Bullying

= = = = Bullying at school:

====Bullying is defined as a form of abuse. B ullying in school and the workplace is also referred to as peer abuse Bullying at school is a BIG crime. It hurts more then just the one that is getting picked on but the ones that witness it to. Bullying behavior may include name calling, verbal or written abuse, exclusion from activities, exclusion from social situations, physical abuse or coercion. ====



==== It seems that children bully for a variety of reasons and when dealing with child bullying it's essential to identify who is the bully at the centre of the violence - there's usually one person who's the gang leader - and the reasons for bullying which include: ====


 * frustration - a child is impaired in some way and is frustrated and resentful because the source of their difficulty has not been identified - problems can include deafness, dyslexia, autism, allergy, being left-handed, undiagnosed PTSD or some unidentified learning difficulty - nevertheless the child is expected to perform at the level required by the school and no attempt is made to identify the source of the frustration


 * the child is being bullied, the responsible adults have repeatedly failed in their duty of care, so the child slowly and reluctantly starts to exhibit aggressive behaviours because that's the only way to survive in this bullying-entrenched climate


 * poor or no role model - the child has no role model at home, or a poor role model for one or both parents and has never had the opportunity to learn behaviour skills


 * abuse at home - the child is being abused and is expressing their anger through bullying


 * neglect at home - similar to abuse as the child's emotional and behavioural development is being retarded


 * undue influence - the child has fallen in with the wrong crowd


 * conduct disorder - the child has a conduct disorder, the precursor to antisocial, psychopathic or other personality disorder.

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This is __//**not**//__ okay. People and Kids get hurt everyday because of this. If they don't get hurt bad enough they might hurt themselves.

What questions to ask? If a child is exhibiting bullying behaviour, the questions to ask are:
 * "Why does this child have a lot of internal aggression?"
 * "Why does this child need to displace their internal aggression onto other children?"
 * "Why has this child not learned how to interact with other children in a non-violent manner?"

=**Not blaming others:**= It is important not to immediately blame individuals, and especially not teachers. There are a few bullying teachers (it's surprising how often these get promoted to positions of management), but most teachers are hard-working individuals who dedicate their lives to educating the next generation. The problem, as so often, lies further up the management chain.

We all have a collective responsibility, and bullying is the result of a number of factors. I believe the way forward is to identify all the factors //and especially the causes//, then begin to modify our education system so that in 25 or 50 years time, bullying is no longer a problem. There are no quick fixes, by the way, although change, if properly implemented - and resourced and funded (smirk) - will start to bring dividends inside a year or two.

How To Prevent It.
 * If you are being bullied, speak to an adult like your teachers or parents.
 * Don't let them get to you if it is emotional bullying.

Websites you can go to to get more information in bullying. This Site is for parents and how they can help prevent bullying. This Site is for more information about bullying at school. This Site is for anti-bullying programs for schools.

This is a video about bullying.