Bullying and Harassment

915 Words2 Pages

A child comes home from school crying. “What is wrong?” his mother asked. “Everyone hates me.” Her son replied with a sniffle. “No they do not, why would you say that?” she asked him. He hung his head and said “they said I am a baby because I wear diapers at night. Billy told everyone!” Mom takes her son in her arms and tries to comfort him, wondering what she can do to help. This is not the first time he has come home crying from something Billy has said. Her concern is next time Billy may go a step farther and hurt her son. She tells her son she will talk to Billy’s mom. Her son cries harder and says with a look of fear, “NO, Billy will beat me up if you tell his mom!” What should she do?

Bullying can happen in many different ways. According to Kids Health.Org. in their article “Helping Kids Deal With Bullies” bullying is “intentional tormenting in physical, verbal, or psychological ways. It can range from hitting, shoving, name-calling, threats, and mocking to extorting money and treasured possessions. Some kids bully by shunning others and spreading rumors about them. Others use email, chat rooms, instant messages, social networking websites, and text messages. . . .” (1). With numerous and menacing methods, it is easy to see the negative affect it is having on our children.

Common signs of being bullied are school grades falling or the child coming home with unexplained or unusual bruising. These defenseless children are so scared of being abused, they either fake being sick or actually become sick in order to stay home. In a study done by Kathryn Whitted and David Dupper titled “Best Practices for Preventing or Reducing Bullying in schools”, it says, “The fear of being bullied is so great that an esti...

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...s a peaceful future for our children. Just imagine what a world would like without bullies. How sweet it would be if our children did not come home in tears.

Works Cited

Carpenter, Deborah. “itty-bitty bullies.” Parenting Early Years 23.3 (2009): 78. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web. 27 Mar. 2011.

Cawley, Janet. ”School Shootings: An Expert Explains How to Stop Them.” Biography 5.10 (2001): 56. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web. 27 Mar. 2011.

Goerdt, Janna and Jake Weyer. “Schools get serious about battling bullies.” Duluth News-Tribune (MN) (2006): TOPICsearch. EBSCO. Web. 27 Mar. 2011.

“Helping Kids Deal With Bullies”. Kids Health.Org. Sept 2010. Web. 27 March 2011.

Whitted, Kathryn S. and David R. Dupper. “Best Practices for Preventing or Reducing Bullying in Schools.” Children & Schools 27.3 (2005): 167-175. Academic Search Elite. EBSCO. Web. 27 Mar. 2011.

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