In The Community

Everyone can help prevent and stop bullying. Adults have the responsibility to protect and be a role model for kids, teens, and young adults.

No matter who you are or who you represent, you can influence lives and maybe even save a life.

Everyone needs to be aware not only about the warning signs and effects of bullying, but also about the ways to intervene and support both the person being bullied and the one bullying others.

What Educators Can Do?

Bullying negatively affects the atmosphere of a school and disrupts the learning environment. Bullying is not something educators have to accept.

It takes the entire school community to create an inviting school where everyone feels they belong and are safe. Working together, administrators, teachers, school staff, parents, and students can help stop bullying in your school.

Where to Start?

Consider the following questions when putting a bullying prevention initiative in your school. Would you like help to:

• Assess a clearer picture of bullying in your school?
• Evaluate the bullying prevention initiatives you currently have in place?
• Learn how to identify and intervene in bullying incidents?
• Prevent bullying at your school?
• Check out resources you can use to make your school safer?
• Enhance classroom management skills?
• Establish a school safety committee to help you prevent bullying, including teachers, support staff, students, parents, and community members?
• Convey your expectation of respectful behavior by creating policies and guidelines such as a Mission Statement, Code of Conduct, and School Rules about Bullying?
• Establish a system to track the bullying incidents in that is currently taking place at your school?
• Effectively discipline students who bully?
• Engage parents more effectively, through bullying prevention?
• Engage parents in enhancing their children's academic performance?
• Encourage students to safely stand up for each other?
• Encourage students to report bullying when they see it?
• Hold regular classroom meetings to discuss bullying and respecting others?
• Explain the many different kinds of bullying?
• Explain examples of what students can do to make bullying stop?

By providing these resources, the Departments of Health and Human Services and Education do not imply a requirement of their use. According to research, the most successful strategies or programs are school-wide and comprehensive.

Did you know?

56% of students have personally witnessed some type of bullying at school.

(source: www.stopbullying.gov)

Parents

Parents can play a key role in preventing and stopping bullying. But first they have to know if their children bully or are bullied by others. Many parents do not discuss bullying with their children, and many children do not raise the topic of bullying with their parents.

Some parents of children who bully may also support such behavior without knowing it. They may use power and aggression to resolve conflicts, or they may fail to keep track of and stop bullying at home. Also, as children get older, bullying often occurs when adults are not around.

See this video at http://www.stopbullying.gov/parents/index.html

(source: http://www.stopbullying.gov)