Bullying is an issue, both for children and adults. It is something that Silent River Kung Fu takes seriously, as bullying is absolutely unacceptable. No one should be made to feel small, and worthless, so that another may feel some sense of power. It leaves children (and adults) suffering from humiliation, poor grades and crushed spirits. And it can have a lasting impact on how they see themselves and the world around them.
Our children’s curriculum teaches our students conflict resolution, and ways of setting personal boundaries. It is important that we raise the awareness, and provide the tools to help children (and adults) address the situation in a constructive manner, and stop bullying in it’s tracks. Confidence is a key component of stopping bullying.
Bullying is everyone’s responsibility. It is something that doesn’t just go away, and needs constant attention to protect those affected. As a community, we need to be aware of when it happens. We need to incorporate ways to change the attitudes of the community, so that it is everyone’s business.
We need to remember, that bullying is NOT a normal part of growing up.
Bullying not only affects the the direct individuals, it also affects the children who witness it, and as adults, it is important that we act, and not turn the other cheek.
Bullying changes over time as well. There are many forms of bullying - verbal, physical, and cyber to name a few. There is exclusion - where someone is left out of things on purpose, and gossiping is one form also.
We need to take a stand on bullying. It isn’t right, and there are so many individuals out there that need our community’s support.
On the Alberta Governments website, there are some resources to give some extra information for us as parents, educators, and peers to use to help raise awareness on bullying, and to help combat it.
The bullying hotline phone number is 1-888-456-2323.
Websites to check out are:
www.bullyfreealberta.ca
www.B-free.ca
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Bullying Awareness Week 2009 – November 15th – 21st, 2009
-November 12, 2009 Cochrane, Alberta -Bullying.org
Bullying.org is pleased to announce that the seventh annual Bullying Awareness Week will take place from November 15th – 21st, 2009. The theme will be “Stand Up to Bullying!”
“I cannot believe how much this grassroots, community-based movement has grown over the past seven years”, says Bill Belsey who is President of Bullying.org and the original founder of the annual event.
“Over the years, we have gratefully received support from businesses like Family Channel and organizations like the Canadian Teachers’ Federation, the CBC’s Rick Mercer and the City of Toronto”, acknowledges Belsey.
“It is very gratifying to know that this simple, but powerful idea has grown to now involve schools and communities around the world”, observes the father and classroom teacher from Cochrane, Alberta.
“Some people say that by talking about bullying it will just make things worse, but the world’s leading researchers say that you must name the problem and discuss it in order to prevent it. The whole idea of the week is to prevent bullying through education and raising awareness in a positive, proactive way. For far too long society has seen bullying as a ‘rite of passage’ or a ‘normal” part of life. Being scared to go to school, being full of anxiety because of a harassing boss or co-workers, or thinking of hurting yourself or others because of bullying is not normal”, notes Belsey.
“I would like to invite all schools and communities to join this annual grassroots initiative, because bullying is not simply a school issue, it is a broader community health and wellness issue”, encourages Belsey.
For more information, go to http://www.bullyingawarenessweek.org.
Related Research:
-bullying occurs in school playgrounds every 7 minutes and once every 25 minutes in class (Pepler et al., 1997).
-only one in four children report that teachers intervene in bullying situations, while seven in ten teachers believe they always intervene most bullying occurs close to adults.
-bullying is reduced in a school if the principal is committed to reducing bullying. -(Charach et al., 1995)
-85% of bullying episodes occur in the context of a peer group -(Atlas and Pepler, 1997, Craig and Pepler, 1997)
-83% of students indicate that watching bullying makes them feel uncomfortable. -(Pepler et al., 1997)
-bullying stops in less than 10 seconds, most of the time when peers intervene on behalf of the victim. -(Pepler et al., 1997)
-by age 24, 60 percent of identified bullies have a criminal conviction. Young children who were labeled by their peers as bullies required more support form adults from government agencies, had more court convictions, more alcoholism, more anti-social personality disorders and used more mental health services.
Note: Bill Belsey is the founder and President of Bullying.org*. He is the creator of http://www.bullying.org, the world's most-visited and referenced Website about bullying, http://www.cyberbullying.ca, the worlds' first Website about cyberbullying, the annual Bullying Awareness Week, see http://www.bullyingawarenessweek.org and http://www.bullyingcourse.com, which offers online courses and Webinars for parents, educators and concerned citizens about the issues of bullying and cyberbullying. Mr. Belsey is a father of two teenage children and currently teaches grade five at Springbank Middle School for Rockyview School Division in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, see http://www.coolclass.ca “Canada’s Coolest Class!” He is a winner of the Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence and a Fellow of the prestigious World Technology Network.
*Bullying.org is a proud partner of PREVNet, (See http://prevnet.ca ).
Mr. Belsey can be reached for comment or interviews at 403 932-1748 or help@bullying.org
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