"Our lives are not determined by what

happens to us but by how we react to what

happens, not by what life brings to us, but

by the attitude we bring to life. A positive

attitude causes a chain reaction of

positive thoughts, events, and outcomes. It

is a catalyst, a spark that creates

extraordinary results."

-Anon

Mental Health

Harm in The

Community

by Mickelder Kercy, CCMA | HealthCorps Member

prepared on July 4, 2014

Bullying Children & Young Adults

•A person or group repeatedly tries to harm someone who is weaker or

who they think is weaker.

•Sometimes it involves direct attacks such as hitting, name calling,

teasing or taunting.

•Sometimes it is indirect, such as spreading rumors or trying to make

others reject someone (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012).

•A form of aggressive behavior in which someone intentionally and

repeatedly causes another person injury or discomfort. Bullying can take

the form of physical contact, words or more subtle actions.

•The bullied individual typically has trouble defending him or herself and

does nothing to “cause” the bullying (American Psychological Association,

2014).

A Behavior

As reported by the Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention Center (2013):

•Nearly 1 in 3 students (27.8%) report being bullied during the school year.

•19.6% of high school students in the U.S. report being bullied at school in

the past year. 14.8% reported being bullied online .

•64% of children who were bullied did not report it; only 36 percent

reported the bullying.

•The reasons for being bullied reported most often by students were looks

(55%), body shape (37%), and race (16%) .

General Statistics

•11.1% said that they were bullied because of their race than did white

victims (2.8 percent), African-American victims (7.1 percent) or Latino

victims (6.2 percent) (Tran & Okazaki, 2014).

Statistics – Students who identified as

Asian-American

As reported by the Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention Center (2013):

•Only 10 U.S. studies have been conducted on the connection between

bullying and developmental disabilities, but all of these studies found

that children with disabilities were two to three times more likely to be

bullied than their nondisabled peers.

•The National Autistic Society reports that 40% of children with autism

and 60% of children with Asperger’s syndrome have experienced

bullying.

Statistics - Students with Disabilities

As reported by the Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention Center (2013):

•81.9% of students who identify as LGBTQ were bullied in the last year

based on their sexual orientation.

•63.5% of students feel unsafe because of their sexual orientation, and

43.9% because of their gender expression.

•31.8% of LGBTQ students missed at least one entire day of school in the

past month because they felt unsafe or uncomfortable.

Statistics - Students who identify or

are perceived as LGBTQ

•1 in 4 children faces bullying over their religious beliefs (Lipsett, 2008).

•Among the 70% of students with religious beliefs (e.g., faith in God, views

of Family life, peaceful mannerisms and lifestyle), many wanted to keep

quiet about their faith (The Christian Institute, 2008)

•All 57 respondents of a 2010 survey of Muslim youths aged 11 to 18

reported being called a name because of their faith, including 80% who

said they had been called "terrorist“ (Sacirbey, 2011).

Statistics – Students with Religious

Beliefs

As reported by the Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention Center (2013):

•64% of students enrolled in weight-loss programs reported experiencing

weight-based victimization.

•1 out of 3 girls and 1 out of 4 boys report weight-based teasing from

peers, but prevalence rates increase to approximately 60% among the

heaviest students .

•84% of students observed students perceived as overweight being called

names or getting teased during physical activities .

Statistics – Students with Overweight

Bullying Community Health

Impact

Students who are bullied Students who bully

•Substance use

•Academic problems

•Violence later in adolescence

and adulthood (Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention, 2012)

•More than Twice as likely to

experience depression, anxiety and

attention deficit disorder (ADD or

ADHD)

•Three times more likely to become

adults who bully (Turcotte-Benedict,

2012)

•Depression

•Anxiety

•Sleep difficulties

•Poor school adjustment

(Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, 2012)

•Headaches

•Stomach aches

(Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention

Center. (2013)

•3 out of 4 of the 41 attackers

Mass school shootings 1974 - 2000

(Vossekuil et al., 2002, p. 30)

Students who are bullies and Victims

•Most serious consequences

•Greater risk for both mental

health and behavior problems

(Centers for Disease Control,

2012).

Bullying The Causes

•Personal History: Children who experience social rejection themselves are

more likely to "pass it on" to others. Children who experience academic failure

are also more likely to bully others.

•Family Issues: Families that are not warm and loving and in which feelings

are not shared are more likely to have children who bully, either within the

family home or in other locations in which the children meet others. Another

home environment that is prone to producing bullies is one in which discipline

and monitoring are inconsistent and/or a punitive atmosphere exists.

•Cultural: Researchers point to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as

glorification of bullies in the name of entertainment and point out that the

high rate of domestic violence means that many young people grow up

expecting that violence is an acceptable way to get what one wants.

•Social Issues: The fact that one gets more social recognition for negative

behaviors than for positive ones can also contribute to reasons why people

bully. Situation comedies and reality television, as well as real life

situations in schools, for example, show that acting out is more likely to get

noticed than behaving oneself civilly and courteously. Jealousy or envy and

a lack of personal and social skills to deal with such feelings can also be

reasons why people bully.

•Institutional: There is a lack of high standards for the way people treat

each other.

Bullying Prevention in the

Community

•Research on preventing and addressing bullying is still developing.

•School-based bullying prevention programs are widely implemented, but

infrequently evaluated.

•Based on a review of the limited research on school-based bullying

prevention, the following program elements are promising:

1) Improving supervision of students

2) Using school rules and behavior management techniques in the

classroom and throughout the school to detect and address bullying by

providing consequences for bullying

3) Having a whole school anti-bullying policy, and enforcing that policy

consistently

• Promoting cooperation among different professionals and between

school staff and parents.(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

2012)

•Community-wide efforts: School staff, parents, students; and community

members such as law enforcement officials, faith organizations and

community action groups.

•Promote Bystanders’ beliefs in their social self-efficacy were positively

associated with defending behavior and negatively associated with

passive behavior from bystanders – i.e. if students believe they can make

a difference, they’re more likely to act. (Pacer’s National Bullying

Prevention Center, 2013).

•Not labeling a student as a “bully” because it can have a detrimental

effect on their future and often limits their ability to change their

behavior.

•Teachers/Educators need to focus on a student’s behavior, not their

profile, when determining if bullying occurred.

Positive Impacts Negative Impacts (worsen)

•Victim fighting, getting back at

them, telling them to stop

•Tell the student to solve the

problem themselves

•Tell the student that the bullying

wouldn’t happen if they acted

differently or ignored what was going

on

•Tell the student to stop tattling

•Victim telling the person how

he/she feels, walking away or

pretending it doesn’t bother him/her

are often used by youth and often

recommended to youth

•Accessed support from others

•Listen to the student

•Check in with them afterwards to see

if the bullying stopped

•Give the student advice to find peer

actions helpful than educator or self-

actions

•Allying and supportive actions from

their peers such as spending time with

the student, talking to him/her, helping

him/her get away, or giving advice)

were the most helpful actions from

bystanders

Interventions (Activities) Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention Center. (2013)

•More than half of bullying situations (57%) stop when a peer intervenes

on behalf of the student being bullied (Hawkins, Pepler & Craig, 2001).

•School-based bullying prevention programs decrease bullying by up to

25% (McCallion & Feder, 2013).

•Peer victimization of all youth was less likely to occur in schools with

bullying policies that are inclusive of LGBTQ students (Hatzenbuehler &

Keyes, 2012).

•Peace Keepers: A Christian Bully Prevention Program (2014) reported a

reduction of more than 50% of bullying (Figure 1).

Healthier Community

Figure 1: Peace Keepers: A Christian Bully Prevention Program

Social Justice calls out loud

American Psychological Association. (2014). Bullying. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/topics/bullying/

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012). Understanding bullying. Fact Sheet. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention /pdf/BullyingFactsheet2012-a.pdf

Lipsett, A.. (2008). Children bullied because of faith. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/education/2008/nov/17/bullying- faith

Nobullying.com. (2014). Putting an End to Religious Bullying and Intolerance. Retrieved from http://nobullying.com/putting-an-end-to-religious- bullying-and-intolerance/

Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention Center. (2013). Bullying Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.pacer.org/bullying/about/media- kit/stats.asp

Peace Keepers: A Christian Bully Prevention Program. (2014). Survey Results. Retrieved from http://www.christianpeacekeepers.com/

References

PRWeb. (2014). Religion Bullying, a Guide Released Today by NoBullying.

Retrieved from http://www.virtualstrategy.com/2014/03/17/religion-

bullying-guide-released-today-nobullying

Sacirbey, O. (2011). 9/11 bullying: Muslim teens push back. Huffington post.

Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/07/bullying-

muslim-teens-push-back_n_952947.html

The Christian Institute. (2008). A quarter of children bullied for their faith.

Retrieved from http://www.christian.org.uk/news/a-quarter-of-children-

bullied-for-their-faith/

Tran, N & Okazaki, S. (2014). Bullying & victimization and Asian-American

students. American Psychological Association. Retrieved from

http://www.apa.org/pi/oema/resources/ethnicity-health/asianameri

can/bullying-and-victimization.aspx

Turcotte-Benedict, G. F. (2012). Association between mental health disorders

and bullying in the United States among children aged 6 to 17 Years.

American Association of Pediatrics. Retrieved from https://aap.confex.

com/aap/2012/webprogrampress/Paper17739.html

Vossekuil, B., Fein, R., Reddy, M., Borum, R., & Modzeleski, W. (2002). The final

report and findings of the safe school initiative: Implications for the

prevention of school attacks in the United States. U.S. Department of

Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Safe and

Drug-Free Schools Program and U.S. Secret Service, National Threat

Assessment Center, Washington, D.C., 2002. 1-63. Retrieved from

http://www.secretservice.gov/ntac/ssi_final_report.pdf