Advertisement
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061128/CGTU038LOGO )
Unfortunately bullying incidences like this are all too common. Bullyingis when someone repeatedly and on purpose says or does mean or hurtful thingsto another person who has difficulty defending himself or herself.
Advertisement
To help teachers, schools, parents and students combat bullying, theHazelden Foundation has just released an updated version of the mostresearched and best-known bullying prevention program available today. TheOlweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP), which is based on more than thirty-five years of research, has been proven to prevent or reduce bullyingthroughout a school system by up to 70 percent. OBPP takes a comprehensiveapproach to address the issue on four levels, including the school, classroom,individual, and community level.
Students who are bullied often become depressed, develop low self-esteemand develop health problems such as stomachaches and headaches. They may beafraid to return to school, go to the bathroom, or ride the school bus. Theymay have trouble concentrating and their schoolwork may suffer.
"The negative effects on the bullied students are so devastating and oftenquite long-term," said Dan Olweus, PhD, professor at the Research Center forHealth Promotion at the University of Bergen, Norway, and creator of OBPP. "Itis simply a fundamental human right for a student to have a safe schoolenvironment and to be spared the repeated degradation and humiliation thatcomes from being bullied."
A national study, which included students in grades 6 to 10, found that 17percent of students reported having been bullied "sometimes" or more oftenduring the school term. Eight percent of those students reported they had beenbullied at least once a week (Nansel, 2001). These bullying acts can include astudent or group of students physically hitting, shoving and kicking anotherstudent or spreading lies and nasty rumors about another student.
"Clearly this is a big issue for many communities, if not all, across thecountry," said Kris Van Hoof-Haines, vice president for content development atHazelden Publishing. "Schools are looking for a solution to the problem ofbullying that really works over the long-term. OBPP is that solution."
"Although the primary responsibility for dealing with bullying should bewith the adults in a school, students need to learn how to stand up forbullied students and how to get help when bullying happens," says CarolynLatady, family support advocate for Forest Lake Area Schools in Minnesota,which is implementing OBPP.
"If a bullying student's hurtful behavior is not stopped and moved in amore positive social direction, many of them will continue on an antisocialpath involving crime, drug use and destructive personal relationships," said
Susan P. Limber, PhD, a professor of psychology at Clemson University in SouthCarolina and co-author of OBPP.
As school staff and parents prepare for the school year, be aware of thesecommon characteristics of students who are often targets of bullying andstudents who often bully others. Students who are being bullied often have thefollowing characteristics:
Students who bully other students are likely to have severalcharacteristics that teachers and parents can watch for:
It is also important to know that some students who bully are actuallyhighly skilled socially and are good at winning over their teachers and otheradults. For this reason, teachers and other adults need to be diligent inwatching f
