Tuesday, March 19, 2024

October is Bullying Prevention Month.

October 10, 2013 by  
Filed under News, Opinion, Weekly Columns

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(ThyBlackMan.com) “Children should be able to live a life free from bullying and harassment and it is time that we all took a stand against this.” Brainyquote.com

The statistics are showing there is a rise in incidents of Bullying, Cyberbullying, Harassment, and other forms of dehumanizing treatment. Children are violating the Human Rights of other children by using tactics and methods that are borderline terroristic actions.

The deaths of several youth have escalated the need for Bullying conferences, workshops and seminars. Education is seen as the tool raising the awareness of Bullying in schools, communities, places of worship, and even places of employment. Educators are seen as a stop gap, a buffer to keep students safe, the protector of students that feel unsafe and threatened. Unfortunately educators cannot be all things to all students and some educators because of lack of knowledge of their rights and responsibilities do nothing to prevent these tragic events. BullyWilliamJacksonSpeaker

Successful Bullying prevention comes from home, parents talking to their children, communicating with passion, empathy, purpose and a mission to keep their and other children safe. The collaboration of parents, educators and administrators is important to be proactive to stop Bullying before it starts.

The complications of Bullying are in its beginnings, many cases start as children being friends, then arguing, fighting verbally then physically. The Bullying starts when one of them constantly harasses, threatens and gives the feeling that the person being bullied has no power. An “imbalance of power” results, thus creating an atmosphere that has changed from safety and security, trust and comfort to feelings of uncertainty in safety, questioning of friends and feelings of being excluded and cast away.

Children, teens and young adults are social creatures, when that social structure is violated and damaged it causes emotional and psychological trauma.

Bullying is not acceptable; it is not a “rite of passage” to womanhood or manhood. Just as a parent talks to their children about sex and drugs, sexual relationships with one person or multiple partners does not make a man or a woman, it puts them at risk for STD – Sexually Transmitted Diseases and emotional trauma that may not be recognized for years. Bullying studies are seeing the development of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome where similar cases are seen in combat vets under severe stress that is continuous and unrelenting.

A wise quote on bullying states: “Bullying is killing our kids. Being different is killing our kids and the kids who are bullying are dying inside. We have to save our kids whether they are bullied or they are bullying. They are all in pain.” Brainyquote.com

The quote rings true that many children are suffering, they need to feel secure, they need to feel safe and they need to feel love. Community events are growing to empower children, to encourage teens and to treat even adults that have suffered the humiliation of Bullying.

William Jackson an Educator, Blogger, Speaker, Parent and Mentor has been speaking for several years about Bullying prevention. As an educator of over 20 years and Blogger of over 10 years these are the times that educators and parents need to have unity to an issue that is pushing children to kill themselves.

The program “I Will Survive Bullying” by William Jackson has been used at the Boys and Girls Club Keystone Leadership Summit (Orlando, Florida), Hip Hop Youth Leadership Summit (Orlando, Florida) and recently two events in Jacksonville, Florida; Best of Bold Parents at Eugene Butler Middle School in cooperation with War On Poverty and the STOP Bullying NOW event by First Coast News Channel 12 television.

The death of a 12-year-old Florida girl that committed suicide after she was bullied online shows that such actions should be preventable. Media has shown that in the last year 9 teens have killed themselves.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/a-ninth-teenager-since-last-september-has-committed-suicide

BullyingStatistics.org reveals there is a strong link between bullying and suicide and that girls ages 10-16 are especially high risk of dying by suicide because they are being bullied.

Florida like many states have new laws that cover Cyberbullying, Stalking and even Catfishing where people pretend to be someone else to attempt meeting youth, teens and even young adults online to arrange for sexual encounters.  The question that is asked, is this enough to have laws that treat the results, there needs to be proactive action to stop/prevent Bullying. World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10th is growing to bring awareness and prevention to the actions of attempting suicide from Bullying.

STOP BULLYING NOW events are a start for cities, communities and schools. William Jackson’s participation as an educator shows that educators need to be involved in community events and particularly African American educators need to be seen more in the community.  Learning takes place in the community, outside of the classroom.  The STOP BULLYING NOW event held at the MOSH Museum of Science and History was attended by over 400 youth and their parents. This is a good start, but more needs to be done in cities, in schools and even in churches.

Presentations like William Jackson are teaching how to defuse potentially violent situations without violence and the importance of parents talking to teachers, administrators, guidance counselors and even law enforcement members proactively stopping Bullying before it escalates or crashes into attempted suicides or suicidal actions and even revenge to strike back.

STOP BULLYING NOW is a growing movement that needs its message spread and reinforced.

If Bullying is not taken seriously and combated more children, youth and teens will potentially die or live with the stresses of social exclusion, psychological pain and emotional damage.

“What if the kid you bullied at school, grew up, and turned out to be the only surgeon who could  save your life?” Lynette Mather

Staff Writer; William D. Jackson

Find out more about this talented writer over at; OCS For Education.

Also check out; http://www.About.Me/WilliamDJackson

 


Comments

One Response to “October is Bullying Prevention Month.”
  1. toomanygrandkids says:

    Everyday should be Bully Prevention Day, and everyday a bully should get their asses kicked. Bullies ARE NOT suffering. They ARE NOT dying inside. In reality, bullies are dying for attention and to spread misery. At a young age, they are jealous of the most petty things. Bullies do and say things in groups that they wouldn’t do or say alone. Having people (fellow nit wits) around gives them an audience so they can act out their violent behavior. Most of the time, adults are of no help. They’re actually helping the bully to bully others. These adults were bullies themselves so its only natural to teach children how to be a bully.

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