| Javascript DHTML Drop Down Menu Powered by dhtml-menu-builder.com "Those who can, do. Those who can't, bully" November 14 - 20 is National Bullying Awareness Week in Canada - but we should be aware of this at ALL times to prevent it. When we are teaching children, we often focus on the prevention of bullying - both physical and (more damaging) psychological - but this applies to adults as well. Physical bullying is obvious - shoving, hitting, tripping - all too common in many places. Psychological bullying has a more lasting effect - name calling, picking on someone because of their culture/clothing/choice of companions, the dreaded "pinchy face" that girls will make when they disapprove of someone's "taste"...the list goes on - and every adult has a story of someone who did that as children (and can probably tell you their name and what they looked like). All bullying may lead to a physical assault unless it is stopped According to the National Association of School Psychologists, bullying is the most common form of violence in our society. In a national survey of students in grades six through ten in 2001, 13% reported bullying others, 11% reported being a victim of bullies, and another 6% said that they both bullied others and were bullied themselves. These numbers mean that over five million children are affected by bullying. The numbers are higher now. If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.
(Archbishop Desmond Tutu) Here are some resources that should prove useful for everyone - remember this is not a only problem for children, that's just where it starts - and where we need to stop it. Please note: Even though we have screened these sites, we are not responsible for their content. Stop A Bully: The STOP A BULLY program is Canada's only school violence reporting service available to students, parents and schools. This system allows both victims and witnesses of violence to safely make a report, to prevent future bullying and harassment. By using this service schools make it clear to their students that they are PROACTIVE in trying to stop violence & bullying within their school.
http://stopabully.ca Bullying Canada: Young people speaking out about bullying and victimization. Youth who know that one out of 4 kids are bullied, one out of 5 kids are the bully and that 282,000 high school kids are attacked each month nationally. http://bullyingcanada.ca No Bully For Me: No Bully For Me was founded in early 2003 by two targets of workplace bullying who made contact through a discussion forum. Their mandate is "adding insight to injury"; making a contribution to the activism and empowerment of the targets of workplace bullying, providing support, resources and information. http://nobullyforme.ca Bullies To Buddies: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me." Remember that little ditty? Izzy Kalman (school psychologist and psychotherapist) argues that common approaches to verbal bullying ("find a teacher or adult") are hampering kids abilities to learn to handle their own social situations, and reminds us that words only hurt us if we allow them to. In addition to the illustrated website, Kalman offers free guides for adults and kids in PDF. http://bullies2buddies.com Bullying.org: "Bullying stops in less than 10 seconds, most of the time when peers intervene on behalf of the victim. Intervene does NOT mean taking on or trying to confront or fight the bully, but rather, befriending the victim, ignoring the bully, talking and walking away with the victim." This Canadian site urges kids to take a pledge to stick up for those being bullied, and supports their Peer Support Approach to Bullying with extensive FAQ's and downloadable PDFs. http://bullying.org Curtis Sliwa (Founder, Alliance of Guardian Angels) addresses the problem of bullies Video on YouTube Be safe...listen when someone tells you they've been bullied or assaulted and report all assault. If you see someone in trouble, help out - not necessarily by getting in the middle of it, but call for help, dial 911 if necessary - don't stand and watch like so many people do. | 
