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Jan
16
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 Ask any child of any age where they are most likely to get bullied and the answer is almost always the school bus. Think about it. It’s the perfect venue for that form of torture. Kids of varying ages are virtually unsupervised except for a bus driver who is trying to focus on driving the kids home safely. The role of the bus driver is to deliver our kids to and from school safely, not to mediate conflicts and create harmony. I’ve worked with hundreds of adolescents and they list the following as the most likely places where bullying occurs:
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Archive for the ‘Bullying’ Category
Blog Posts by Barbara Greenberg
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Sep
08
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As I was writing an article about teaching kids how to deal with bullies recently, one thought led to another and I looked up my middle school bully on Facebook. Â I must admit that I also looked up a high school bully. These were two girls who had literally made me sick. I remember the stomachaches that used to accompany me to school during the times that these two girls tormented me. Two very separate years, but two very similar experiences. You see, I always loved school, but these two relentless girls introduced anxiety, stress, and nausea into an equation that had formerly consisted of learning, eagerness, and excitement about going to school.
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Jan
27
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It must be a great feeling of power to be in the “In Crowd.” Peer pressure is a very strong motivator in children’s group dynamics. Being in a group builds confidence and camaraderie. From an early age, children begin to gravitate to peer groups. Those group members behave according to certain unwritten rules, which are called norms. It starts early in elementary school where kids start saving seats for their friends. It quickly escalates to only letting their clique sit at their table for lunch, use the swings at recess, or sit in a certain part of the bus. Children who don’t recognize these social boundaries are quickly labeled as outcasts.  And so the bullying begins.
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Dec
20
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Sadly, we start noticing bullying in our schools on the first day of kindergarten. If we agree that our schools are a microcosm of our society at large, we can then begin to see the pervasive nature of bullying in all levels of our schools. Bullying is happening in all areas of our society as people jockey for their rung on the ladder of status. Part of this is natural and an aspect of human nature that has been with our species throughout our development.  Individuals, cultures, and societies exhibit varying degrees of bullying behavior. | |||
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Dec
03
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My daughter’s daily struggles in 5th grade now include some teasing from a few boys and girls. Bullying is definitely in our schools. It is tough to know exactly how to handle situations, but I want to share with you this story: I bought my daughter a new coat. Her favorite color is orange, but this particular coat didn’t come in orange. My son was with me and we picked this navy blue and purple striped one instead. She loved it! As the weather turned colder she wore her coat to school. Turns out another girl has the same coat. So on this first day of wearing her “new” jacket she is walking in the hallway and overhears this girl say, “I can’t believe she has the same jacket…I’m going to burn mine!” My daughter felt that “fight or flight” response and walked quickly ahead to get on her bus to come home.
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Nov
24
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As an elementary school principal for 30 years, I always believed that schools should have a strong stance against bullying. It has always been prevalent in our schools and it has too often been ignored. Too many schools continue to be unresponsive. Children have had to suffer through their own social hardships while adults, who are there to protect them, either look the other way, or provide only tacit support and consolation.
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Oct
13
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In this technically savvy generation, cyberbullying is on the rise. We have recently learned of several instances where the relentless cyberbullying of specific teens has led the victims to commit suicide. The internet provides a sense of anonymity for children who may find it easier to say something they would never dare to say in person. The messages may be sent from phones or computers and have the intent of hurting someone with information that is emotionally embarrassing, humiliating, or hurtful. But the one aspect that many kids don’t consider is that these postings on the social media can be forever documented. While the kids may be acting impulsively, the results can have long term effects. College professionals, employers, or individuals whom the kids meet in their futures, may research this information and find the inappropriate postings, photos or texts. Such information could become a liability. The growing trend has caused states to enact legislation that makes electronic communication intended to coerce, intimidate or harass a federal crime. Legislation takes particular aim at cyberbullying over cell phones and the Internet. According to research, over 42% of teens say they have experienced bullying online. The relentless taunting has become intolerable for some and caused fatal consequences, including the suicides of too many young people.
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Oct
05
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Phoebe Prince. Tyler Clementi. Seth Walsh. Jessica Logan. Asher Brown. Billy Lucas. All of these kids committed suicide after being bullied online (and in some cases, also in person) by classmates. Just how many more names have to be added to the list before we realize that cyberbullying has become a threat of epidemic proportions?
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