Articles not designated as authored, are by Brenda High

Compiled by Brenda High

The Bully Police E-Book Part V

Copyright © 2008 by Brenda High First Edition November 2008

Second Edition September 2009

All rights reserved. No part of this e-book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording, or sending this e-book over the internet to other parties who have not purchased this e-book, without permission from Brenda High. This e-book may be distributed through an affiliate program. By sending copies to your friends, you not only dishonor yourself but you dishonor all the affiliate members who are working hard to spread the word about the dangers of school bullying. Please do not forward this PDF file to non-paying friends or associates. Instead, why not ask them to join the cause and join our affiliate program – changing the educational world, one child at a time. If you have an organization or school who would like to receive multiple copies of the entire “The Bully Police E-Book” on CD, please contact Brenda High, Brenda@jaredstory.com, for a discount list. MY PERSONAL EXCEPTIONS to “The Bully Police E-Book” copyright rules: Those who have purchased this e-book for educational purposes, (i.e., reports, thesis, research, or news reporting, etc.) may print the articles necessary for their work as long as this e-book and the article-author are credited. NOTE: This e-book is ongoing, (never-ending) and I have chosen NOT to number the articles in the Table of Contents, to make it easier to add to the e-book without constantly changing the Table of Contents. To print an article, look to the bottom left bar of your PDF file to see what page you are on, thus, where to start and where to finish printing your pages.

TESTIMONIALS

“As you know I have been working on developing special programs for

children using the stories and characters that I have created over the last 14

years. In the process of developing the "TRACKS" character building anti-

bullying educational program, I have taken a whole year off from work to

devote to research and development. I have been all over the Internet

exploring educational agencies, local, state and national agencies, law

enforcement agencies and governmental agencies and no where did I find

more concise, comprehensive and up to date information, statistics, contacts,

links and support than on your Webb site, Bully Police USA, Inc.

“You and Bully Police have been the main source of support

documentation and validation for what I am trying to accomplish.

“Thank you for all the hard work you have done and your dedication and

commitment to addressing the problem of bullying and its devastating

effects on our society, especially our greatest asset. . . our children.

“With great appreciation and blessings,”

Susan Royse

“I just wanted to thank you so much for all of your help. Because of

everyone’s advice and help from the group (Yahoo Group) we were able to

find an advocate to go to the meeting tomorrow (school board meeting) and a

lawyer who is considering suing the schools for neglect and not following

the IEP. I just have to say thank you to Bully Police and everyone else for

their help.” Monica Thomas, Bully Police-Pennsylvania Pittston

Area S.D. Director

Brenda, I don’t know if you remember me or not? But, my daughter used

your web site to make a presentation at school. Well, she entered implied

technology at the parish level and won! Went to state and won! And we are

off to National’s in July! Thanks so much. “National’s”.. She is only 14.

Thought you might like to know! Annette

Table of Contents E-Book Part V

About Bullying, Harassment & Hazing Different

Poem by Lisa Pescara-Kovach, Ph.D.

Consequences of Bullying in Schools

Summarized for TPS counselors by

Lisa Pescara-Kovach, Ph.D.

Bullying Behaviors Among US Youth

JAMA

BMJ - Appendix Article 1

Bullying, depression, and suicidal ideation in Finnish adolescents:

school survey

BMJ -Appendix Article 2

Bullying behaviour and psychosocial health among school students in

New South Wales, Australia: cross sectional survey

BMJ Appendix Article 3

Bullying in schools: self reported anxiety, depression, and self esteem

in secondary school children

BMJ Appendix Article 4

Association of common health symptoms with bullying in primary

school children

Types of Bullying

A Definition: HAZING - Maine State Statues & Policies

Submitted by Deborah Landry

AMA asks physicians to help reduce bullying behavior

Special Media Report from the AMA

The Talk…

Part A - Wounded and Hurt Kids talk about Bullying

Part B - Wounded and Hurt Survivors talk about Bullying

Part C - Wounded and Hurt Parents talk about Bullying

Middle School Cliques and Bullies

By Joe Bruzzese, M.A.

Miscellaneous A Proclamation of BULLYCIDE AWARENESS DAY

By Robin Todd

Adrianna’s Quilt Project

CAABI Complaint Form & Findings Report

By CAABI Director, Patrick Harnish

Helpful Websites

E-Book Contributors for Part V British Medical Journal, JAMA (and AMA), Joe Bruzzese, M.A.,

Patrick Harnish, Lisa Pescara-Kovach, Ph.D., Deborah D. Landry,

Robin Todd

About Brenda High

ABOUT BULLYING,

HARASSMENT

& HAZING

Different

I always thought that I was different,

And now I know it's true,

They always nick my lunch,

And flush it down the loo

They always beat me up, and steal my bus fare,

Then they beat me up some more,

Just cause of the clothes I wear

You lot call them boys, but really they are thugs,

I just get beat up for no reason,

Or is it cause I don't take drugs?

I really don't like it,

It's really getting me down,

I wish it wouldn't happen,

I wish I would just drown

By Lisa A. Kovach Ph.D.

Consequences of Bullying in Schools

Rigby (2003). Published in: Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, Vol 48, No. 9

Summarized for TPS counselors by Lisa Pescara-Kovach

The University of Toledo - College of Education

Consequences examined:

1) Low psychological well-being: includes states of mind that are

not acutely distressing, such as unhappiness, low self-esteem,

anger and sadness.

2) Poor social adjustment: includes a negative opinion of the

social environment, evident through expressed dislike for

school or workplace; loneliness, isolation, absenteeism.

3) Psychological distress: considered more serious than the first 2

categories. Includes high levels of anxiety, depression and

suicidal thinking.

4) Physical unwellness: physical disorder and/or psychosomatic

symptoms.

Methods involved in data collection:

1) Case Studies (e.g., suicide notes indicating sustained

victimization).

2) Cross-Sectional Surveys – indicate that children with low self-

esteem invite bullying and the resulting victimization lowers

self-esteem further.

3) Retrospective Surveys

4) Longitudinal Studies – provide the most persuasive evidence

of the connection between bully-victim problems and health

conditions.

*data collected early in a child’s life and later.

*The most accurate study would be to have the Independent Variable be,

“being bullied”, but this is completely unethical.

Empirical Findings

1) The Delighted-Terrible Faces test (Andrews and Withey).

*Australian students who had reported being victimized more

often than others tended to choose a face most like

themselves—one that reflected greater unhappiness.

2) A retrospective study indicated that with increasing levels of

reported victimization, comes an increasingly negative view of

the self.

3) 32% of students indicated that bullying made them feel angry.

37% indicated that they had felt sad as a result of being bullied.

4) kindergarten children (in the US) who were nominated by

peers as being victimized by others, were found more likely to

report that they disliked school.

*similar findings reported out of Australia.

5) absenteeism increases as a function of the severity of

victimization (self report).

6) Victimized children more likely to report ‘not sleeping well’.

*19% of males and 25% of females who were bullied frequently

(at least weekly) had stayed at home because of bullying. *4%

of males and 12% of females bullied less frequently stayed

home.

7) Victimized children teneded to report feeling irritable, nervous

and panicky after episodes of bullying

8) Elementary and Middle school students identified by peers as

frequent victims were more likely than others to manifest

symptoms of clinical depression. These children also think of

taking their own lives as a result of repeated victimization.

9) Self-declared victims are more frequently found to experience

emotions of anger, vengefulness, and self-pity.

10) Bullies are more likely to spend time in jail than non-

bullies.

11) Bullies also report feeling depressed with suicidal

ideation.

This document and all of the written materials contained therein are the intellectual

property of Dr. Lisa Pescara-Kovach. Per Ohio Revised Code Sec. 2741.05 it is a

criminal offense to reproduce any of this material without the express written consent of

the author.

Dr. Pescara-Kovach has given permission for her articles to be placed in the Bully Police

E-Book. Schools and Educators are welcome to use Dr. Pescara-Kovach’s work as long as

her work is credited.

Bullying Behaviors Among US Youth Prevalence and Association With Psychosocial Adjustment

Tonja R. Nansel, PhD; Mary Overpeck, DrPH; Ramani S. Pilla, PhD; W. June

Ruan, MA; Bruce Simons-Morton, EdD, MPH; Peter Scheidt, MD, MPH

JAMA. 2001;285:2094-2100. – Free Article

ABSTRACT

Context Although violence among US youth is a current major

concern, bullying is infrequently addressed and no national data on

the prevalence of bullying are available.

Objectives To measure the prevalence of bullying behaviors among

US youth and to determine the association of bullying and being

bullied with indicators of psychosocial adjustment, including

problem behavior, school adjustment, social/emotional adjustment,

and parenting.

Design, Setting, and Participants Analysis of data from a

representative sample of 15 686 students in grades 6 through 10 in

public and private schools throughout the United States who

completed the World Health Organization's Health Behaviour in

School-aged Children survey during the spring of 1998.

Main Outcome Measure Self-report of involvement in bullying and

being bullied by others.

Results A total of 29.9% of the sample reported moderate or frequent

involvement in bullying, as a bully (13.0%), one who was bullied

(10.6%), or both (6.3%). Males were more likely than females to be

both perpetrators and targets of bullying. The frequency of bullying

was higher among 6th- through 8th-grade students than among 9th-

and 10th-grade students. Perpetrating and experiencing bullying

were associated with poorer psychosocial adjustment (P<.001);

however, different patterns of association occurred among bullies,

those bullied, and those who both bullied others and were bullied

themselves.

Conclusions The prevalence of bullying among US youth is

substantial. Given the concurrent behavioral and emotional

difficulties associated with bullying, as well as the potential long-

term negative outcomes for these youth, the issue of bullying merits

serious attention, both for future research and preventive

intervention.

INTRODUCTION

Bullying among school-aged youth is increasingly being recognized

as an important problem affecting well-being and social functioning.

While a certain amount of conflict and harassment is typical of youth

peer relations, bullying presents a potentially more serious threat to

healthy youth development. The definition of bullying is widely

agreed on in literature on bullying.1-4 Bullying is a specific type of

aggression in which (1) the behavior is intended to harm or disturb,

(2) the behavior occurs repeatedly over time, and (3) there is an

imbalance of power, with a more powerful person or group attacking

a less powerful one. This asymmetry of power may be physical or

psychological, and the aggressive behavior may be verbal (eg, name-

calling, threats), physical (eg, hitting), or psychological (eg, rumors,

shunning/exclusion).

The majority of research on bullying has been conducted in Europe

and Australia. Considerable variability among countries in the

prevalence of bullying has been reported. In an international survey

of adolescent health-related behaviors, the percentage of students

who reported being bullied at least once during the current term

ranged from a low of 15% to 20% in some countries to a high of 70%

in others.5-6 Of particular concern is frequent bullying, typically

defined as bullying that occurs once a week or more. The prevalence

of frequent bullying reported internationally ranges from a low of

1.9% among 1 Irish sample to a high of 19% in a Malta study.1, 7-12

Bullying takes many forms, and findings about the types of bullying

that occur are fairly similar across countries. A British study

involving 23 schools found that direct verbal aggression was the most

common form of bullying, occurring with similar frequency in both

sexes.13 Direct physical aggression was more common among boys,

while indirect forms were more common among girls. Similarly, in a

study of several middle schools in Rome, the most common types of

bullying reported by boys were threats, physical harm, rejection, and

name-calling.14 The most common forms for girls were name-calling,

teasing, rumors, rejection, and taking of personal belongings.

Research examining characteristics of youth involved in bullying has

consistently found that both bullies and those bullied demonstrate

poorer psychosocial functioning than their noninvolved peers. Youth

who bully others tend to demonstrate higher levels of conduct

problems and dislike of school, whereas youth who are bullied

generally show higher levels of insecurity, anxiety, depression,

loneliness, unhappiness, physical and mental symptoms, and low

self-esteem.1-4,8, 15-25 Males who are bullied also tend to be physically

weaker than males in general.2 The few studies that have examined

the characteristics of youth who both bully and are bullied found that

these individuals exhibit the poorest psychosocial functioning

overall.15, 17, 19, 26

The current research provides a foundation for an understanding of

the bullying problem. However, it is insufficient to guide intervention

and policy development. Moreover, little is known specifically about

bullying among US youth.6 In one county-wide middle school survey,

24.1% of youth reported bullying others at least once in the past

semester26; it is not known whether this is characteristic of the rest of

the nation.

The purpose of this study was to report the prevalence of bullying in

a nationally representative sample of US youth in grades 6 through

10, along with information on differences in the prevalence of

bullying by sex, grade, and race. In addition, the relationships among

bullying, being bullied, and psychosocial adjustment are explored for

3 distinct groups: bullies only, those bullied only, and those who both

bully and are bullied.

METHODS

Study Population

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

supported a nationally representative survey of US youth in grades 6

through 10 during spring of 1998. The survey, entitled the Health

Behaviour of School-aged Children (HBSC), was part of a

collaborative, cross-national research project involving 30 countries

and coordinated by the World Health Organization.27 The US survey

was approved by the National Institute of Child Health and Human

Development Institutional Review Board and was carried out by

Macro International Inc (Calverton, Md). Both parental and student

consent were solicited.

The US sampling universe consisted of all public, Catholic, and other

private school students in grades 6 through 10, or their equivalent,

excluding schools with enrollment of fewer than 14 students. The

sample design used a stratified 2-stage cluster of classes. The sample

selection was stratified by racial/ethnic status to provide an

oversample of black and Hispanic students. The sample was also

stratified by geographic region and counties' metropolitan statistical

area status (largest urban areas/not largest urban areas) with

probability proportional to total enrollment in eligible grades of the

primary sampling units. Sample size was determined on the criteria

of making estimates for all US students in grades 6 through 10 with a

precision of 3% at a 95% confidence level, and for minority students

with a precision of 5% at a 95% confidence level.

An 83% participation rate was achieved. The school-based sample

design, using 1 class period for completion of the questionnaire,

precluded ability to compare respondent characteristics with those of

nonparticipants. Responding students in sampled classes were

excluded if they were out of the target range for grade or if age was

outside of the 99th percentile for grade (n = 440 students), or if either

grade or age were unknown (n = 39 students), yielding an analytic

sample of 15 686 students.

Measures

Measures were obtained from a self-report questionnaire containing

102 questions about health behavior and relevant demographic

variables. Items were based on both theoretical hypotheses related to

the social context of adolescents and measurements that had been

validated in other studies or previous WHO-HBSC surveys.27

Measures were pretested.

Bullying. Questions about bullying were preceded with the

following explanation.10, 28 Here are some questions about bullying. We

say a student is BEING BULLIED when another student, or a group of

students, say or do nasty and unpleasant things to him or her. It is also

bullying when a student is teased repeatedly in a way he or she doesn't like.

But it is NOT BULLYING when two students of about the same strength

quarrel or fight.

Participation in bullying was assessed by 2 parallel questions that

asked respondents to report the frequency with which they bullied

others in school and away from school during the current term.

Similarly, being bullied was assessed by 2 parallel questions asking

respondents to report the frequency with which they were bullied in

school and away from school during the current term. Because the

analytic focus of the current study was the relationship of bullying

behaviors to overall psychosocial adjustment, frequencies of bullying

behaviors in and out of school were combined for all analyses.

Response categories were "I haven't . . . ," "once or twice,"

"sometimes," "about once a week," and "several times a week." An

analysis of the response distribution revealed fewer subjects in the

fourth category than the fifth, a deviation from the expected skewed

pattern. Hence, the latter 2 response options were collapsed.

Additional questions asked respondents to report the frequency with

which they were bullied in each of 5 ways—belittled about

religion/race, belittled about looks/speech, hit/slapped/pushed,

subject of rumors or lies, and subject of sexual comments/gestures.

Psychosocial Adjustment. Measures of psychosocial adjustment

included questions about problem behaviors, social/emotional well-

being, and parental influences. Alcohol use was measured by 3 items

assessing frequency of alcohol consumption. The frequency of

smoking, fighting, and truancy were assessed by 1 item each.

Academic achievement was assessed by an item querying perceived

school performance. Three items ( = .70) queried the frequency of

feeling lonely, feeling left out, and being alone because others at

school did not want to spend time with the person. One item assessed

ease of making friends. Three items ( = .72) were used to assess

relationship with classmates: "enjoy being together," "are kind and

helpful," and "accept me." School climate was measured by 7 items (

= .82) related to the respondent's perception of the school and

teachers. Three items measured parental involvement in school ( =

.82), and 1 item assessed respondents' perceptions about their

parents' attitudes toward teen drinking.

Statistical Methods

Statistical sample weights were developed to adjust the minority

oversampling and to obtain student totals by grade comparable to

population grade estimates from the US National Center for

Education Statistics. Weighted data analyses were conducted using

SUDAAN software.29 Descriptive statistics were conducted using

SUDAAN to obtain percentage distributions and confidence intervals

(CIs) based on the weighted data, with SEs adjusted for the sample

design. All CIs are shown at the 95% level.

To examine the relationship between psychosocial adjustment and

bullying/being bullied, students were classified as noninvolved,

bullies only, those bullied only, or both bully and bullied

coincidentally, and a separate model was fit for each outcome.

Students who were neither bullies nor bullied served as the reference

group. Each outcome had 4 ordinal levels based on frequency of the

behavior—never, once or twice, sometimes, and once a week or more.

The proportional odds model30 was used to examine the relationship

between a range of psychosocial adjustment constructs and each of

the outcomes. Inherent in this model is the proportional odds

assumption, which states that the cumulative odds ratio for any 2

values of the covariate is constant across response categories. Its

interpretation is that the odds of being in category is exp[ '(x1 - x2)]

times higher at the covariate vector x = x1 than at x = x2, where the

parameter vector contains the regression coefficients for the

covariate x. A cumulative logit function was used to estimate the

model parameters via the generalized estimating equations.31 The

dependence of responses within clusters was specified using an

exchangable working correlation structure. To account for the

dependence between outcomes in estimating the variances, robust

variance estimates were used for the estimated parameters. The

MULTILOG procedure of SUDAAN was used to fit the proportional

odds model with exchangable correlation structure. Each model was

first fit using the full sample, and then refit using 4 subsamples

stratified by sex and education level (middle school vs high school).

RESULTS

Prevalence of Bullying

Overall, 10.6% of the sample reported bullying others "sometimes"

(moderate bullying) and 8.8% admitted to bullying others once a

week or more (frequent bullying), providing a national estimate of

2 027 254 youth involved in moderate bullying and 1 681 030 youth in

frequent bullying.

Experiencing bullying was reported with similar frequency, with

8.5% bullied "sometimes" and 8.4% bullied once a week or more, for a

national estimate of 1 634 095 students bullied with moderate

frequency and 1 611 809 bullied frequently.

A sizable number of students reported both bullying others and being

bullied themselves. Of the total sample, 29.9% (an estimated 5 736 417

youth) reported some type of involvement in moderate or frequent

bullying, as a bully (13.0%), a target of bullying (10.6%), or both

(6.3%).

Demographic variation in the frequency of bullying was observed.

Males both bullied others and were bullied significantly more often

than females. Bullying occurred most frequently in 6th through 8th

grade. Hispanic youth reported marginally higher involvement in

moderate and frequent bullying of others, whereas black youth

reported being bullied with significantly less frequency overall. No

significant differences in the frequency of being bullied were

observed among youth from urban, suburban, town, and rural areas

( 29 = 11.72, P = .24). However, small differences were observed in the

frequency of bullying others ( 29 = 19.13, P = .03): 2% to 3% fewer

suburban youth reported participation in moderate bullying, and 3%

to 5% more rural youth reported ever bullying than youth from town,

suburban, and urban areas (data not shown).

Table 3 presents the frequency with which those bullied reported

being bullied in each of 5 specific ways. Being bullied through

belittling one's looks or speech was common for both sexes. Males

reported being bullied by being hit, slapped, or pushed more

frequently than did females. Females more frequently reported being

bullied through rumors or sexual comments. Being bullied through

negative statements about one's religion or race occurred with the

lowest frequency for both sexes.

Results of the analyses of the relationship among indicators of

psychosocial adjustment and bullying/being bullied using the

proportional odds model are presented in Table 4. The overall model

for each of the outcomes was significant (P<.001). All main effects

were significant in at least 1 of the models. Table 4 also shows the

estimated odds ratios for each psychosocial adjustment construct in

the model (adjusting for all other constructs in the model), indicating

the odds of having a greater frequency of the outcome variable

compared with the reference group.

Bullies, those bullied, and individuals reporting both bullying and

being bullied all demonstrated poorer psychosocial adjustment than

noninvolved youth; however, differences in the pattern of

maladjustment among the groups were observed. Fighting was

positively associated with all 3 outcomes. Alcohol use was positively

associated with bullying and negatively associated with being

bullied. Smoking and poorer academic achievement were associated

with both bullying and coincident bullying/being bullied; poorer

perceived school climate was related only to bullying. Poorer

relationships with classmates and increased loneliness, on the other

hand, were associated with both being bullied and coincident

bullying/being bullied. Ability to make friends was negatively

related to being bullied and positively related to bullying. A

permissive parental attitude toward teen drinking was associated

only with coincident bullying/being bullied, while increased parental

involvement in school was related to both being bullied and

coincident bullying/being bullied.

Results from the analyses of the 4 sex/age subgroups (data not

shown) yielded findings similar to the model based on the full

sample. No notable differences among groups were observed for

fighting, academic achievement, perceived school climate, and

relationship with classmates. However, differences by sex and age

were observed for several variables. While smoking was positively

associated with bullying and coincident bullying/being bullied

among all groups, the magnitude of the relationship was greater for

middle school youth than high school youth. Middle school males

also showed a positive relationship between loneliness and bullying;

this was not the case for any of the other groups. Among high school

youth, bullying/being bullied was positively related to alcohol

consumption; this relationship was not observed among middle

school youth. High school females, on the other hand, did not

demonstrate a significant relationship between poorer friendship-

making and being bullied, whereas the other groups did. In addition,

permissive parental attitude toward teen drinking was associated

with bullying/being bullied for all groups except high school

females. Finally, greater parental involvement in school was related

to being bullied and bullying/being bullied for males (both middle

and high school) but not females. It was related to bullying for high

school males only.

COMMENT

This study indicates that bullying is a serious problem for US youth.

Consistent with previous studies,1, 7-8,11-12 bullying was reported as

more prevalent among males than females and occurred with greater

frequency among middle school–aged youth than high school–aged

youth. For males, both physical and verbal bullying were common,

while for females, verbal bullying (both taunting and sexual

comments) and rumors were more common. However, verbal

bullying through derogatory statements about one's religion or race

occurred infrequently for both sexes. This finding may reflect

stronger social norms among adolescents against such behavior. That

is, it may be more socially acceptable for a youth to taunt peers about

their appearance than to make derogatory racial statements.

Both bullying and being bullied were associated with poorer

psychosocial adjustment; however, there were notable differences

among those bullied, bullies, and those reporting both behaviors.

Those bullied demonstrated poorer social and emotional adjustment,

reporting greater difficulty making friends, poorer relationships with

classmates, and greater loneliness. Youth who are socially isolated

and lack social skills may be more likely targets for being bullied.

This is consonant with the finding by Hoover and colleagues32-33 that

the most frequent reason cited by youth for persons being bullied is

that they "didn't fit in." At the same time, youth who are bullied may

well be avoided by other youth, for fear of being bullied themselves

or losing social status among their peers. Considering the high degree

of relationship observed, it is likely that both processes occur. Being

bullied was also associated with greater parental involvement in

school, which may reflect parents' awareness of their child's

difficulties. Conversely, parental involvement may be related to a

lower level of independence among these youth, potentially making

them more vulnerable to being bullied. Interestingly, being bullied

was associated with less frequency of alcohol use and had a nonlinear

relationship with smoking. This is not altogether surprising, given

Farrington's34-35 finding that socially inept youth were less likely to be

involved in delinquency than other youth.

Persons who bullied others were more likely to be involved in other

problem behaviors such as drinking alcohol and smoking. They

showed poorer school adjustment, both in terms of academic

achievement and perceived school climate. Yet they reported greater

ease of making friends, indicating that bullies are not socially

isolated. Considering their greater involvement in other problem

behaviors, it is likely that these youth have friends who endorse

bullying and other problem behaviors, and who may be involved in

bullying as well.

Those youth who reported both bullying and being bullied

demonstrated poorer adjustment across both social/emotional

dimensions and problem behaviors. Considering the combination of

social isolation, lack of success in school, and involvement in problem

behaviors, youth who both bully others and are bullied may

represent an especially high-risk group. It is not known whether

these youth were first bullied and then imitated the bullying behavior

they experienced or whether they were bullies who then received

retaliation. Current understanding tends to support the former

explanation. Olweus2 describes a small subset of bullied youth he

terms "provocative victims," individuals who demonstrate both

anxious and aggressive behavior patterns and who are known for

starting fights and engaging in disruptive behavior. Pellegrini and

colleagues36-37 further discuss the "aggressive victim," defined as

youth who respond to bullying with reactive aggression. These youth

do not tend to use aggression in a proactive or instrumental manner,

but rather are aggressive in retaliatory circumstances.

The patterns of relationships between bullying/being bullied and

psychosocial adjustment observed in this study were similar across

age and sex groups, providing support for the stability of the

findings. The differences that emerged may be useful for those

conducting research or developing interventions targeting specific

populations. For example, the stronger relationship between bullying

and smoking observed among middle school youth may reflect an

association of bullying with deviance; as smoking becomes more

normative in the older youth, it is less associated with bullying. The

lack of a relationship between being bullied and poorer friendship-

making among high school females could indicate that by this age,

females are more apt to find a peer group in which they "fit," even

though the peer group may consist of youth of similar social status.38

Several limitations of the study should be noted. The HBSC is a

broadly focused survey regarding the health behaviors of middle–

and high school–aged youth. As such, more in-depth information,

such as might be obtained from an intervention study addressing

bullying, are not available. This study includes middle– and high

school–aged youth but does not address elementary school youth.

The data are cross-sectional, and as such, the direction of

relationships among the variables cannot be determined. Another

limitation is the reliance on self-report for measurement of bullying.

While self-report is a common and accepted method of measuring

bullying, individual perceptions of bullying nevertheless may vary.

To minimize subjectivity, students were provided with a detailed

definition of bullying along with examples.

While research on the long-term consequences of bullying is minimal,

the studies that have been conducted show negative effects into

adulthood. Olweus39 found former bullies to have a 4-fold increase in

criminal behavior at the age of 24 years, with 60% of former bullies

having at least 1 conviction and 35% to 40% having 3 or more

convictions. Their earlier pattern of achieving desired goals through

bullying likely inhibited the learning of more socially acceptable

ways of negotiating with others. Conversely, individuals formerly

bullied were found to have higher levels of depression and poorer

self-esteem at the age of 23 years, despite the fact that, as adults, they

were no more harassed or socially isolated than comparison adults.40

Those who have been bullied may view such treatment as evidence

that they are inadequate and worthless and may internalize these

perceptions. No study has assessed the long-term outcomes for those

who both bully others and are bullied. Given their initial poorer

adjustment status, it is possible that they fare worse than either

bullies or those bullied.

While this study provides important data on the prevalence and

psychosocial correlates of bullying among US youth, further research

is needed. Of particular importance would be prospective studies

addressing factors that lead to bullying, as well as studies on the

long-term consequences of bullying and being bullied. Longitudinal

studies also would be valuable in better understanding the nature of

those who bully and are bullied.

The prevalence of bullying observed in this study suggests the

importance of preventive intervention research targeting bullying

behaviors. Effective prevention will require a solid understanding of

the social and environmental factors that facilitate and inhibit

bullying and peer aggression. This knowledge could then be used to

create school and social environments that promote healthy peer

interactions and intolerance of bullying. School-based interventions

have demonstrated positive outcomes in Norway and England,40-43

with reductions in bullying of 30% to 50%. These interventions

focused on changes within the school and classroom climate to

increase awareness about bullying, increase teacher and parent

involvement and supervision, form clear rules and strong social

norms against bullying, and provide support and protection for

individuals bullied. This type of approach has not been tested in the

United States.

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Author Contributions: Study concept and design: Nansel, Overpeck, Pilla, Simons-

Morton, Scheidt.

Acquisition of data: Overpeck, Scheidt.

Analysis and interpretation of data: Nansel, Overpeck, Pilla, Ruan, Simons-Morton,

Scheidt.

Drafting of the manuscript: Nansel, Overpeck, Pilla.

Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: Nansel,

Overpeck, Pilla, Ruan, Simons-Morton, Scheidt.

Statistical expertise: Nansel, Overpeck, Pilla, Ruan, Simons-Morton.

Obtained funding: Overpeck, Simons-Morton, Scheidt.

Administrative, technical, or material support: Nansel, Overpeck, Pilla, Simons-

Morton, Scheidt.

Study supervision: Overpeck, Simons-Morton.

Corresponding Author and Reprints: Tonja R. Nansel, PhD, Division of

Epidemiology, Statistics, and Prevention Research, National Institute of Child

Health and Human Development, 6100 Executive Blvd, Room 7B05, MSC 7510,

Bethesda, MD 20892-7510 (e-mail: nanselt@mail.nih.gov).

Author Affiliations: National Institute of Child Health and Human

Development, Bethesda, Md. Dr Overpeck is now with the Maternal and Child

Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration, Rockville, Md; Dr

Pilla is now with the University of Illinois at Chicago.

REFERENCES

1. Boulton MJ, Underwood K. Bully/victim problems among middle school

children. Br J Educ Psychol. 1992;62:73-87.

2. Olweus D. Aggression in the Schools: Bullies and Whipping Boys. Washington, DC:

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3. Salmivalli C, Kaukiainen A, Kaistaniemi L, Lagerspetz KM. Self-evaluated self-

esteem, peer-evaluated self-esteem, and defensive egotism as predictors of

adolescents' participation in bullying situations. Pers Soc Psychol Bull.

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4. Slee PT. Bullying in the playground: the impact of inter-personal violence on

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5. King A, Wold B, Tudor-Smith C, Harel Y. The Health of Youth: A Cross-National

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6. US Department of Education. 1999 Annual Report on School Safety. Washington,

DC: US Dept of Education; 1999:1-66.

7. Borg MG. The extent and nature of bullying among primary and secondary

schoolchildren. Educ Res. 1999;41:137-153.

8. Kaltiala-Heino R, Rimpela M, Marttunen M, Rimpela A, Rantanen P. Bullying,

depression, and suicidal ideation in Finnish adolescents: school survey. BMJ.

1999;319:348-351. (See Appendix Article 1)

9. Menesini E, Eslea M, Smith PK, et al. Cross-national comparison of children's

attitudes towards bully/victim problems in school. Aggressive Behav. 1997;23:245-

257.

10. Olweus D. Bullying at School: What We Know and What We Can Do. Oxford,

England: Blackwell; 1993.

11. O'Moore AM, Smith KM. Bullying behaviour in Irish schools: a nationwide

study. Ir J Psychol. 1997;18:141-169.

12. Whitney I, Smith PK. A survey of the nature and extent of bullying in

junior/middle and secondary schools. Educ Res. 1993;34:3-25.

13. Rivers I, Smith PK. Types of bullying behaviour and their correlates.

Aggressive Behav. 1994;20:359-368.

14. Baldry AC. Bullying among Italian middle school students. Sch Psychol Int.

1998;19:361-374.

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Br J Educ Psychol. 1996;66:447-456.

16. Bijttebier P, Vertommen H. Coping with peer arguments in school-age

children with bully/victim problems. Br J Educ Psychol. 1998;68:387-394.

17. Forero R, McLellan L, Rissel C, Bauman A. Bullying behaviour and

psychosocial health among school students in New South Wales, Australia: cross

sectional survey. BMJ. 1999;319:344-348. (See Appendix Article 2)

18. Byrne BJ. Bullies and victims in a school setting with reference to some

Dublin schools. Ir J Psychol. 1994;15:574-586.

19. Kumpulainen K, Rasanen E, Henttonen I, et al. Bullying and psychiatric

symptoms among elementary school-age children. Child Abuse Negl. 1998;22:705-

717.

20. Rigby K. Peer victimisation at school and the health of secondary school

students. Br J Educ Psychol. 1999;69:95-104.

21. Slee PT, Rigby K. The relationship of Eysenck's personality factors and self-

esteem to bully-victim behaviour in Australian schoolboys. Pers Individual

Differences. 1993;14:371-373.

22. Salmivalli C, Lappalainen M, Lagerspetz KM. Stability and change of

behavior in connection with bullying in schools. Aggressive Behav. 1998;24:205-

218.

23. Salmon G, James A, Smith DM. Bullying in schools: self reported anxiety,

depression and self esteem in secondary school children. BMJ. 1998;317:924-925.

(See Appendix Article 3)

24. Slee PT, Rigby K. Australian school children's self appraisal of interpersonal

relations: the bullying experience. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 1993;23:273-282.

25. Williams K, Chambers M, Logan S, Robinson D. Association of common

health symptoms with bullying in primary school children. BMJ. 1996;313:17-19.

(See Appendix Article 4)

26. Haynie DL, Nansel TR, Eitel P, et al. Bullies, victims, and bully/victims:

distinct groups of youth at-risk. J Early Adolescence. 2001;21:29-50.

27. Health Behaviour in School-aged Children: research protocol for the 1997-98

survey. Available at: http://www.ruhbc.ed.ac.uk/hbsc/protdesc.html.

Accessibility verified March 26, 2001.

28. Olweus D. The Nature of School Bullying: A Cross-National Perspective. London,

England: Routledge; 1999.

29. Shah BV, Barnwell GG, Bieler GS. SUDAAN User's Manual, Release 7.5.

Research Triangle Park, NC: Research Triangle Institute; 1997.

30. McCullah P. Regression models for ordinal data. J R Stat Soc. 1980;42:109-142.

31. Zeger SL, Liang KY. Longitudinal data analysis for discrete and continuous

outcomes. Biometrics. 1986;42:121-130.

32. Hoover JH, Oliver R, Hazler RJ. Bullying: perceptions of adolescent victims in

the Midwestern USA. Sch Psychol Int. 1992;13:5-16.

33. Hoover JH, Oliver RL, Thomson KA. Perceived victimization by school

bullies: new research and future direction. J Hum Educ Dev. 1993;32:76-84.

34. Farrington DP. The development of offending and antisocial behaviour from

childhood: key findings from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development

[The Twelfth Jack Tizard Memorial Lecture]. J Child Psychol Psychiatry.

1995;36:929-964.

35. Farrington DP. Childhood aggression and adult violence: early precursors

and later-life outcomes. Child Aggression Adult Violence. 1996:5-29.

36. Pellegrini AD. Bullies and victims in school: a review and call for research. J

Appl Dev Psychol. 1998;19:165-176.

37. Pellegrini AD, Bartini M, Brooks F. School bullies, victims, and aggressive

victims: factors relating to group affiliation and victimization in early

adolescence. J Educ Psychol. 1999;91:216-224.

38. Huttunen A, Salmivalli C, Lagerspetz KM. Friendship networks and bullying

in schools. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1996;794:355-359.

39. Olweus D. Bullying among schoolchildren: intervention and prevention. In:

Peters RD, McMahon RJ, Quinsey VL, eds. Aggression and Violence Throughout the

Life Span. London, England: Sage Publications; 1992:100-125.

40. Olweus D. Bullying at school: long-term outcomes for the victims and an

effective school-based intervention program. In: Huesmann LR, ed. Aggressive

Behavior: Current Perspectives. New York, NY: Plenum Press; 1994:97-130.

41. Olweus D. Bully/victim problems among school children: basic facts and

effects of a school based intervention program. In: Pepler D, Rubin KH, eds. The

Development and Treatment of Childhood Aggression. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence

Erlbaum Associates Inc; 1991:411-448.

42. Smith PK. Bullying in schools: the UK experience and the Sheffield Anti-

Bullying Project. Ir J Psychol. 1997;18:191-201.

43. Sharp S, Smith PK. Bullying in UK schools: the DES Sheffield Bullying

Project. Early Child Dev Care. 1991;77:47-55.

Appendix Article 1 BMJ 1999;319:348-351 ( 7 August ) – Papers – Free Article

Bullying, depression, and suicidal ideation in

Finnish adolescents: school survey

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/319/7206/348

Editorial by Chesson and p 344

Riittakerttu Kaltiala-Heino, senior assistant professor, a Matti Rimpelä, professor, b

Mauri Marttunen, senior researcher, c Arja Rimpelä, professor, a Päivi Rantanen,

professor. d

a University of Tampere, Tampere School of Public Health, Box 607, 33101 Tampere,

Finland, b National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health, Box

220, 00531 Helsinki, Finland, c Department of Mental Health and Alcohol Research,

National Public Health Institute, Mannerheimintie 166, 00300 Helsinki, d Tampere

University Hospital, Department of Adolescent Psychiatry, Box 2000, 33521 Tampere

Correspondence to: R Kaltiala-Heino merihe@uta.fi

Objective: To assess the relation between being bullied or being a

bully at school, depression, and severe suicidal ideation.

Design: A school based survey of health, health behaviour, and

behaviour in school which included questions about bullying and the

Beck depression inventory, which includes items asking about

suicidal ideation.

Setting: Secondary schools in two regions of Finland.

Participants: 16 410 adolescents aged 14-16.

Results: There was an increased prevalence of depression and severe

suicidal ideation among both those who were bullied and those who

were bullies. Depression was equally likely to occur among those

who were bullied and those who were bullies. It was most common

among those students who were both bullied by others and who were

also bullies themselves. When symptoms of depression were

controlled for, suicidal ideation occurred most often among

adolescents who were bullies.

Conclusion: Adolescents who are being bullied and those who are

bullies are at an increased risk of depression and suicide. The need

for psychiatric intervention should be considered not only for victims

of bullying but also for bullies.

Key messages

• About 1 in 10 schoolchildren report being bullied weekly at

school

• Adolescents who are bullied or who are bullies have an

increased risk of depression and suicidal ideation

• Bullies are often as depressed as those who are bullied, and

suicidal ideation is even more common among bullies

• Interventions aimed at reducing bullying in schools, as well as

psychiatric assessment and treatment of bullies and those who

are bullied, might also prevent depression and suicidal ideation

Appendix Article 2 BMJ 1999;319:344-348 ( 7 August ) – Papers – Free Article

Bullying behaviour and psychosocial health

among school students in New South Wales,

Australia: cross sectional survey

Editorial by Chesson and p 348

Roberto Forero, research and evaluation coordinator, a Lyndall McLellan, project

officer, b Chris Rissel, epidemiologist, b Adrian Bauman, professor of public health. c

a Health Promotion Unit, Liverpool Hospital, Liverpool, New South Wales

2070, Australia, b Needs Assessment and Health Outcomes Unit, Central Sydney Area

Health Service, Newtown, New South Wales 2042, Australia, c School of Community

Medicine, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales

2052, Australia Correspondence to: C Rissel criss@nah.rpa.cs.nsw.gov.au

Objectives: To examine the prevalence of bullying behaviours in

schoolchildren and the association of bullying with psychological and

psychosomatic health.

Design: Cross sectional survey.

Setting: Government and non-government schools in New South

Wales, Australia.

Participants: 3918 schoolchildren attending year 6 (mean age

11.88 years), year 8 (13.96), and year 10 (15.97) classes from

115 schools.

Main outcome measures: Self reported bullying behaviours and

psychological and psychosomatic symptoms.

Results: Almost a quarter of students (23.7%) bullied other students,

12.7% were bullied, 21.5% were both bullied and bullied others on

one or more occasions in the last term of school, and 42.4% were

neither bullied nor bullied others. More boys than girls reported

bullying others and being victims of bullying. Bullying behaviour

was associated with increased psychosomatic symptoms. Bullies

tended to be unhappy with school; students who were bullied tended

to like school and to feel alone. Students who both bullied and were

bullied had the greatest number of psychological and psychosomatic

symptoms.

Conclusions: Being bullied seems to be widespread in schools in

New South Wales and is associated with increased psychosomatic

symptoms and poor mental health. Health practitioners evaluating

students with common psychological and psychosomatic symptoms

should consider bullying and the student's school environment as

potential causes.

Key messages

• Bullying behaviour occurs in schools worldwide and is likely to

be associated with poor health in schoolchildren

• Research into bullying has been mainly focused on victims but

there are other categories of bullying that deserve attention

• At least three out of five students experienced or participated in

bullying in schools in New South Wales, Australia

• The psychosocial and psychosomatic health of the students

varied according to their bullying status

Appendix Article 3 BMJ 1998;317:924-925 ( 3 October ) - Papers – Free Article

Bullying in schools: self reported anxiety,

depression, and self esteem in secondary

school children

G Salmon, senior registrar in child and adolescent psychiatry, a A James, consultant in

child and adolescent psychiatry, a D M Smith, senior medical statistician. b

a Highfield Adolescent Unit, Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX, b Centre for

Statistics in Medicine, Institute of Health Sciences, Oxford OX3 7LF

Correspondence to: Dr James Tony.James@oxmhc-tr.anglox.nhs.uk

Evidence exists of considerable problems with bullying and bullied

children in secondary schools. In the largest survey in the United

Kingdom to date 10% of pupils reported that they had been bullied

"sometimes or more often" during that term, with 4% reporting being

bullied "at least once a week."1 The impact of the introduction of

policies on bullying throughout a school seems to be limited.1 The

commonest type of bullying is general name calling, followed by

being hit, threatened, or having rumours spread about one.1 Bullying

is thought to be more prevalent among boys and the youngest pupils

in a school.2

We are unaware of any study that has examined the mental health

problems of children who are being bullied. We assessed self

reported anxiety, depression, and self esteem in bullied children and

those who were not bullied and in bullies and those who were not

bullies.

Subjects, methods, and results

Four questionnaires (the Olweus bully/victim,2 the short mood and

feelings,3 the revised children's manifest anxiety incorporating a lie

scale,4 and the Rosenberg self esteem5 questionnaires) were

anonymously completed by 904 pupils aged 12-17 in years 8-11 in

two coeducational secondary schools. School A is a non-selective

school in a socially disadvantaged urban area. School B is a rural

grant maintained school in an area with a higher than average

proportion of high social class households.

Logistic regression models were fitted to the proportions of bullied or

bullying children using STATA. Categorical variables were school,

school year, and sex. Anxiety, lying, esteem, and depression scores

were treated as continuous variables. The table shows the odds ratios

of the fitted logistic regression models. For anxiety, esteem, lying, and

depression the odds ratios are for a change of one standard deviation

of 6.22, 4.92, 2.13, and 5.44 respectively (pooled SD). The prevalence

of being bullied "sometimes or more often" was 4.2%. Significant

variables (P<0.05) for being bullied were school, sex, and anxiety and

lying scores; school year approached significance (P=0.06). The

prevalence of bullying others "sometimes or more often" was 3.4%.

Significant variables (P<0.05) for being a bully were school year, sex,

and anxiety, lying, and depression scores. The esteem score featured

in neither model.

Boys in year 8 in school A with high anxiety and lying scores were

most likely to be bullied. Girls in year 9 in school B with low anxiety

and lying scores were least likely to be bullied. Boys in year 10 with

low anxiety and lying scores and high depression scores were most

likely to be bullies. Girls in year 8 with high anxiety and lying scores

and low depression scores were least likely to be bullies.

Comment

Bullied children tend to be in the lower school years. The low

prevalence of bullying (4.2%) may reflect the effectiveness of bullying

interventions already in place in the two schools. Our data support

the idea that bullied children are more anxious and bullies equally or

less anxious than their peers.2 New findings from the study are the

relation between having a high lying score and being bullied and

having a high depression score and being a bully. The male to female

ratio of bullies (3:1) is lower than that previously reported (4:1).2 This

may indicate that bullying interventions are having more of an

impact on the direct bullying characteristic of boys and less on the

indirect bullying more common among girls.

Our results should be viewed with caution because our study is

small, but they suggest factors that could be important.

Acknowledgments

Contributors: GS and AJ initiated the study and designed the

protocol. GS collected and collated the data. DS performed the

analyses. GS, AJ, and DS interpreted the results, discussed their

meaning, and wrote the article. AJ is the guarantor for the study.

Funding: Oxfordshire Health Services Research Fund.

Conflict of interest: None.

References

1. In: Smith PK, Sharp S, eds. School bullying: insights and perspectives.

London: Routledge, 1994.

2. Olweus D. Bullying at school: basic facts and effects of a school based

intervention program. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 1994; 35: 1171-1190.

3. Angold A, Costello EJ, Messer SC, Pickles A, Winder F, Silver D.

Development of a short questionnaire for use in epidemiological studies

of depression in children and adolescents. Int J Methods Psychiatric Res

1995; 5: 136.1-13.

4. Reynolds CR, Richmond BO. What I think and feel: a revised measure of

children's manifest anxiety. J Abnormal Child Psychology 1978; 6: 271-280.

5. Rosenberg M. Conceiving the self. New York: Basic Books , 1986.

6. (Accepted 13 May 1998)

Appendix Article 4 BMJ 1996;313:17-19 (6 July) - Papers – Free Article

Association of common health symptoms with

bullying in primary school children

Katrina Williams, lecturer,a Mike Chambers, lecturer,a Stuart Logan, senior

lecturer,b Derek Robinson, consultant community paediatrician c

a Department of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, St Bartholomew's and Royal

London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary and Westfield College, London

E1 4NS, b Department of Epidemiology, Institute of Child Health, London WC1N 1EH, c

Newham Health Care, Beacontree House, London E15 4EE

Correspondence to: Dr Logan.

Abstract

Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of bullying in primary school

children and to examine its association with common symptoms in

childhood.

Design: Semistructured health interview conducted by school nurses

as part of a school medical.

Setting: Newham, east London.

Subjects: All children in year 4 of school during the academic year

1992-93.

Main outcome measures: Reported bullying and common health

symptoms.

Results: 2962 children (93.1% of those on the school roll) were

interviewed (ages 7.6 to 10.0 years). Information about bullying was

not recorded for 114 children. 22.4% (95% confidence interval 20.9 to

24.0) of children for whom information was available reported that

they had been bullied. There was an association between children

reporting being bullied sometimes or more often and reporting not

sleeping well (odds ratio 3.6, 2.5 to 5.2), bed wetting (1.7, 1.3 to 2.4),

feeling sad (3.6, 1.9 to 6.8), and experiencing more than occasional

headaches (2.4, 1.8 to 3.4) and tummy aches (2.4, 1.8 to 3.3). A

significant trend for increasing risk of symptoms with increased

frequency of bullying was shown for all reported health symptoms

(P<0.001).

Conclusions: Health professionals seeing primary schoolchildren

who present with headaches, tummy ache, feeling sad or very sad,

bed wetting, and sleeping difficulties should consider bullying as a

possible contributory factor.

Key messages

• Many children report having frequent headaches or tummy

aches, that they sleep poorly, wet the bed, or feel sad

• Children who report these symptoms also report being bullied

substantially more often than do their peers

• Although it is not clear whether the association is causal, health

professionals seeing such children should ask about bullying

TYPES OF BULLYING

By Several sources, Brenda High, Warren Throckmorton PhD, Kathy Noll

Direct Bullying

• Physical Aggression

• Pushing

• Shoving

• Spitting

• Kicking

• Hitting

• Defacing Property

• Stealing

• Physical acts that are demeaning and humiliating but not

bodily harmful

• Locking in a closed or confined space

• Physical violence against family or friends

• Threatening with a weapon

• Inflicting bodily harm

Verbal Aggression

• Mocking

• Name-calling

• Dirty looks

• Taunting

• Teasing about clothing or possessions

• Teasing about appearance

• Verbal threats of aggression against property or possessions

• Verbal threats of violence or of inflicting bodily harm

• Intimidation

• Threatening to reveal personal information

• Graffiti

• Publicly challenging to do something

• Defacing property or clothing

• Playing a dirty trick

• Taking possessions (e.g. lunch, clothing)

Indirect Bullying - Social Alienation

• Gossiping

• Embarrassing

• Setting up to look foolish

• Spreading rumors

• Ethnic slurs

• Setting up to take the blame

• Publicly humiliating

• Excluding from the group

• Social rejection

• Maliciously excluding

• Manipulating social order to achieve rejection

• Threatening with total isolation by peer group

Comment from a 13 year old girl about bullying

“…from mine, a 13 year old girls point of view, Bullies, how they are viewed

by adults, is not correct. The bullies are NOT friendless and bad at school or

have emotional anguish etc, etc. The way bullying works at my school is

that the most popular, boys and girls feel they are SO important that they

have a higher status than others do and can therefore do what they want.

They know they are popular and that people will always stick with them and

keep their respect for them and they use that to their own advantage. They

do whatever they want, to whoever they want and they know that no one is

going to stop them.”

A DEFINITION: HAZING

Maine State Statues & Policies

Submitted by Deborah Landry

Maine statute defines injurious hazing as “any action or situation,

including harassing behavior, that recklessly or intentionally

endangers the mental or physical health of any school personnel or a

student enrolled in a public school.”

It is the policy of the Board that injurious hazing activities of any

type, either on or off school property, by any student, staff member,

group or organization affiliated with this school unit, are inconsistent

with the educational process and shall be prohibited at all times.

No administrator, faculty member, or other employee of the school

unit shall encourage, permit, condone, or tolerate injurious hazing

activities. No student, including leaders of students organizations,

shall plan, encourage, or engage in injurious hazing activities.

Persons not associated with this school unit who fail to abide by this

policy may be subject to ejection from school property and/or other

measures as may be available under the law.

Administrators, faculty members, students, and all other employees

who fail to abide by this policy may be subject to disciplinary action

which may include suspension, expulsion, or other appropriate

measures.

In the case of an organization affiliated with this school unit which

authorizes hazing, penalties may include rescission of permission for

that organization to operate on school property or to receive any

other benefit of affiliation with the school unit.

These penalties shall be in addition to any civil or criminal penalties

to which the violator or organization may be subject.

The Superintendent shall assume responsibility for administering this

policy. In the event that an individual or organization disagrees with

an action—or lack of action—on the part of the Superintendent as

he/she carries out the provisions of this policy, that individual or

organization may appeal to the Board. The ruling of the Board, with

respect to the provisions of this policy, shall be final.

A copy of this policy shall be included in all school, parent, and

employee handbooks or otherwise distributed to all school

employees and students.

Legal Reference: 20-A MRSA § 6553

Adopted: December 11, 2001

Prohibition of hazing

1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise

indicates, the following terms have the following meanings.

A. "Injurious hazing " means any action or situation, including

harassing behavior, that recklessly or intentionally endangers the

mental or physical health of any school personnel or a student

enrolled in a public school. [1999, c. 351, §4 (amd).]

B. "Violator" means any person or any organization which engages in

injurious hazing. [1989, c. 531 (new).] [1999, c. 351, §4 (amd).]

2. Adoption of policy. The school board shall adopt a policy which

establishes that "injurious hazing," either on or off school property,

by any student, staff member, group or organization affiliated with

the public school is prohibited. [1989, c. 531 (new).]

3. Penalties. The school board shall establish penalties for violation of

the rules established in subsection The penalties shall include, but

not be limited to, provisions for:

A. In the case of a person not associated with the public school, the

ejection of the violator from school property; [1989, c. 531 (new).]

B. In the case of a student, administrator or staff violator, the

individual's suspension, expulsion or other appropriate disciplinary

action; and [1989, c. 531 (new).]

C. In the case of an organization affiliated with the public school

which authorizes hazing, rescission of permission for that

organization to operate on school property or receive any other

benefit of affiliation with the public school. [1989, c. 531 (new).]

These penalties shall be in addition to any other civil or criminal

penalty to which the violator or organization may be subject. [1989,

c. 531 (new).]

4. Administrative responsibility. The school board shall assign

responsibility for administering the policy to the superintendent of

schools and establish procedures for appealing the action or lack of

action of the superintendent. [1989, c. 531 (new).]

5. Dissemination. The school board shall clearly set forth the policy

and penalties adopted and shall distribute copies of them to all

students enrolled in the public school. [1989, c. 531 (new).] Section

History: PL 1989, Ch. 531, § (NEW). PL 1999, Ch. 351, §4 (AMD).

The Reviser's Office cannot provide legal advice or interpretation of

Maine law to the public. If you need legal advice, please consult a

qualified attorney. Office of the Reviser of Statutes 7 State House

Station State House Room 108 Augusta, Maine 04333-0007 This

page created on: 2004-11-20

Special Media Report from the AMA

AMA asks physicians to help reduce bullying

behavior

June 19, 2002

In an unprecedented report, the AMA House of Delegates this week

called on physicians to help reduce bullying behavior among

children by being heedful for signs that young patients are being

bullied and working with parents, teachers and others to solve the

problem.

The delegates adopted a report by the AMA's Council on Scientific

Affairs (CSA) that reviewed bullying among U.S. children and

adolescents. Some of the recommendations in the CSA report include:

that the AMA recognize bullying as a complex and abusive behavior

with potentially serious social and mental health consequences; that

the AMA work with appropriate federal agencies, medical societies,

mental health organizations, schools and youth organizations in a

national campaign to change attitudes about bullying; and that the

AMA urge parents and caretakers to be involved in children's school

and other activities.

"Without intervention, bullying can lead to serious academic, social,

emotional and legal problems," the CSA report states. "Studies of

successful anti-bullying programs are scarce in the U.S., but adopting

a comprehensive approach in schools can change student behaviors

and attitudes and increase adults' willingness to intervene." The

report says physicians should ask about bullying when young

patients have unexplained psychosomatic and behavioral symptoms,

and when patients express thoughts of suicide or self-harm, or begin

using tobacco, alcohol or other drugs.

"It is crucial that physicians take a leadership role in helping their

young patients deal with this problem," said AMA Trustee Ronald

Davis, MD. "Too many children are being terrorized at school or on

the playground and remaining silent about it."

News Report of the AMA Report

MA - AMA calls on physicians to help reduce bullying

Report finds young patients often have no one to confide in when

they are being bullied

For immediate release - June 19, 2002

CHICAGO - The American Medical Association House of Delegates

called on physicians today to help reduce bullying behavior among

children by being vigilant for signs that young patients are being

bullied and working with parents, teachers and others to solve the

problem.

The delegates adopted a report by the AMA's Council on Scientific

Affairs that reviewed bullying among U.S. children and adolescents.

It found that bullies represent 7 to 15 percent of sampled school-age

populations and victims represent about 10 percent. Between 2 and

10 percent of students are both bullies and victims. In elementary

schools, more boys than girls are involved in bullying; however, the

gender difference decreases in junior high and high school, and social

bullying among girls - manipulation done to harm acceptance into a

group - becomes harder to detect.

"Without intervention, bullying can lead to serious academic,

social, emotional and legal problems," the CSA report states.

"Studies of successful anti-bullying programs are scarce in the United

States but . adopting a comprehensive approach in schools can

change student behaviors and attitudes and increase adults'

willingness to intervene.”

The report defined bullying as behavior that involves a pattern of

repeated aggression, deliberate intent to harm or disturb a victim

despite apparent victim distress and a real or perceived imbalance

of power (e.g., due to age, strength, size) with the more powerful

child or group attacking a physically or psychologically vulnerable

victim.

Some of the recommendations in the CSA report include:

• The AMA recognize bullying as a complex and abusive

behavior with potentially serious social and mental health

consequences;

• The AMA work with appropriate federal agencies, medical

societies, mental health organizations, schools, youth

organizations and others in a national campaign to change

attitudes about bullying;

• The AMA advocate federal support to implement programs

that effectively prevent or reduce bullying; develop clinical

tools for identifying and treating patients traumatized by

bullying; and uncover biological and environmental causes of

aggressive and violent behavior;

• Physicians should enhance their awareness of the social and

mental health consequences of bullying; be vigilant for signs

of bullying in young patients; screen for psychiatric symptoms

in at-risk patients; counsel affected patients and their families;

and advocate for programs to treat perpetrators and victims of

bullying;

• The AMA should urge parents and caretakers to be involved in

their children's school and other activities. Parents and

caretakers also should be encouraged to build supportive home

environments, as well as teach children how to interact socially,

resolve conflicts, deal with frustration and cope with anger and

stress.

The report notes that bullying often is hidden from adults who might

intervene because children, afraid that bullies will intensify the

abuse, often remain silent. Children need to be educated about the

importance of reporting bullying, and parents, teachers and health

care professionals need to become better at identifying current or

potential victims. The report says physicians should ask about

bullying when young patients have unexplained psychosomatic

and behavioral symptoms, and when patients express thoughts of

suicide or self-harm , or begin using tobacco, alcohol or other drugs.

"It is crucial that physicians take a leadership role in helping their

young patients deal with this problem," said AMA Trustee Ronald

Davis, MD, a public health physician in East Lansing, Mich.

"Too many children are being terrorized at school or on the

playground and remaining silent about it."

The CSA report was based on extracted and analyzed data published

from 1985 to 2002 in several databases, journal articles, reports and

textbooks. Additional information was gleaned from federal

agencies, medical specialty societies, mental health and other

professional organizations, and recognized researchers in the field.

For more information or a copy of the CSA report, please contact:

Brian Pace

AMA Media Relations

…The Talk

The best way to understand what bullying is and how bullying affects an individual is to

hear it from “The Horses Mouth”, so to speak, from the students, parents and survivors

themselves. In this section I will pass on, anonymously, some emails or survey

comments from Students who have endured bullying in their schools.

Part A

Wounded and Hurt Kids talk about Bullying

"...i went to a counselor and to the principal, both. They told me they

were going to take care of it but they did nothing except give the

students a little slap on the wrist. I went through a lot and I had to

deal with it on my own, no matter how many times I asked for help.

It kept getting worse and there were times when I wanted to kill

myself. Schools are supposed to protect their students and make

them feel safe. I feel like my school did neither. ...They didn't even try

to help me. There were a lot of people like me. And I know one kid

who had it worse than I. But no one tried to help him either. The

tormenting went on even after we graduated high school. I feel like

that was because the school did nothing to stop them from doing this

to him. He killed himself yesterday. “

Kingston Jr. High - Washington - "Right now in our school we feel

harassment is so bad that we are setting up our own group and

putting it in the students hands."

Center Middle School - Ohio - "i got a girl suspended, cause she was

going to beat me up, and a few days later i found out that her friends

were writing a note and signing it with my name and were going to

get me suspended. Like a week after that my best friend told me that

(the girl that want to kill me) was going to take me off school

grounds and beat the living daylights out of me and she got me freak

out. I am suicidal and she isn’t helping me. I pressed charges against

her, but i don't think it will help my life at all."

Tupelo High School - Mississippi - "i just want to die.. i can't tell

anybody.. i am too scared"

"I hate bully's, but I've learned to use my hands now, they fear me."

(This is a child who could lash out at others if pushed)

"I am a lesbian and I have gotten harassed by many people."

West Islip High School - New York - "Because the girl was bullying

me My mom told her mom. Well things got so much worse. ...I was

threatened and I was afraid if I reported it that it would get so much

worse on Mon. They set up a fight after school. ...Stupid me went off

school grounds and ended up in a fight. I hit the girl a couple of

times in the head with my gym lock. I didn't know what to do.

There was a lot f blood. The cops came, - I was brought home by the

police but the girl and her bf got away. The school is open and won’t

even deal with the fact that a kid from another district got in. ...That

was in April. It's August and I have to go back in a few weeks. They

were never punished. It's going to continue. I get threats. It is just

so hard to prove anything. She is really good at covering her tracks

and doing things when no one is around. I'm 14 and this happened

this past year in 9th grade."

"i have been picked on since grade 2. I could always hear people

laughing at me. i would usually come home crying and all my mom

would do would say when u get to high school everything will be

much better. during public school i got teased by teachers, and

students it lowered my self esteem so much that i just wanted to die

but what keeps me going our my dreams! in the future i hope that i

can help people with their own problems and keep them from

committing suicide and to help boost their self esteem. i hope some

time in the near future that no one has to deal with bullies and the

torment that comes with them."

"I myself have been harassed at every school i go to in different states

and actually tried committing suicide from it. everyday i walk home

and i have guys throwing rocks at me and saying awful things to

where i want to crawl up and die. i just hope we can find a way to

help stop it. im sick of seeing people hurt. if nobody does anything

about it it'll only get worse"

"For the past three years i have gotten bullied a lot. The school has

done nothing to stop it. They have had meetings with the kids that

are doing the bullying and of course while they have the kids there

they say "oh we will stop" but thats when it gets worse. I started in

the high school this year. And it seems to have gotten worse. Im

getting picked on very single day. I have missed so much school to.

Because i have stress. Depression. Anxiety. And all that kind of stuff.

The schools seems not to realize that the bullying it just adding more

stress on to me and its stopping me from getting an education. I cant

take much more of this... I cant take much more of anything. I told

my school they said i have emotional problems and i have to deal

with them. and forget everything that is happening to me. Well i cant

anymore.. Im at the point i cry my self to sleep at night. that im

scared to walk alone in the hall ways of school. And the point where

im cutting myself because of the pain. and i don't want to deal with

that pain. Please help me!"

"I was harassed in public school from grade 3 to grade 8 and I still

hear people teasing me every once in a while"

"A small portion of the skin on the knuckle of my left index finger

was burned off, in the middle of my Latin class, by a student who

was convinced that I was a "queer". He had ripped the cover off of a

camera, and he pressed it into my hand and charged up the flash; the

extreme heat left several large holes in my knuckle. The Latin teacher

did absolutely nothing upon notification; the bullies, all seven of

them, were called down to guidance and given a stern talking-to and

finger-wagging session; my mother responded with casual

difference, and my father blamed me for creating an environment

favorable to have myself victimized. The main bully was given the

least punishment, I believe, because his father is a very wealthy and

very prominent local doctor. I have contacted the school several times

in regards to harassment, and I am beginning to take up a more

defensive stance for other students who are being mistreated."

"I have told principals and counselor and the most has been done is

that they have been kicked off the bus for 1 day... This just made

matters worse... I can't even walk down the halls without someone

yelling vulgar language at me."

"I hope that I will be able to withstand these hurtful feelings."

"school sucks" "people suck"

"i have been harassed since kindergarten because i am over weight. i

finally got out of my school"

"Well now i am out of school because the harassment was so bad but

now every thing is better but i would like to punish the teens that

were doing this to me! thanx byebye"

"i'm 17 y/o. and have always been "different," a little effeminate, gay,

school pariah since middle school, quiet, but had some friends in

elementary. i changed, once my "differences" started to matter to

other classmates. i was called names every day, locker vandalized

sometimes, beaten to chants of "kill the queer," anything i say or do

mocked, so i no longer say anything there and move as little as

possible in classes. would like to be invisible there... along with

stopping bullying behavior, we have to teach kids that - no matter

what other's will think - stand up for the kid who gets beaten up,

mocked, pissed on, isolated. sit by the kid who eats alone. say hi.

inquire about his/her day. include everyone. why is that so hard for

kids? how many suicides and school shootings will it take before they

learn that the consequences of not doing that are devastating?"

"when i was in seventh grade (i am now a junior in college) i was

harassed daily by people who had previously been my friends. i

won't go into specifics because it hurts less to think about it now, but

it was the worst time of my life. the memories and hurt followed me

all of my life, and i had considered suicide too numerous of times to

count. ...looking back, i know that so many of my problems began

back in school, and it breaks my heart to think that other kids might

be going through those same experiences i was. i didn't include my

school name because i still struggle to leave behind the painful

memories sometimes, but i just wanted to write and tell you that i

hope you can reach as many young people as possible..."

"i think that this is a big problem! i have become very depressed since

all of my experiences. i have attempted suicide a few times and have

not received any help. when i told my mom about the bullying she

said just ignore it. that DOESN'T HELP IT AT ALL!!!!!"

…The Talk

The best way to understand what bullying is and how bullying affects an individual is to

hear it from “The Horses Mouth”, so to speak, from the students, parents and survivors

themselves. In this section I will pass on, anonymously, some emails or survey

comments from Survivors who have endured bullying in their schools.

Part B

Wounded and Hurt Survivors talk about

Bullying

"I was a victim of bullying at school and turned to self harm and

suicide as a way of releasing my pain and anger .When I got through,

I began to speak to the media about my experiences , and I would

like to share with you a couple of articles . The first was written for

BBC (UK ) and aired on BBC Radio One , as part of a mental health

week.”

" I was being bullied a lot at school. People used to call me fat and spit

on me and throw things at me. I used to bite back so they used to

enjoy it even more. But then I couldn't take anymore and I took an

overdose. When that didn't work, I started cutting my wrists, and

then cutting my arms. That was how it began for me. I could just get

really upset after a day at school. I'd slash all up my arms. I used to

feel angry with myself, because I was punishing myself. I was angry

with the whole world. When I used to cut myself I used to feel really

confused and there were lots of thoughts going through my head. I'd

say out loud what people were saying to me and then cut myself. But

then it didn't achieve anything because people at school found out I

was cutting myself. That led on to me taking more overdoses and

standing at train platforms thinking I could just jump off. I was so

confused. Every day was just the same. And I thought what's the

point? Self-harm was a new way of coping with my feelings, but I

didn't really cope with them very well. I live with my dad - when my

dad found out he was really upset and I felt bad for upsetting him. My

brother used to help me out loads. I went to my GP and he said he

was going to refer me to someone. I took my fourth overdose at school.

My friend told one of my teachers who referred me to someone at

school - they referred me to the same place as the doctor. I ended up

going to a child and adolescent psychiatrist. I saw a really nice lady. It

was quite good talking through things. I think I'm coping a lot better

to what I was two or three years ago, but it's still a really slow process

and I just have to take one day at a time. You're never going to be

completely recovered, but you just have to stop yourself. There is help

out there and it's not the end of the word, because you can get help"

The second was written for BBC Online (UK) . – When Coping

Means Cutting, BBC , August 2003

Sam, from Birmingham, is 17. When she was severely bullied at

school, she regularly cut herself with a knife - and took repeated

overdoses. Doctors say the number of people coming to A&E units

with self-harm injuries is on the rise. Sam now talks to other young

people about self-harm and how to cope with it. She wrote her

disturbing story for BBC News Online and explained how she broke

the self-harm habit.

“When I first began senior school, I found myself alone for the first

time in two years, with no friends and only myself to depend on. I

thought that there would be so many people on their own like me and

that it would be easy to make new friends. How wrong I was. I tried

so hard, but it just didn't seem to work. I sat alone in many of my

lessons. At a size 12 to 14, and being taller than my peers, I realized I

was developing quicker than them. At first I wasn't bothered. Then, as

I walked the corridors, people began shouting 'fatty' at me and

making fun of basically everything. One small childish comment

changed my whole life: 'You smell'. It stuck and soon people were

avoiding me in the corridors. I went home every night and scrubbed

myself in the shower until my skin was red.

Overdose

“The angrier I got, the more they enjoyed watching me. I was getting

on the bus in the morning thinking I was going to throw up from

fear. I went home every night and scrubbed myself in the shower

until my skin was red

“One November it became so hard for me that I gave in and took an

overdose of painkillers. 'Good - that will make them sorry', I thought

before I drifted to sleep. When I woke up in the morning I decided not

to tell anyone, faking illness as a cover up. But I really did want to

die.

“My dad and the school found out about the overdose, and a few

weeks later, as I sat in my bedroom, I suddenly became so angry that I

grabbed a razor and began slicing at my wrists. I hacked away for a

long time before I realized that it made me feel better cutting at myself

- so I moved the razor up my arm and cut there. In a way, I saw what

I was doing to my body as an art - I enjoyed watching the blood and

seeing what patterns I could make.

Cover-up

“Soon I was cutting myself so often it became habit. For every person

that hurt me I cut myself a little more. I would say their names aloud.

Then cut. I was careful to cover it up, although looking back, I think

that people knew but just didn't say anything. Once, I had my wrists

right through to my elbows bandaged. In a way, I saw what I was

doing to my body as an art - I enjoyed watching the blood and seeing

what patterns I could make

“I took four more overdoses, each time, more desperate, I pushed up

the amount I was taking, regardless of the damage I was probably

doing to my body. On the fourth occasion, I was at home alone - I just

sat there thinking. I was involved at the time with Children's Express

- a journalism project aimed at eight to 18 year olds. When someone

from the project rang that evening, he tried to calm me down, and for

the first time, I cried about the whole situation. 'I don't want to die,' I

sobbed down the line. That night, I wanted to change.

Low point

“I was referred to both a counselor at school, and to a child

psychiatrist. I hated everything about the psychiatrist, but the

counselor helped me. But I still found myself slipping deeper and

deeper into depression. I just drew far away from any kind of

relationship with anyone. I cut myself nearly every day, in the toilets

at school, at home, anywhere I could. Sometimes I pulled my school

tie around my neck until my lips turned blue.

“Other girls with similar problems approached me. One, who I'll call

Rachael, was also bullied, and cut herself. We became friends. Some

mornings she came in with blood all over her wrists, and she hardly

ever ate. In the end, I experienced the same attitude that many people

have about self-harmers: 'They can't be helped'. There seemed to be

nothing that I could do.

“Turning around I continued to self-harm, finding new ways, as

cutting didn't seem to have the same effect anymore. Sometimes I

pulled my school tie around my neck until my lips turned blue, and I

pulled scarves around my neck, holding them tight until the whole

world seemed to spin. Once, I stood at a train station willing myself to

jump off the platform, then climbed a high-rise block, finding a gate

barring access to the roof. But finally I gave in and began to talk

properly to the counselor. I began telling her what I was feeling and

about the bullying. I was prescribed antidepressants, then pills for

anxiety and to help me sleep. I met my mum, who I hadn't seen since I

was four - and it was the biggest step that I have had to make.

Breaking the cycle

“I hope to work as a writer one day, and I'm taking A levels and

working with a mental health charity, Mind Out for Mental Health.

So far , I’ve spoken to lots of the media – I’ve been on BBC News ,

written for The Guardian and appeared on GMTV as part of anti –

bullying week and speaking out about my experiences with self harm .

“Being bullied was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever been through,

I’ve lived in a hostel before but nothing compares to the pain of being

bullied. Sometimes I do slip back in to my old habits of hurting myself

– It’s something that was caused by bullying but that affected my

entire life. I think that I’m breaking the cycle now though and I’m

glad that I’m able to talk about bullying and encourage others to speak

out. Since this, there has been a spiral of ups and downs, with more

medications and incidents like the ones described. However, next year

I am going to study at University and I have my own website on

bullying, www.bullyzone.moonfruit.com.”

Samantha Hunt is from Birmingham, UK.

"I was harassed for many years, beginning in the second to third

grade stemming all the way through my freshmen year in high

school. I had cut my hair short, and many older kids teased me and

would always ask, are you a girl or a boy? Knowing well that I was

female. People would make fun of my appearance, and everything

about myself. I was an outgoing individual and loud and loved to

have fun. Every day, in the hall, on the bus, biking to the store, many

groups of kids singled me out. I became depressed, suicidal, my self-

esteem dropped to nothing. I wanted to die so many times.

Somehow I got through it. ...I survived, and the healing is probably

still going on, and I know it took well into my high school years to

come to an understanding of what happened..."

…The Talk

The best way to understand what bullying is and how bullying affects an individual is to

hear it from “The Horses Mouth”, so to speak, from the students, parents and survivors

themselves. In this section I will pass on, anonymously, some emails or survey

comments from Survivors who have endured bullying in their schools.

Part C

Wounded and Hurt Parents talk about

Bullying

New Jersey parent - "I want to thank you for your courage and

website. I have dealt with bullying and the indifference and political

maneuverings of school administrators. I have come to the

conclusion that schools *perpetuate* student friction, by pitting

students against one another: yearbook who's who, Homecoming,

giving special privileges to certain students. The schools themselves

operate on archaic tradition that desperately needs reform. I know for

certain that the information on your site is valid, about bullied

students who go on to kill. Where we live, NJ, I noted that two

separate incident's of this, the newspaper account said that the young

men were severely bullied in school. If you want to add this to your

website, it would help to give strength to this valid theory. One was

the murder of Kim Marie Anderson in Deptford, NJ (don! 't

remember name of boy who did it, but the newspaper said he was

severely abused by everyone at school). The other was in a South

Jersey town - the little girl who was killed was named Crystal, can't

remember more, but the killer was 'dumped on by everyone in

school'. God bless you in your efforts. My daughter has OCD and

Tourette's Syndrome and is teased although both of these are very

much under control. I am about to take her out of school."

"My son will be attending High School this fall and he's worried,

because the same kids that bullied him in Jr. High will be there and

he thinks they will continue to taunt and harass him. I e-mailed the

Mayor and told him everything. He just sent a police officer to the

school. I called the police officer, because he never contacted me and

he didn't think there was anything he could do. He sounded lazy

and like he didn't care. I've heard that it's best to contact the

superintendent of the school, to get anything done. That's what I

plan on doing."

"We have decided that we care about the education of our child and

have chosen to home school."

"We were told by the superintendent that 'the school was not

responsible for our children’s safety at school!' My children had

tailbones broken, torn tendons & ligaments. Spit on. Called every

filthy name you can think of..."

"Our daughter and many of her friends all fear for their safety in this

school. Their friends who attend other schools also fear in those

schools, so this is widespread. They all agree worrying about grades,

courses, their future, etc. is minor compared to worrying about

making it through the day alive.”

"Because of the lack of interest in protecting children from being

bullied I withdrew my son from school and began homeschooling

him. This does not solve the ongoing problems that the school has

but it does keep my son safe for now. He was in the 7th grade when

things became unbearable. He will enroll in public school next year

when he will go to high school."

"Our son has put up with physical abuse from one kid for awhile

now. Only recently did we find this out because he had been

punched in the back so hard he couldn't hide it. He told us how this

kid came up from behind and hit him right between the shoulder

blades so hard he blacked out for a moment and he went to his knees.

This kid was laughing and asking kids around him if they heard how

hard he hit him. My husband told the school if they weren't going to

suspend this kid our son wasn't safe so he was taking him home.

Now school officials and the police promise us our son will be safe.

Supposedly, if anything happened again they would take action.

Our son wants to go back to school and face this kid. He says it

would be worth taking another punch just to see if the school will

suspend this bully. This concerns me a little because our son's friend

heard this bully talking about how angry he was and he was out to

get him. This bully isn't new to trouble; why he's still in school I don't

know. But we're not going to sit back and let this happen. I hate the

thought of my son being put in "harms way" just to set a trap for this

kid. We can only hope this creep will be punished; what a concept!

Yes, there has always been bullying but when there's mental or

physical injury involved and this is high school we're talking here, it's

not "child's play" anymore, it's assault plain and simple."

"How do you help your child you see they are hurt by their

classmates? My Son is an above average student and he gets teased

on an everyday basis. He cannot eat due to severe stomach cramping.

He has talked to his counselor who said "you have to eat". He told me

today he feels as though he is going to have a nervous breakdown.

The teasing is verbal. He is called faggot.... among other things. It

hurts me to no end to see my Son in so much pain everyday. Where

do I start? I can go to see his counselor but what then? If he names

Students he will receive backlash in the end and Im afraid it will only

get worse. He is getting depressed over this never ending situation. I

just don't know how to handle this anymore."

Middle School Cliques and Bullies

6 Signs of Bullying, 3 Ways Parents Can Help

By Joe Bruzzese - Dec 12, 2007

The recent Oklahoma tragedies remind us of the importance of

positive adolescent, middle school relationships. Identifying and

removing bullies and cliques is a start.

Unpleasant as they may be, cliques are an inevitable part of the

middle school social environment. Much of the work of avoiding

cliques must be done by your child as she seeks out new middle

school friends.

Bullying, however, takes exclusion one step further. It isn’t

something that parents should merely observe from the sidelines,

since it may include serious emotional and even physical abuse. Here

are six signs to watch out for when trying to determine if your child

is being bullied:

• Reluctance to leave home. If your normally social child chooses

to stay home rather than go out with friends, it may be because

of a bully. Bullying can occur at school as well as at off campus

social events.

• Missing activities. Declining to attend extracurricular activities

may be a sign that your child is being bullied.

• "Drive me, please!” A child who pleads with you to drive him

to school rather than taking his normal bus route may be trying

to avoid confrontations on the bus. With a load of twenty-plus

middle schoolers, bullying can easily go unseen on bus trips.

• Unexplained cuts or bruises. If your child can’t offer a

reasonable explanation for the appearance of any unusual

marks on her body, it’s time to investigate.

• Increased sadness or anxiety. Adolescents tend to be moody;

however, a sudden increase in crying outbursts and anxiety

levels could be the result of a bully.

• Steadily decreasing academic performance. A dip from 95% on

one test to 85% on the next doesn’t warrant a full-scale

investigation. But repeated low scores, missed assignments, or

comments from your child’s teachers about declining

performance are signals that may mean there are bullying

issues at play.

Even if you suspect your child is being bullied, the question of what

to do about it can be a difficult one to answer – especially if your

child hesitates to communicate with you. Yet there are three things

you can do to unearth a problem that don’t require a flood of details

directly from the child.

Three Ways to Flush Out a Bully

• Share observations. Sharing statements like, “You seem sad

today” or “This seems like a rough week for you” may open the

door to a conversation with your child

• Investigate. Talk to the adults who see your child on a regular

basis. Share your concerns about your child’s behavior and ask

if they’ve noticed anything different about your child lately

• Make contact. A casual argument between friends doesn’t call

for a visit to the school, but when arguments turn physical or

include verbally abusive statements, don’t hesitate to schedule

an appointment with the school counselor. Bring the evidence

you have from your observations as well as any conversations

with adults who regularly interact with your child

Cliques and bullying have become critical issues in middle schools

around the country. The recent tragedies in Oklahoma have brought

greater attention to the social interactions among middle school

adolescents. With the dedicated effort of parents and school officials

adolescents will continue to build strong peer relationships based on

acknowledgment and respect

For more articles written by Joe Bruzzese go to http://middle-school-

life.suite101.com/

MISCELLANEOUS

A Proclamation of

BULLYCIDE AWARENESS DAY Be It Resolved…

WHEREAS, on April 20th, 1999, our Nation’s worst high school shooting

in Littleton, Colorado, took place at Columbine High School; the terror

ended in the death of many students and a teacher along with several

students who were wounded; Columbine was real; and

WHEREAS, on September 11, 2001, terrorists attacked the United States;

in New York City, some 3000 men and women, including firefighters,

police officers and paramedics were killed, leaving an unforgettable mark

in U.S. history and in our hearts and memories; 9/11 was real; and

WHEREAS, educators, parents and community members recognize the

lessons to be taken from these tragedies and be proactive in preventing

the beginning of such destructive behavior that is in our schools today;

bullying…school terrorism…is real; and

WHEREAS, many children are faced with terror, daily, through

harassment, assaults and verbal threats in our schools, on the playground,

on school busses; for many children school is a battlefield; thus, a source

of terrorism; and

WHEREAS, educators must come together with parents and community

members to safeguard schools for our children, and, through our

recognition of the serious issues that face them each day, offer our

children a school environment that provides a positive, safe and secure

learning climate – where all children feel they belong, and know that they

are respected for who they are - promoting excellence in citizenship; and

one that includes a bully prevention program to help ensure fair and

effective discipline; and

WHEREAS, educators, parents and community members have publicly

expressed concern about the war in our schools – the bullying of our

children; it is important that we acknowledge and heighten awareness

about this serious issue, and the negative effects of bullying, including the

long-term damage it can cause; far too often bullying results in

“bullycide” a suicide attributed to bullying; and

WHEREAS, it is the personal responsibility of all citizens to protect our

children; it is time for us to stand up, speak out and take action against

bullying; and

WHEREAS, in remembrance of 9/11 and Columbine High School, and

the loved ones that have been lost to the tragic effects of bullying, and

bullycide, we must persevere in our year-round battle against bullying,

and it is appropriate that we designate September 29, 2007 and

September 29th of each year, as Bullycide Awareness Day.

Written by Robin Todd, Bully Police Arizona Director

Adrianna’s Quilt Project

BULLY POLICE – USA FACES OF BULLYCIDE

Elva Orton (who made the quilt), and Adrianna Sgarlata (who

designed the quilt), show the Bully Police – USA, Faces of Bullycide

Quilt. Adrianna, who is our Bully Police Virginia Director, was also

Miss Virginia 2006. Adrianna made the quilt as part of her fight to

bring awareness to bullycides. She showed the quilt in Washington

DC at the SPANUSA Conference and takes the quilts to schools and

other organization as she speaks about school bullying. Adrianna

competed in the Miss America Pageant on January 29, 2007 on CMT

(Country Music Television). Although she did not become Miss

America, she will always be a Miss America to those who know her.

In Woodlawn Christian School in Prince George Virginia, the

children made their own paper quilt after being told some of the

stories from the Bullycide Quilt – “These little hands will Never hurt

another Child”

Below, Adrianna Sgarlata, Miss

Virginia 2006, displays the paper

quilt, “These little hands will

Never hurt another Child”, with

Jessica Bryant, Miss Virginia

Pageant Princess 2006.

Example of a Complaint Form by CAABI© By

CAABI Director, Patrick Harnish

Name:

CC:.

Where occurred:

Re: IEP Problems, Possible bullying.

Referred by: Senator

Date: 8/18/08

Interviewer: Patrick Harnish

Answers by: Mother

Q: What do you see as the main Issue?

A: My son had teachers that were to hard on him, and he says they

point their finger at him. She said he gets sick on the first day of

school from anxiety, and pukes. The mother says kids tease him

about his grades, and he comes home upset about it. I don’t want

other kids checking his papers in class or on tests. He can’t get to

sleep at night with all the anxiety of school, and sometimes he talks

to her about what the teachers say. He feels like he is being put down

for his learning disability, and feels like he is being overlooked. She

stated I don’t see why they don’t work with kids on bullying, so my

son can get some relief from it. She states that he says he feels stupid

in school for not being able to keep up. They are also supposed to do

IEP meetings in the spring and fall, which they are not doing. She

stated to me that he should be able to wear shorts, because he gets

sweaty.

Q: What was the schools response?

A: I have talked to them about my concerns, and I don’t think they

are listening. Honestly, I think they don’t take me seriously, and I

want the best for my son. I don’t want to see him hurting from what

all the kids and teachers are doing. I want to meet in the spring and

fall on his IEP and address my concerns. So far, this is not happening.

Q: Do you talk to the principal about this?

A: We don’t talk, we get in yelling matches at the school.

Q: What do you want to see happen?

A: I want to meet on his IEP and address this disorder. I also want to

make sure that he has the same rewards and opportunities as other

kids do. If he is good, he is not rewarded for that. They do something

special for kids that excel, and leave the others out. I want

photocopied notes for him from the teachers, because he doesn’t

write that fast, and he is concerned that he won’t remember. I want

him to have the same opportunities as the other kids, and for them to

stop punishing him with punches due to an unsigned assignment.

Q: Do you think he needs more one on one for teaching?

A: I think so, and I really think that he learns different from the other

students.

Q: Where did you have this disorder assessed and diagnosed?

A: We went down to Iowa City and found out that he had a learning

disorder (Non-verbal learning disability) and can’t write like he

should. He is worried about the cursive writing.

Q: How would you describe this disability in school?

A: He can’t keep up with the writing down of notes, and I am

concerned.

Q: Do you think he understands facial expressions, gestures, and

other non verbal communications appropriately?

A: No, I really don’t think he understands it.

On August 22nd, 2008 the CAABI Advocate declared this case to be:

Unfounded.

CAABI Findings Report Advocate: Patrick Harnish

Student Observed: Unnamed

Principal: Unnamed

AEA Rep.: N/A

Case #: 104402

Date: August 22nd, 2008

Report Type: Preliminary Report

CAABI FINDING: Unfounded.

The mother filed a report with us back in May of 2008, and we are

following up on this now at the beginning of the school year.

¶

The mother referenced to me that this incident was two years ago (3rd

Grade), and that last year she said was a very good year for him.

School administration doesn’t seem to be aware of the puking issue,

and has not seen, or heard of it. The principal noted he looked a little

nervous on back to school night, and assured him he would be fine,

and noted he looked fine and more relaxed the rest of the time.

¶

No observable teasing was seen, he was not nervous in class, he

wasn’t nervous around other students, he was observed

participating, seemed content in his learning of objects in the bag in

front of him, and was looking at what the other children were pulling

out of their bag and discussing. Other rooms were observed as well,

the children seemed well behaved, and the teachers are doing what

they are supposed to be doing in helping their students. The child

was unaware that we were observing him.

¶

The school has shown that they have provided everything asked for,

and more to help him, but they share the same concern as the mother

on not singling him out either. I did not see any of the described

activity by the mother in the school or class setting.

¶

The IEP is once annually, unless specifically brought up by the parent

to hold a meeting. She has not asked for an additional meeting, as the

AEA and principal said that the special ed. teacher would

accommodate it.

¶

It is stated clearly in a couple areas of the handbook about dress code,

especially during certain temperatures, and I believe the school is

only trying to protect the children while at school. The school does

not want to create an issue where one child is favored in a way over

the rest of the population within this policy. I had the opportunity to

visit and observe at the school, and I found that the students were all

very happy, and were fine. I seen no bullying, teasing, or harassing

behaviors by other kids, and the teachers seem so helpful to the

students in class. I did not see anyone that raised their voice and I

seen caring teachers helping students with their work.

¶

I met with both from the AEA and the principal who were both

helpful, and very cooperative. He said that he has dealt with the

mother many times, but the issues she brings up are the schools

policy we have to enforce. I could not find any policies that are being

broken when I observed the school, or conduct noted in the past to

enforce them.

¶

The principal admitted that he has had to be a little stern with her,

vice versa, and that she has hung up on both him and the

superintendent.

¶

Unsure what she means by excelling children get special privileges,

principal didn’t understand either, at the final meeting this can be

addressed further. The Principal and the AEA, said that they can

copy the notes for a while; their concern was to how far you enable a

child to learn without writing it down for themselves. This should

not be so that it makes him dependent upon this process, and should

show some progression of note taking along with this process.

¶

The school will be watching and addressing this issue, as he is in

Special Ed classes. When it was first brought up to place him into

Special Ed, the mother admitted she didn’t do so, thinking it would

make him a stand out as a target for other kids to pick on him.

¶

They do allow him to write plain though for now, and even was

given access to a computer to help him further.

¶

The school has conceded that his writing does need worked on, it is

slow, and they are allowing him all the opportunities available to

date, including access to a computer to make it easier for him. The

teacher allowed this student access to the spell checking option, as a

courtesy, and it seems they are very willing to work with him. They

also allow untimed areas of work, which normally is done for regular

students. The student has decided on his own not to use the spell

checker any longer. This child has access and privileges to areas other

kids normally do not, to further benefit his educational processing

skills.

¶

When observing the child in class, he was quiet, but was

participating with the bag of objects in front of him. He seems active

by non verbal method of keeping up of searching through the bag as

the students discuss them. He was not over animated by any gestures

the teacher made, and seemed intrigued in the process. No distress

was seen or found.

¶

I feel confident that the next meeting will help school staff and parent

understand what is going on in the escalation of this situation,

provided a detailed report from me.

¶

However, it would benefit the school to have an open source of

communication established between administration, teacher, and

parent and for her to be inclusive in his education, should she choose

to do so. I believe she feels she doesn’t have a voice, which typically

mimics a mother that has a hard time coping with a child who

exhibits a disability. It is often intensely emotional, and sometimes

breaks the barrier of communication to the school, and the parent

remains angry, frustrated, worrisome, feeling lack of control, lashes

out at administration, and the situation deteriorates the longer these

emotions are kept to a negative fashion. The emotions for the parent

have to be re-addressed in a more positive role for the child, rather

than him having to deal with the anxiety seen at home about this

issue.

¶

It would be to the child’s benefit that the school communicates with

the mother in an informative manner, addresses what needs to be

done on IEP’s, and sends a notebook home daily with notes from the

teacher to reaffirm her, and explains how his day was. This whole

situation is a misunderstanding between the school and the parent(s).

The school is doing everything they can, provided those resources are

available to him, and up to date. Over the years, advancements with

child psychology has learned different aspects than were once

currently known. As such, schools don’t always have the latest

information yet, and is up to the state for training of teachers and

providing the necessities to learning disabled children.

¶

I think that mother and son would benefit from some counseling to

better understand the relational role she needs to take with the school

and her son. I have talked with her about this, and at the current time

she believes that she has adequate support from family. I believe that

the son is too dependent upon the mother, which is an indication that

the mother is to over protective, and is a reaction normal for parents

that discover disabilities in their children. It is noted that she stated

her son is starting to become more independent from her, and is not

listening well at home. I hear the frustration she exhibits, and it can

be a challenging transition to the parent without adequate support

networks.

¶

However, being to dependent it is a harmful side effect for him, as

this will create dependencies upon him into his teenage and adult

years. Often, children with this disorder do their work according to

what they are dependent upon, and do worse when it falls away. At

an early age this can be addressed more efficiently than waiting until

later.

¶

As such, it is my recommendation that the school counselor should

consult with the mother, and talk with them about counseling and

other options available in the community. It will help both the

mother and son, to further explore and understand what exactly Non

Verbal Learning Disability is in its entirety, and learning to cope with

the onset of stress, emotional depletion, and anger symptoms. As it

is, she knows some on this disability, but more can develop as he gets

older specifically in math areas, and organization of number

structures, advanced number sequencing, and other areas. It would

be to her benefit to seek out this knowledge, and keep in touch with

his teacher through his IEP meetings, on how he is doing. This would

be to the mothers and the schools benefit, and would de-escalate the

tension that is being seen between her and the school administration.

¶

Often parents see disabilities in children as a once “perfect child” lost,

and they become overwhelmed, emotionally, and physically drained.

Some parents can become emotionally detached at some point in the

child’s life, and that should be evaluated to where this family is.

¶

They worry about the educational opportunities available to their

child, how their child will be looked at and treated by others. It

would also be important for the school to work on his cognition of

understanding symbols, expressions, gestures, and continually

monitor changes.

¶

A mentor would be a good thing for this child to learn social

activities, positive reinforcement, acceptable expectations, and

realizations to the world around him.

¶

It may also be to the benefit of the school to do a rote memory

evaluation, fine motor function test, and have his IEP reflect some

progressional goals that are measurable associated with it (if this

hasn’t been done already).

¶

There was no indication of bullying, harassment, or putting down of

this student in his school setting. Children that are quiet in class are

perfectly normal, and the inclusion of him in class shows he is

participating at an active cognitive level, even if some deficiency is

seen by his teachers in fine motor function with his writing abilities;

the writing is being addressed appropriately. Children whom are

more than willing to talk are extroverts, and those who are quiet,

sometimes prefer to be alone are social introverts. Teacher for a long

time have made the grave mistake of misinterpreting this behavior,

and try to get them to be more vocal in class. It is in fact doing more

harm, than having the child listen, and learning. Children who talk

aloud often won’t absorb as much as someone quiet in the room.

However, It should not be avoided altogether, and some discussion

can make the child feel like a part of the class as well.

A teacher was also observed talking with the students, including this

child about what to do in instances where they have trouble with

other students, and whom to come to.

At the second meeting, the child will be able to speak to all

concerned, and will be able to provide further information to us, if he

chooses to do so. I will be sitting down with him to evaluate what he

feels is happening, how he feels, what he wants to see done, facial

expression recognition, and if he has any further concerns. After that,

we will be at the meeting to discuss the issues openly. At the

meeting, I will discuss any concerns he has, where he sees himself to

be in the school, how he views himself cognitively, and anything else

he would like noted. This is all I have for my report at current; after

the last meeting my final report will be released to the School District,

Department of Education, and the AEA with a final finding.

CAABI© works on behalf of both parents and the school system to resolve

issues that come up. We are very strict in what we look for, and investigate

to the fullest extent possible. The finding above may be appealed within 15

days after it is received. Complainants are only able to appeal a maximum of

two times. If a third appeal is received, it will be turned over to the

Department Of Education for final investigation.

At CAABI we strive through lectures and events to educate our youth from

2nd through 8th grade.

They will be able to understand the concepts of why bullying happens, and

alternatives to take when it happens. We teach them the misconceptions that

are underlying to this problem in schools, and other activities.

Our goal is to reduce 95% of the bullying happening in our area schools and

activity centers.

HELPFUL WEBSITES

These websites and links were active November 2008. If you find a

link/website that is not active, please email Brenda@JaredStory.com to report

the inactive link so we can keep an updated list of helpful website. Likewise,

if you know of a good, helpful website, please email that link to me.

http://www.afsp.org – Suicide Awareness/Prevention

http://www.aftab.com - Parry Aftab’s website - One of the leading

experts, worldwide, on cybercrime, Internet privacy and cyber-abuse

issues.

http://www.alfred.edu/hs_hazing - The full report of the Alfred

University survey

http://www.annielynn.net – Annie Lynn’s song, “Stop That!”

http://www.backoffbully.com – Anti-violence programs designed

by Dr’s. Twemlow & Sacco - This approach relies heavily on

traditional martial arts philosophy, applied psychoanalysis, and large

group psychology.

http://www.beginningover.org - The Beginning Over Foundation -

Keeping the subject of Domestic Abuse (adult bullying) high in the

public's consciousness - Was founded in memory of Robin D. Shaffer,

murdered sister of Heidi Markow.

http://www.bestfriendsfoundation.org/BFWhatisBF.html - Best

Friends Foundation - Best Friends is a school based character-

building program for girls that begins in the sixth grade and

continues until high school graduation. Best Friends provides a

developmentally sound curriculum in an educational setting which

promotes fun, companionship, and caring.

http://www.boot-camp-boot-camps.com – Boot Camps for

Struggling Teens – This site is dedicated to helping troubled teens

and providing information to parents with troubled teens about

juvenile boot camps and other alternatives.

www.bullybeware.us - Bully Beware! How to Fight Back with Florida

Law on Your Side – A book that focuses upon using criminal and civil

laws as tools to prevent and deal with bullies.

http://www.bullycide.org - Bullycide in America: Moms Speak Out

about the Bullying/Suicide Connection – A book of real stories, about

real kids, who took their own lives because they thought it was their

only way out of a hopeless situation.

http://www.bullyfree.com - We are committed to preventing and

stopping bullying in all environments (i.e., schools, workplaces, etc.).

Our goal is to promote the Golden Rule (treat others the way you

want to be treated) everywhere.

http://www.bullying.co.uk – (UK) - Many of the young people

affected by bullying believe they have nowhere else to turn; they are

scared to speak out and often blame themselves. At Bullying UK, we

aim to change this by providing a service which will enable victims

of bullying to break their silence, assure them that there are ways to

stop the bullying and then offer them the help they need to find it.

http://www.bullying.org – Where You are NOT Alone

http://www.bullyingcanada.ca – (Canada) - Young people speaking

out about bullying and victimization.

http://www.BullyPolice.org – What this E-Book is all about –

Stopping bullying by every possible means – by law, policies,

procedures, rules, programs, providing speakers, training and using

common sense, (group or one-on-one), approaches to dealing with

the bullying problem.

http://www.bullysafeusa.com - SuEllen Fried’s website with “Train

the Trainer” resources.

http://www.bullystoppers.com - The Free Bully Reporting Site -

This site offers a free reporting tool that can be used immediately to

stop bullying at school. Kids report confidently as names are never

used!

http://www.caabi.org – Children and Adults Against Bullying/for

Intervention

www.centerforloss.com – A website dealing with grief (just thought

I’d throw this in)

http://www.championsagainstbullying.com - Champions Against

Bullying is passionately committed to working with individuals,

schools and communities where every child can live, work, learn and

thrive in an environment without fear, without violence and without

limitation.

http://www.ChristinaInternationalHS.com – A high school and

middle school curriculum, including AP, language, and technology

classes - a totally online school.

http://www.community-matters.org - A nonprofit organization that

provides training, facilitation, and consultation in the areas of

violence prevention, youth development, strengthening and

sustaining school and community partnerships, and involving all

youth in service and leadership through service-learning and peer

helping.

http://www.corinnewilson.com – Rochelle Side’s memorial website

for her daughter Corinne.

http://www.easel-arttherapy.com – E.A.S.E.L. stands for Expressive

Arts Studio for Empowerment in Living – Easel is an outreach arts

studio dedicated to preventative healing and transformation through

the arts.

http://www.ed.gov – The U.S. Department of Education website –

Type in “bullying” in the search box and get 500 results.

http://edlabor.house.gov – Committee on Education and Labor –

House of Representatives

http://www.fightcrime.org - America must cut the pipeline that

funnels young people into lives of crime and violence. Fight Crime:

Invest in Kids, takes a hard-nosed look at research on what keeps

kids from becoming criminals and puts that information in the hands

of policy-makers and the public.

http://www.focusas.com - Focus Adolescent Services - Children do

not always want to talk to their parents or other adults about being

bullied. Call us and we will listen to you, answer your questions,

and direct you to helping resources.

http://www.heroesinthecrowd.com – A technique that shows kids

how to work together as a group to solve their schools’ bullying

problem by becoming “Heroes in the Crowd”.

http://staff.howard.k12.md.us/~gwynethj/internetsafety/internets

afety.html - A comprehensive education on internet safety for

Parents and Teens.

www.iSafe.org - iSAFE Inc. is the leader in Internet safety education

- Founded in 1998 and endorsed by the U.S. Congress, i-SAFE is a

non-profit foundation dedicated to protecting the online experiences

of youth everywhere.

http://www.JaredStory.com – Brenda High’s healing website in

honor of her son Jared.

http://homepage.eircom.net/~justinmorahan/bullying - (Ireland) -

The Box and Interview Method

http://kathynoll.com - TAKING THE BULLY BY THE HORNS –

Self-help books giving educators, parents & kids the skills needed to

deal with bullies and school violence as well as maintain good,

strong, healthy self-esteem.

http://www.keepschoolssafe.org - Keep Schools Safe – School

Safety, Security and Violence Prevention Resource.

http://www.kidscape.org.uk – (UK) - Helping to Prevent Bullying

and Child and Abuse

http://learningtheory.homestead.com/Theory.html - The learning

theory of Rick Lynn – Environment and mental/emotional stability

and mental/emotional growth.

http://www.makeadifferenceforkids.org – Make a Difference for

Kids, Inc -is non-profit organization promoting awareness and

prevention of cyberbullying and suicide through education. The

organization was created in memory of Rachael Neblett, and Kristin

Settles.

http://www.namesdohurt.com - Names Do Hurt - Have you ever

been teased and made fun of? Have you ever been excluded from a

group? Then you have been a victim of emotional abuse or what

many people call RELATIONAL AGGRESSION or RA. Don't be a

victim!

http://www.nasponline.org - National Association of School

Psychologists

http://www.nationalsave.org - SAVE is a student driven

organization. Students learn about alternatives to violence and

practice what they learn through school and community service

projects. As they participate in SAVE activities, students learn crime

prevention and conflict management skills and the virtues of good

citizenship, civility, and nonviolence.

http://www.ncdjjdp.org/cpsv - Center for the Prevention of School

Violence – The North Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice and

Delinquency Prevention

http://nces.ed.gov - The National Center for Education Statistics

(NCES), located within the U.S. Department of Education and the

Institute of Education Sciences, is the primary federal entity for

collecting and analyzing data related to education.

http://www.pathway-pals.com - Great counselor resources to help

reach students - Exciting posters, easy-to-use career guidance

programs, computer interest surveys, career exploration programs

and more. These guidance materials really work.

http://www.peerabuse.info - Peer Abuse Know More! Bullying

From A Psychological Perspective – The Abuse Stops Now!

http://www.respectu.com – Coaching services by Joel Haber, Ph.D.,

(Bullyproof Your Child for Life), for both schools and workplace

bullying.

http://www.the-revealers.com - The Revealers—a novel for young

readers about bullying and self-discovery.

http://www.ryanpatrickhalligan.com - John's website in honor of

his son Ryan Halligan – Teaching tools about suicide prevention,

cyberbullying and school bullying.

http://www.safeschoolambassadors.org - Safe School

Ambassadors® - A youth-centered, violence-prevention program that

has been implemented in over 500 public and private schools across

the U.S. and Canada.

http://www.safeschools.msu.edu – Michigan Safe School Initiatives

http://www.safeyouth.com – The Center for Safe Youth - Dealing

with at-risk adolescents

http://www.safeyouth.org - A resource created by the National

Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center

http://www.schoolsantibullying.com – Schools Anti Bullying Web

Gateway - This Schools Anti Bullying Web Gateway was born out of

the "Transatlantic Schools Anti Bullying Initiative" that was created in

2005 by Sullivan EurAsia with the support and financial backing of

Sullivan University System in Kentucky USA.

http://www.schooltipline.com – The award winning program that

empowers students with anonymous communication through web

and text messaging.

http://www.stampoutbullying.co.uk – Stamp Out Bullying (UK) –

“If everyone believed they had a voice, imagine how loud it would

be!”

http://www.stopbullyingnow.com – Stop Bullying Now! -

Presenting practical research-based strategies to reduce bullying in

schools.

www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov - Take a Stand. Lend a Hand. Stop

Bullying Now!

http://www.strandsoftruth.com - Strands of Truth is a multi-

dimensional program that meets ALL your bully prevention needs,

including Interactive Assemblies, training for all adults who work

with your students and follow-up materials.

http://www.teachersagainstprejudice.org - TAP's mission is to

increase awareness of prejudice and discrimination and examine its

causes and roots; open dialogue with and between students and

educators from elementary school through college; and promote

understanding and respect for all through the critical exploration and

analysis of films, television, and other media.

http://www.thespiritdesk.com -The Spirit Desk LLC, is in over 500

schools nationwide. The HERO IN THE HALLWAY ACTION PLAN

is simple to implement and focuses on promoting positive behavior

as well as keeping everyone involved preventing negative behavior.

http://www.thewoundedchild.org – The Wounded Child - Bullying

is a social disgrace that communities and schools are just now coming

to terms with. Telling the traumatic and sad stories of others has

always helped people understand the need for change, whether it is

changing the life of one individual or a society in general.

www.Thinking-Forward.com - The online resource for middle

school parents.

http://www.ustreas.gov/usss/ntac_ssi.shtml - Threat Assessment in

Schools: a guide to managing threatening situations and to creating safe

school climates

http://www.ustreas.gov/usss/ntac/ntac_ssi_report.pdf -

(PDF) Safe School Initiative: An Interim Report on the Prevention of

Targeted Violence in Schools

http://www.ustreas.gov/usss/ntac/ntac_threat_postpress.pdf

- (PDF) Evaluating Risk for Targeted Violence in Schools: Comparing

Risk Assessment, Threat Assessment, and Other Approaches

http://www.verbalabuse.com – Take an online interactive test; Are

you an abuser or are you abused? Take a stand against verbal abuse!

http://www.waveamerica.com – Wave America - Working Against

Violence Everywhere is a proactive safe schools initiative to help

prevent violence in middle and senior high schools.

http://www.wiredsafety.org - Wired Safety - Tracks bullying

incidents and offers parents resources for identifying and reporting

abuse.

Bully Police E-Book Part V

CONTRIBUTORS

British Medical Journal

JAMA (and AMA)

Joe Bruzzese, M.A.

Patrick Harnish

Lisa Pescara-Kovach, Ph.D.

Deborah D. Landry

Robin Todd

British Medical Journal The print BMJ has been published continuously since 1840, and now

appears in four weekly editions, varying only in their advertising

content. Together, their circulation totals about 122,000 copies, of

which 10,000 are distributed outside Britain. In addition,

international editions reach another 55,000 readers.

The BMJ's website was launched in 1995 and includes the full text of

everything published in the print journal since 1994, as well as much

material unique to the web. About 1.2 m unique users download 6.5

m pages each month (ABCe audit, October 2006).

The Articles cited in this e-book are free articles and can be found at

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/319/7206/348,

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/319/7206/344,

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7163/924, and

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/313/7048/17

JAMA, (Journal of the American Medical Association), has been

published continuously since 1883, and is an international peer-

reviewed general medical journal published 48 times per year. JAMA

is the most widely circulated medical journal in the world. JAMA is

published in multiple international editions and languages; the

online version is made freely available to institutions in developing

countries. JAMA's impact factor is 25.5 (the impact factor is a measure

of citation rate per article, and is calculated by dividing 1 year's

worth of citations to a journal's articles published in the previous 2

years by the number of major articles [eg, research papers, reviews]

published by that journal in those 2 years). The Editor-in-Chief of

JAMA is Catherine DeAngelis, MD, MPH (see JAMA Editors and

Publishers).

The Articles cited in this e-book are free articles and can be found at

http://jama.ama-

assn.org/cgi/search?FIRSTINDEX=0&quicksearch_submit.y=2&fullt

ext=bullying&quicksearch_submit.x=14

Joe Bruzzese, M.A. Joe Bruzzese, MA, is a leading parent

expert for the middle school years,

author of A Parent’s Guide to the Middle

School Years and co-founder of

Thinking-Forward.com, the online

resource for middle school parents.

Visit the web site at www.Thinking-

Forward.com for practical resources including DVDs, seminars,

speaking engagements and comprehensive coaching services for

thriving during the middle school years.

Patrick Harnish Patrick currently has an Associate’s Degree and is currently attending

The University of Phoenix Online, studying Human Services

Management for his BSHS Degree. He plans to continue with a

Master’s and Ph.D program.

Patrick founded CAABI (Children and Adults Against Bullying;

Intervention), as a result of hearing stories of children being bullied

as well as personal experiences with school bullying. He is a

survivor.

Patrick says, “There are kids who are in the community that are hurt,

abused, or in many ways psychologically injured due to school instances,

parental instances, or other instances. I often ask what is it we can do more

to help these children.”

Volunteers are needed with CAABI. If you are interested in helping,

visit the CAABI website at http://www.caabi.org or contact Patrick

at pkefdr@caabi.org

Lisa Pescara-Kovach,

Ph.D. Dr. Lisa Pescara-Kovach is the Bully

Police-Ohio Director and has

recently written a book, School

Shootings and Suicides: Why We Must

Stop the Bullies -

http://utnews.utoledo.edu/publish/Research_12/Stopping_bullies_

is_subject_of_new_book_2334.shtml.

Lisa was one of the University of Toledo, 2006 Winners –

Outstanding Teachers

(http://www.utoledo.edu/offices/provost/outstandingteacher/200

6.html), and has received grants to implement anti bullying

programs,

http://utnews.utoledo.edu/publish/Research_12/Assistant_Profess

or_Hopes_Grant_Will_Help_Eliminat_470.shtml).

To contact Dr Lisa Pescara-Kovach, go to her UofT homepage at

http://www.utoledo.edu/education/faculty/kovach/index.html.

Deb Landry Deb Landry is the author of the best selling

children’s book, Sticks Stones and

Stumped, Yankee Go Home, and the co

author of The Comfort Zone with Meline

Kevorkian Ed.D., and Robin D’Antona,

Ed.D. She is a parenting coach specializing

in social awareness behaviors and character

education and has authored several

interactive children’s mentoring

plays on character education, social

awareness, and bullying prevention.

Deb is the founder, President/CEO and former Executive Director of

Crossroads Youth Center, a non profit performing art based after

school program and is an international speaker and trainer in

bullying prevention.

Deb passionately shares her expertise through lectures, workshops,

books, author visits, and her parent coaching practice.

To read more about Deb, her programs, or speaking schedule, visit

www.deblandry.com or email her at deb@brysontaylor.com.

Robin Todd Robin Todd is the mother of a child who was

bullied. Her mission is to raise awareness

on the serious issue of bullying that goes on

in our nation’s schools; and to educate about

the importance of a bully prevention

program. Robin is certified in Bullies and

Victims Prevention Training, and speaks at schools, church groups,

and community events

In an effort to get an anti bullying bill passed in Arizona, Robin

testified in the Arizona Legislature – the law passed in 2005.

Most recently, Robin has served as an advisor and contributor for the

book – Bullycide in America: Moms speak out about the bullying/suicide

connection. She draws from her vast experience in business

management, marketing, and administration, as well as her role as a

director of corporate training. She has served as program developer

and director for various community, school, and faith-based

programs, special events and conferences and is the Bully Police

Arizona Director.

Robin can be contacted by email at robinarizona430@msn.com.

About Brenda High

Founder, Co-Director,

Bully Police USA, Inc.

Jared’s Story

Jared High was 12 years old when older

students bullied him in his middle school. The bullying came to a

head when a well-known bully assaulted Jared inside his middle

school gym. Because of the bullying and the assault, Jared began to

show signs of depression, which included lack of sleep and emotional

outbursts.

On the morning of September 29, 1998, just six days after his 13th

birthday, Jared called his father at work to say good-bye. While on

the phone with him, Jared shot himself, dying instantly.

As a healing project, Brenda began to write Jared’s story, which is

now published as www.jaredstory.com. Since 1999, JaredStory.com

has attracted over a million visitors looking for information on

bullying, depression, suicide and needing healing from the loss of a

loved one.

Brenda has now become a passionate crusader, a mom on a mission

to stop school bullying and peer-abuse. It is not uncommon to see

Brenda doing email or on the phone talking about bullying as well as

advising parents, students, teachers, state and federal lawmakers,

media and community members about the emotional and physical

dangers of bullying, which can lead to bullycide, (a suicide attributed

to bullying).

Producers and/or writers from Good Morning America, Dr. Phil

Show, The John Walsh Show, The Larry Elders Show, Video

Production Companies, Inside Edition, Jenny Jones Show, Black

Entertainment Television, CNN, ABCnews.com, News

Documentaries, and Newspapers all over the United States, are just

some of the media who have interviewed Brenda for opinions and

advice concerning bullying, depression, suicide and the new tragedy,

"Bullycide."

Jared’s story has been told on the radio, in magazines, including

California’s Beach Cities Health District, Arizona Parenting, The

American Association of Suicidology, Desert Paradise, and in

numerous news articles. Brenda has also published Internet Short

Stories about JaredStory.com on several websites.

Brenda has designed several websites and continues to work on

JaredStory.com and BullyPolice.org in her spare time.

• http://www.JaredStory.com, which deals with bullying,

depression, suicide and other issues. JaredStory is very

popular with teens who are looking for direction and advice for

living as well as media research, as example, The Dr Phil Show,

who found two quests to talk on bullying and suicide.

• http://www.BullyPolice.org - Reports and grades States on

their anti bullying laws. Bully Police USA posts current anti

bullying laws, research, news, and support information for

parents and/or anti bullying activists who are dealing with

bullying in schools

• http://www.TheWoundedChild.org - Tells the stories of

students, parents and survivors of bullying.

• http://www.Bullycide.org – A new expose’ book, Bullycide in

America: Moms speak out about the bullying/suicide connection. The

Bullycide in America book can be purchased at

www.bullycide.org.

• http://www.HeroesInTheCrowd.html – Is Brenda’s current

book project with Robin Todd. Heroes in the Crowd teaches a

method that will develop “Heroes in the Crowd” and solve

bullying problems using a win-win approach. It is expected to

be released in September 2009.

Brenda is proud to be the lead writer of,

"Bullycide in America: Moms Speak Out

About the Bullying/Suicide Connection."

Bullycide in America is a wake up call to

all parents of school-aged children – are

your children being bullied and how can

you stop it?

Getting anti bullying laws

Having been involved in politics for over 20 years, Brenda leads by

example.

Brenda’s specialty is working to get anti bullying laws passed or

revised. She is proud of contributing to the passage of the

Washington State Anti Bullying Law

(www.bullypolice.org/wa_law.html) as well as influencing passage

of laws in Oklahoma, Vermont, Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Iowa,

Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Maine, Nebraska,

Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and a most

special law, “Jared’s Law” in Idaho, named after her son Jared. She

continues to work aggressively for passage of laws in all 50 states.

Brenda is proud of her state Bully Police volunteers who faithfully do

what it takes to get laws passed.

As the Founder and Co-Director of the national organization, Bully

Police USA, Inc., Brenda has written, “The Perfect Anti Bullying

Law,” which is an excellent model for lawmakers to follow when

they write their State anti bullying laws. She teaches the importance

of anti bullying laws and how to lobby, in teleconferences to

educators, media, program directors and parents, many who have

children suffering from bullying.

A philosophy to live by

Brenda lives her philosophy, which is; a woman filled with love is

not content with blessing her family alone, but is anxious to bless the

whole human race.

Brenda lives in Pasco Washington with her husband Bill. They have

three grown children, Sonja, Jacob and Tara, and two grandchildren.

She has a Bachelors Degree in Psychology from B.Y.U.

For a more, lighthearted look, about Brenda, go to

www.jaredstory.com/brenda_author.html.

Brenda can be reached by phone at 509-547-1052 (Pacific Time) or by

email at Brenda@jaredstory.com.