Arne Duncan (the secretary of education) admits to getting letters from children across the nation asking for help, saying they are being bullied and scared to say anything, or nothing has been done when they have told. Many of these children also admit to contemplating suicide. Duncan works with the Education Department and schools that want their help to battle the issue. The Obama administration setup an informational website, www.stopbullying.gov. The administration is also working on developing a uniform definition of bullying in order to help schools confront the problem. The stop bullying website includes the following advice on preventing cyber bullying:
• Educate students, teachers, and other staff members about cyber bullying, its dangers, and what to do if someone is cyber bullied.
• Discuss cyber bullying with students. They might be knowledgeable about cyber bullying, and they might have good ideas about how to prevent and address it.
• Be sure that your school’s rules and policies address cyber bullying.
• Investigate reports of cyber bullying immediately. If cyber bullying occurs on campus or through the school district’s internet system, you are obligated to take action. If the cyber bullying occurs off campus, you can still help. Even cyber bullying that occurs off campus can affect how students behave and relate to each other at school.
• Closely monitor the behavior of the students involved at school for all forms of bullying.
• Investigate to see if those who are cyber bullied need support from a school counselor or school-based health professional.
• Notify the parents of students involved in cyber bullying.
• Talk with all students about the negative effects of cyber bullying.
• Contact law enforcement. Notify the police if the aggressive behavior is criminal. The following might constitute a crime: threats of violence; child pornography and sexting; taking a photo image of someone in a place where he or she would expect privacy; harassment, stalking, or hate crimes; obscene or harassing phone calls or text messages; sexual exploitation; and extortion. About 80 percent of gay and lesbian youths
in New York reported experiencing verbal harassment in
2009, the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network
found in a statewide survey, and 33 percent reported
physical harassment.
To prevent such bullying, said Eliza S. Byard, executive director of the network, schools should:
• Establish a policy that specifically bars harassment based on sexual orientation.
• Encourage the establishment of Gay-Straight Alliances at schools.
• Urge adults to be supportive of GLBT students.
Copyright (c) 2011, The Buffalo News, with additional reporting by eSchool Media. Visit The Buffalo News online at www.buffalonews.com. Distributed by MCT Information Services.
Bullying is actually something that I feel very strongly about, it WILL NOT be tolerated in my classroom. There is no reason for anyone to feel like they do not belong. It is hard for some people to understand the impact on bullying until they have gone through it themselves. In a perfect world I would have a class where everyone liked each other, and got alone, but that is not reality. When I was younger I was "bullied" and sat alone a lot of the time at lunch. It is hard to focus on learning when you are worrying about who's going to be mean to you, or if you are going to be able to find a place to sit at lunch. Young children follow the crowd, and if one person is mad at you, or does not like you, the rest of the group feels the same way. My thirteen year old sister is going through the same thing at school right now. Sometimes shes friends with the group of girls, and other times shes not. When one of them is upset with her, they all are. The worst part is she does not eat all day because she feels like she has to get to the lunch room first to get a seat or she will not have one to sit in. Overall I find bullying to be a serious issue that should not be taken lightly, it is not "just a joke".
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