Recently in the news there have been a rash of stories about suicides directly related to bullying.
Pheobe Prince-15 years old
April Himes-13 years old
Jared High-13 years old
Ryan Halligan-14 years old
Daniel Scruggs-12 years old
Laura Rhodes-13 years old
Joshua Melo-15 years old
Kasey Hone-16 years old
James Rogers-16 years old
Tyler Clementi-18 years old
Hope Witsell-13 years old
"name withheld"-10 year old Boston Girl
Asher Brown-13 years old
Seth Walsh-13 years old
The list could go on and on..when I put "bully" "suicide" in google search it brought up over four thousand matches!
It's been overwhelming to say the least. When I was growing up a bully was someone who teased you on the playground at recess, someone who yelled profanities at you from the other side of the road, someone who gave up after the taunting yielded little to no results, and most fortunate for any of us, someone who "disappeared" when we entered our santuary called home. Nowdays, with all of the available technology, bullying is so much more, and unfortunately even being home is not a safe haven for these victims. They get harassed with texts, emails, facebook, even with websites created just for bullying.
I've found similarities in these "bullicide" stories; the kids were liked, smart, gentle and nice. Some put on a brave smile and never mentioned the bullying, most tried to tell someone, but found no help was enough. These bullies have lost respect for not only their victims, but also for anyone in authority; parents, teacher, even police. There have also been stories of adults, the victims parents confronting these bullies, and the parents are the ones getting in trouble. They have been ticketed and some even arrested for threatening these bullies, "verbal assualt"; isn't that exactly what these bullies are doing to their victims? Why can't they be issued citations for assualt?
In this house I'm going to make sure my kids know they are loved, that they can come to me no matter what, they will know that they need to accept people for who they are-with no judgement, that everyone deserves to have a happy life. I will continue to talk to them about bullying and hope that in their lives and the lives around them, it makes a difference. I hope you'll do the same.
Honestly I don't know what the answer is but I do know we all need to stand together to stop bullies and the bullying that goes on these days!
This is a wonderful website for parents and kids http://stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/kids/
1 comment:
Last Thursday I watched a 6th grader, who was standing in the lunch line, bully three random 3rd graders as they walked by. He would jump at them and hover over them, yelling rude things to them as they passed by. I WAS SO MAD! I shouted at him to stop, he saw me...and proceeded to do it 2 more times! He had zero respect for me as an adult - which would explain why there was no hesitation to bully a younger child. I told the lunch manager, who found him and read him the riot-act. She said his eyes were huge and he was on the verge of tears. I know I should have felt bad for him, but I didn't. I hope that my managers "harsh" words will have some sort of impact on him and keep him from doing it again. It has to stop. Kids should not be afraid to go to school. We have to protect them - and it starts at home. Thanks Brandy.
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