Making the Grade
The most recognized form of bullying in elementary school is physical violence—such as hitting, punching, pushing or taking another student’s belongings. However, as prevalent as physical violence is, verbal bullying is more common and can be even more damaging as its physical counterpart. Verbal bullying comes in many forms, including taunting, threatening or making fun of a student’s gender, religion, appearance, socioeconomic status or mannerisms. This type of bullying tends to spread quickly among students, who “follow” without thinking of the harm or consequences of what they’re doing. Verbal bullying can also lead to social alienation, which happens when a student is excluded from the group or rest of the class and made to feel inferior or different from everyone else. The bully’s unspoken message is that for others to avoid becoming his/her next target, the bystander should ignore their conscience and join in the isolate-the-victim game. According to recent studies, elementary school bullying is most commonly perpetrated by boys, who look for opportunities to take part in physical bullying when teachers and adults aren’t present or paying close enough attention, such as on the playground, in bathrooms, or in crowded hallways. They’re also most likely to pick on younger children. Bullying that occurs among girls deals mostly with social exclusion. Girls gang up against a victim as way of exerting control. Verbal bullying can also lead to social alienation, which happens when a student is excluded from the group or rest of the class and made to feel inferior or different from everyone else.
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By the time your child reaches high school, the “don’t do drugs”message is one they’ve heard for years. Not only can they make the distinction between the different types of drugs and their effects, they also may be able to differentiate between a casual user and an addict. They’ve seen many of their friends and fellow students use drugs, some without negative or fatal consequences, others whose drug use is completely out of control, hovering on the brink of devastating addiction or, sadly, resulting in death. Most high school students have been faced with making a choice about drugs, at least once in their educational years. In fact, a 2009 study by the National Center for Education Statistics found that 22 percent of public high school students were offered, sold or given drugs at school. And while most parents may think that alcohol and marijuana are the drugs they need to worry about, in actuality, it’s prescription drugs that have grown in popularity among high school and college students in recent years. In 2009, the Centers for Disease Control found that 20.2 percent of high school students said they had taken a drug such as Ritalin, Xanax or OxyContin without a doctor’s prescription. The ease with which teens can get prescription drugs is one reason for the increase. Kids are getting them from friends who are legitimately prescribed the drug, from online pharmacies that don’t require a prescription and from their own medicine cabinets.
Your child’s transition from elementary school to junior high is a critical time, especially when it comes to drug use. The likelihood that kids will try drugs increases dramatically in the first year of junior high, where they will be exposed to older kids who have experimented with or are regular users of drugs. Your child may think these kids are cool and be tempted to try drugs to fit in. One of the most widely used drugs that kids begin experimenting with in junior high is inhalants, ordinary household products that are inhaled or sniffed to get high. A recent study showed that 20 percent of sixth graders had tried inhalants. Perhaps even more concerning, another study revealed that fewer students believe that sniffing or “huffing” can have fatal consequences. Inhaling such items can cause serious brain damage, as well as damage to the heart, kidney, brain, liver, bone marrow and other organs. Junior high is also prime time for kids to begin experimenting with tobacco and alcohol. Although, in recent years, substance abuse experts have been reporting children as young as the fourth grade trying their first drink. According to Joseph Califano, founder of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, children’s attitudes toward alcohol shifts dramatically. Where once they thought drinking alcohol was wrong, the presence of older children can be very influential. And as prescription drug use begins to rise at alarming rates, this pattern can hold true for such drugs as OxyContin, Ritalin and Adderall,among others.
