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A
ccording to a report by the Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration, for every 25 middle
school students, an average of two
kids are harassed daily, while two to three are
bullied weekly. In addition, almost nine out of 10
kids say they’ve seen someone being bullied.
While bullying in elementary school
involves more physical acts, bullying in
junior high begins to focus on the mental
and emotional aspects of abuse. Verbal
abuse is common, with middle school
children teasing each other about such
things as body size, clothing choices,
hairstyles and hygiene.
Emotional bullying happens in the
form of social alienation, which, although
very subtle, can have long-lasting
effects. Junior high students may exclude
one another from their regular circle
of friends, with the victim eating lunch
alone, not having a partner in gym class,
or being excluded from parties and get-
togethers outside of school.
Junior high students also begin to
become exposed to bullying through
electronic media or cyberbullying. With
today’s teens rarely being out of touch,
students may do such things as post
derogatory comments on each other’s
social media pages, or e-mail or text
threats to another student.
Studies show that bullies in junior
high school are more likely to pick on
people their own age. And while girls
are more likely to verbally harass, boys
usually use physical attacks, but are also
likely to verbally threaten and harass
someone.
WHAT BULLYING LOOKS LIKE
• Name calling, degrading comments
• Social isolation
• Gossip, starting rumors
• Criticism
• Threatening comments
• Fighting, pushing and shoving
• Cyberbullying (Formspring, Facebook, MySpace,
texts and e-mails)
• Breaks or destroys things belonging to the victim
• Teasing about who their peers associate with
SPRING
2011
maskmatters.org
73
CONVERSATION STARTERS
• Have you ever witnessed someone being
bullied? How did you handle it?
• Have you ever been bullied? How did it make you feel?
• I can remember being bullied in school. Have
you had to deal with a situation like that?
• I heard that kids sometimes post videos on YouTube
of kids fighting. What do you think about that?
• How would you feel if someone created a
fake Facebook profile about you?
• Why do you think someone bullies?
• Do you think adults can be bullies?
• When kids stand up to the bully, the bully will
most likely realize his actions are not okay.
What You Can Do
• Teach your child to be assertive.
Emphasize peaceful ways to
solve problems.
• Hold kids accountable. If
children stand by and watch
someone being bullied, make
it clear their behavior hurts the
victim, too.
• Be a good example. If you see
someone being bullied or hurt,
help them.