What constitutes bullying?

It’s a valid question for all who are in some way responsible for the well-being of children. And, while it’s a certainty that bullying is an issue, is it possible that the natural conflict that can invariably arise between children is sometimes misdiagnosed?

This article explores these questions and asserts that the most effective tools for knowing the difference are asking questions and listening to the answers we receive.

Sometimes the most effective tools are the simplest.

For Daniela Fierro’s full article visit KGNS. Tv.
And visit our website to learn more about our anti-bullying program, You Belong.

A recent article in the LA Times citing the journal JAMA Pediatrics addresses the hard and intuitive truth that bullied children are more likely to consider and attempt suicide.

And, in tragic confirmation of this fact, we now have the story of Michael Morones. Bullied so severely, Michael attempted to end his life by hanging himself, but being unsuccessful he is now “being treated for potentially lifelong neurological injuries caused by a lack of oxygen. [His mother] said they don’t know how much he will recover or when, if ever.”

“The world has developed stereotypes for our children, and when our children don’t fit these gender and sexist stereotypes they’re ostracized, ridiculed and bullied…Our society is no longer building up our children and setting them up for success, only tearing them down.”

The full story can be found here.

And, if you’re as passionate as we are about working to address bullying, or if you’d like to speak with us about setting up an anti-bullying workshop, check out Adventure In, Adventure Out’s program You Belong.

When Spiderman/Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben paraphrased Voltaire saying, “With great power come great responsibility,” he probably wasn’t referring to smartphones in the hands of high school students. But, as technology continues to find its way into the hands of children and young people, addressing techno-bullying becomes increasingly harder.

Thus, I say ‘Kudos!’ to the folks at Yik Yak:
“The founders of an up-and-coming anonymous messaging app called Yik Yak, that began to take off among the middle school and high school crowd where it has been linked to both bullying and threats, have taken the unprecedented step of actually blocking younger users from accessing its application while on school grounds.”

But while this is a valuable step, it’s only a small step towards greater inclusion, and the undoing of the underlying culture of bullying that is the painful reality for so many young people.

Click here to read the full Yik Yak article, and click here to learn more about Adventure In Adventure Out’s You Belong, “a bold and transformative program that engages students and teachers in the creation of a physically and emotionally safe environment where courageous action is encouraged, and the true expression of each person is welcomed and celebrated.”

Below is a great article on the potential misses in the conversation between teens and adults around bullying, compassion and empathy! It is so important when we are working with our youth that we meet them at a place that they identify with. There is no meaning, interest or investment when we are not able to see ourselves in what is being presented. This is the key to compassion and empathy, the very things we hope to teach our youth when we confront bullying behaviors. Let’s be sure to practice the same empathy in our conversations with teenagers and see into their true experiences, rather than our own interpretation.

“Bullying” Has Little Resonance with Teenagers