of 411 Pain Promotions. Young boys and girls rushed to find pens, pencils, crayons, markers and any writing utensils they had to begin creating special thank you cards for the team at 411 Pain. The sentiment resonated in each heart felt card from the students. Thank you Castle Hill Elementary for the warm reception and to all the students, we are happy to see you all were able to get your favorite books. Dr. Robert Lewin, President of 411 Pain states, “On behalf of 411 Pain, Happy Reading and to Clear Channel and Scholastic, thank you for taking an interest in furthering the education of the young minds in South Florida, you all are doing a fantastic job. It is my pleasure to continue supporting the schools and students throughout our community.”

The Prevention Team | Anti-Bullying – Pro Children Safety & Education

The effects of bullying last forever....

I WAS bullied at school. This was the 1960s and it was seen then as part of growing up.

You didn't dob or you'd be hammered behind the shelter sheds. You didn't tell your parents as they would simply say it was part of learning to be a man.

To be a man, I joined the school cadets. It was here that I understood what institutionalised bullying was all about. If you wore a peaked cap and had pips on your shoulder epaulets, that sanctioned you to do exactly what you liked.

I was humiliated and beaten. I lasted a year. I still have an aversion to seeing army uniforms.

It was some comfort that when I left school and began training as a teacher that I realised that there was a raft of literature devoted to bullying. I was not alone. I read of Australia's legendary ballet dancer Robert Helpmann and how he was bullied unmercifully at school because he could dance.

And I read with gut-turning revulsion the frank admission of the historian Manning Clark, how when he was a student at Melbourne Grammar, the terrors of the notorious long dorm were visited on him and he was subjected to what he described as the "theatre of cruelty".

When I became a teacher I entered the classroom feeling for the broken and bereft, the small, the timid, the socially outcast, the dull, the nerdy kids and the students who were gay.

The daily terror that gay boys felt of being discovered or even suspected is a lingering reality. It still continues today. If you are called a "fag", you will be a school leper.

This is why the campaign against bullying of all kinds is long overdue.

When I began teaching, computers were not commonplace. Cyber bullying was unknown, not to mention texting or sexting. It is hard to imagine a more pernicious and devastatingly insistent form of harassment. It only takes one word, one image.

TPT: "Bullying is one of the worst forms of abuse that can be taken out on a young individual we must connect as a population; from parents to young adults to make positive strides in creating a bully free society!"

To Read More Of The Featured Story: Click Here

Gay teen’s suicide spurs review of bullying policy

The time to act is now; The Prevention Team is in the process of providing our specialized anti-bullying techniques across the nation and we find ourselves pushing to make it to
ASHLAND CITY, Tenn. where in the weeks since an openly gay teenager killed himself, the reaction in this Tennessee town has included petition drives to examine the anti-bullying policy in the local schools and a tense public meeting to discuss suicide prevention efforts.

Jacob Rogers shot himself on Dec. 7.

He wrote about family in the notes he left behind before his death, but there was no mention of bullying, authorities said.

However, a friend told The Tennessean that Rogers was an almost daily target for name-calling at Cheatham County Central High School.

"It was like every day, every class," said 18-year-old Kaelynn Mooningham.

Friends and family question whether the school did enough to protect Rogers, and if the district’s anti-bullying policy is too lenient for students who do harm...Read Full Story

Parents Are Suing School Districts For The Bullying Outbreaks!

As the days turn to weeks and the weeks turn to months; bullying is becoming worse by the second and concerned parents are now taking the power out of the hands of the school to act on this growing problem. In Baltimore it has gotten to the point where a million plus dollar lawsuit was put in place against the school districts for their poor effort on putting programs in place like those of The Prevention Team to really solve the problem. Upon hearing these issues The Prevention Team has taken effort to reach out to a large portion of Baltimore to begin the attack on the bullying problem. Numerous Baltimore Ravens are apart of The Prevention Team it is just a matter of the schools agreeing and getting the sponsorship to put our successful program in place. The people have spoken the time is now to act!!! Check out the link below on more details to the million dollar case.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/breaking/bs-md-ci-bullying-lawsuit-trial-20111215,0,6437599.story

How Fathers should Handle Bullying

What is a father to do? Your son or daughter comes home crying, "John pushed me down and said I was stupid." Worse yet, this is not the first time. You are angry, frustrated, and let's face it...pissed off. Your initial response is to hit something or maybe it's to tell your kid it's not a big deal and to get over it. Both responses are bad. Fighting is not the first choice and ignoring it is even worse. So what is a dad to do?

Let us reason together…

Bullying is wrong and hurts people. Most often it never escalates above name calling, but occasionally if left unchecked it can result in pain and even death. Many suicides, school shootings, rape, and robberies have been the direct result of bullying. Before you can deal with bullying we need to understand who bullies are and why they do it.



Continue reading on Examiner.com How Fathers should Handle Bullying - Detroit fatherhood | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/fatherhood-in-detroit/how-fathers-should-handle-bullying#ixzz1fxC2MEl6

School bullying: Did district miss cries for help?

Didn't anyone notice what was happening to Jamarcus Bell?

Didn't any students, teachers or administrators see pieces of metal thrown at the 14-year-old during a welding class? Didn't they hear the painful anti-gay slurs thrown at him in the hallways?

Wasn't his suicide attempt in the seventh grade -- when he was found alive, hanging from a noose in a janitor's closet -- a clear sign to educators or fellow students that this kid was having problems?

Apparently not, according to his mother, who has filed a federal lawsuit against Hamilton Southeastern Schools alleging negligence in a tragic situation that ended in October 2010 when Jamarcus -- called Marcus by friends -- hung himself a second, and final, time. Read The Prevention Team Featured Story today for more information.