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.

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

Follow us on Twitter

Like us on Facebook

Babies Are the Best Weapon Against Bullies, Research Found

Around babies tough kids smile, disruptive kids focus, shy kids open up.                       
In the previous posts I mentioned that bullying is actually natural. Animals fight each other, the stronger species get to stay, while the weaker ones must die - an evolutionary law.We humans are the part of the nature and it seems that we are also hardwired to be aggressive and selfish. Well, the researchers from Princeton University found there is a biological reason for compassion.


Brain scans reveal that when we contemplate violence done to others we activate the same regions in our brains that fire up when mothers gaze at their children. It suggests that caring for strangers may be instinctual. When we help others, areas of the brain associated with pleasure also light up. Research by scientists Felix Warneken and Michael Tomasello indicates that toddlers as young as 18 months behave altruistically. 

More important, we are beginning to understand how to nurture this biological potential. It seems that it’s not only possible to make people kinder, it’s possible to do it systematically at scale – at least with school children. 

That’s what one organization based in Toronto called Roots of Empathy has done.

Roots of Empathy, a Toronto-based organization is doing incredible work in the hopes of reducing bullying worldwide, by increasing empathy in schoolchildren. 

At the heart of the program are a neighbourhood infant and parent who visit the classroom every three weeks over the school year. 

A trained Roots of Empathy Instructor coaches students to observe the baby's development and to label the baby's feelings. In this experiential learning, the baby is the "Teacher" and a lever, which the instructor uses to help children identify and reflect on their own feelings and the feelings of others. 

This "emotional literacy" taught in the program lays the foundation for more safe and caring classrooms, where children are the "Changers". 

They are more competent in understanding their own feelings and the feelings of others (empathy) and are therefore less likely to physically, psychologically and emotionally hurt each other through bullying and other cruelties.

In the Roots of Empathy program children learn how to challenge cruelty and injustice. Messages of social inclusion and activities that are consensus building contribute to a culture of caring that changes the tone of the classroom. The Instructor also visits before and after each family visit to prepare and reinforce teachings using a specialized lesson plan for each visit. Research results from national and international evaluations of Roots of Empathy indicate significant reductions in aggression and increases in pro-social behavior."

Watch baby Sydney visiting the high school within Roots of Empathy program

So far our researchers have evaluated ROE’s impact on children up to three years after program completion. Results show an increase in social/emotional understanding and pro-social behaviour and a decrease in aggression compared to children who do not participate.  Children become more caring, helpful and kind, and feel more accepted by their peers. 

The program has gone into 13,000 classrooms; when writer David Bornstein investigated, he said: “What I find most fascinating is how the baby actually changes the children’s behavior. Teachers have confirmed my impressions: tough kids smile, disruptive kids focus, shy kids open up. In a seventh grade class, I found 12-year-olds unabashedly singing nursery rhymes.”

So maybe babies are the answer. And since kids don’t get to experience babies at home anymore, I guess we need to bring babies to school.

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

Follow Us on Twitter
Like Us on Facebook
Join Us on Linkedin

How Bullying Impacts Career Choice

A study published in Canadian Journal of Career Development, examined the childhood environmental conditions of ten adult participants whose ages ranged from 26 years to 42 years.

Seven were female, and three were male participants. All were victims of bullying at some point in their youth.

An attempt was made to determine how these conditions, in combination with childhood victimization in the form of peer aggressions, impacted the selections made by the participants in regards to their employment and post-secondary educational choices.



"When children started teasing me, I probably only weighed five pounds more than I should have for my height. But kids seize on small differences. The tall child is a beanstalk, the short kid is a shrimp. By the time my weight became a problem — when I really was the fattest person (adults included) in school — I had long since given up weighing myself or caring. Making it through each brutal day became the only goal".

-Rebecca Golden, author of "Butterbabe: The True Adventures of a 40-Stone  Outsider" (Random House UK), lives and writes in Toledo, Ohio.

 Read More on Fat Girl Story
According to the research most of the participants who were bullied chose their occupations, because of an interest in their field or a desire to assist others, rather than making their choices for financial reasons, or for reasons of familial pressure.

All but one of the participants of the study pursued post-secondary education, and eight even completed more than one degree or diploma in more than one area of study. In addition, all participants were currently employed.

"For me starting the blog was both a cathartic experience and also one I wanted to do to show that adults still feel the effects of the bullying. By sharing my stories from an adult perspective, I felt I could help others that felt the same way".

-Alan Eisenberg, now an adult and video producer and director in Fairfax, Va., is still affected by the bullying that took place decades ago. Both physically and mentally, he was attacked for his Jewish heritage, his last name and the emotional way he reacted to being bullied. He is now working on a documentary to tell his story and get the perspective of the people who bullied him with the goal of showing the long-term effects of bullying has on adults.

Read More on Bullying Victims Use Stories for Advocacy

In addition, participants who had an elevated number of conditions that foster resiliency in their environment had diminished manifestations of the bullying on their future educational and occupational selections. In fact, all of the participants had elevated resiliency levels, all were employed, and most were currently pursuing a profession or educational endeavor for which they were passionate.

"Growing up in Mexico, I was bullied for being poor, short and "el perrero"—the dirty dog boy. I wanted to create this video for the It Gets Better Project to let kids know that it really does get better. I encourage you to please share it with anyone you think it could help. Thank you".

-Cesar Millan, The Dog Whisperer

Watch Cesar's It Gets Better Project Video

P.S. For those who bully others...

• One researcher to address this question is Dan Olweus who followed a small group of his Norwegian sample (15 victims, 56 non-victims, all males; 1993) and found that being victimized in grades 6 and 9 could be linked to greater depression and lower self-esteem at 23 years of age.

• Olweus also documented a connection between bullying and later criminality showing that 60% of those who bullied in grades 6 and/or 9 had at least one criminal conviction by age 24; 35-40% had three or more convictions (as compared to a group of non-bullying boys).
• Another research group in England asked boys about whether they were bullies at age 14, then 18, and then again at age 32 (18 year span) (25). The findings showed that about one in every five boys (18%) who saw himself as “a bit of a bully” at age 14 continued to report being a bully at age 32. A noticeable proportion of these adult bullies at 32 years of age was highly aggressive (61%) and had been convicted of violence (20%).

Read More on What Happens Over Time to Those Who Bully

Like Us on Facebook
Follow Us on Twitter

$1 million pay out for the bullying death of young teen Alex Wildman

With receiving only a payout of almost $1 million, the family of the bullied teen Alex Wildman said "they were relieved to be spared a lengthy and costly legal battle with the Department of Education."

William and Justine Kelly, the step father and mother of the 14 year old Alex, were at the District Court in Sydney yesterday as a judge was told their case against the state had been settled out of court.

Coincidentally, the decision coincided with yesterday's national day of action against bullying.

Alex committed suicide in June 2008 after he was bullied by other students at Kadina High School, near Lismore on the far north coast.

A coronial inquest in 2010 found that the teenager had been "driven" to take his own life as a result of the torment, which included bashings in the playground which were filmed and episodes of cyber bullying.

Mr and Mrs Kelly sued the Department of Deucation for damages on behalf of two of their children, who have struggled to cope with Alex's death.

Recommended Coverage

Bullied boy tormented to death...A BULLIED teen who suffered injuries when he attempted suicide has died more than two years after his tormenters drove him to despair.
In the statement of claim filed with the court last year, the family claimed that the department had breached its duty of care, saying Kadina High School "owed Alex a duty to recognise that he was in need of assistance for being physically assaulted". "As as a result of the negligence of the (department), they have suffered injury, loss and damage," the claim said.

Greg Walsh, the solicitor representing the family, told the District Court that the family had agreed to settle following discussions with lawyers for the Education Department.

It's understood the payout is close to $1 million, and will be held in trust until the two children turn 18.

Mr Walsh said if the case had proceeded to a hearing it would have "dragged out" and caused additional trauma to a family still grieving for their son because they would have been forced to prove "the causation" of his death in spite of the inquest findings.

"The tragedy of Alex is there every day of their lives," Mr Walsh said.

"The implications of litigation would have had very, very serious consequences for this family."

Judge Dianne Truss noted the judgment was "approved" for the plaintiffs, adding that the payment would "be deferred" until the children turn 18.

Outside court, Mrs Kelly said Alex "would have been proud" of the family's continuing fight to eliminate bullying in schools.

"It means that we've been vindicated, it means that justice has been served," she said.

"I think Alex would be proud because it's been a long, hard fight for everyone."

This post was brought to you via: www.dailytelegraph.com and sponsored by 411 Pain Reviews an affiliate of The Prevention Team.

Like 411 Pain on Facebook
Connect to 411 Pain on LinkedIN
Follow 411 Pain on Twitter

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

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