Workplace Bullying - GlobalTV Edmonton (video)

Overcoming Bullying - story (video)

What are the Warning Signs that a Child is Being Bullied?

What are the Warning Signs that a Child is Being Bullied?

* Sudden decrease in school attendance or skipping certain classes
* Decline in quality of academic performance
* Difficulty concentrating in class and easily distracted
* Wants to take a different route to school or different transportation to school
* Sudden lack of interest in school-sponsored activities and events
* Seems happy on weekends but unhappy and preoccupied or tense on Sundays
* Uses “victim” body language: hunches shoulders, hangs head, will not look people in the eye, and backs off from others
* Suddenly prefers the company of adults
* Frequent illness or fakes illness (headaches, stomachaches, pains)
* Nightmares and insomnia
* Comes home with unexplainable scratches and bruises
* Suddenly develops a stammer or stutter
* Angry, irritable, disruptive, aggressive, quick-tempered, and fights back (but always loses)
* Cautious, clingy, nervous, anxious, worried, fearful, and insecure
* Overly concerned about personal safety; spends a lot of time and effort thinking or worrying about getting safely to and from school and getting around in the school (to and from lunch, to and from recess, to and from the bathroom, to and from the lockers); wants to stay in at night and prefers to stay home on weekends
* Talks about avoiding certain areas of the school
* Carries protection devices (knife, box opener, fork, gun)
* Frequently asks for extra money, saying it is for lunch or school supplies
* Possessions (books, money, clothing) are often “lost,” damaged, or destroyed without an explanation
* Sudden change in behavior (bed-wetting, nail-biting, tics)
* Cries easily or often, becomes emotionally distraught and has extreme mood swings
* Blames self for problems or difficulties; feels defective and inadequate.
* Talks about being made fun of, laughed at, picked on, teased, put down, pushed around, threatened, kicked, hit, called names, or students telling lies about them, gossiping about them, or excluding them from a group, and other bullying behaviors
* Talks about not being able to stand up for himself or herself
* Expresses lack of self value and self confidence
* Talks about dropping out of school
* Expresses lack of trust in and respect for school personnel
* Suddenly starts bullying other students, siblings, or children in the neighborhood
* Becomes overly aggressive, rebellious, and unreasonable
* Sudden loss of respect for authority figures
* Seeks the wrong friends in the wrong places
* Talks about joining or forming a cult
* Sudden interest in violent movies, video games, and books
* Talks about running away
* Talks about feeling depressed
* Talks about or attempts suicide
* Self harms (cutting, no eating, overeating)
* Drastic change in appearance

Source - http://bullyfree.com

Boy Bullies vs. Girl Bullies (article)

How Are Boys and Girls Different in Their Bullying?

Both boys and girls use verbal aggression (such as mocking, name-calling, teasing, mean telephone calls, verbal threats of aggression) and intimidation (such as graffiti, publicly challenging someone to do something, playing a dirty trick, taking possessions, coercion) (Garrity, Jens, Porter, Sager, and Short-Camilli, 1996). Nevertheless, there are some differences.

Boy Bullies:

* Boys may bully more than girls. However, some question this.
* Boys bully both boys and girls (Olweus, 1993).
* Boys use more direct behaviors (physical and verbal bullying) than girls do. They usually use more indirect bullying as their verbal skills increase (Mullin-Rindler, 2002).
* Boys may use more physical aggression than girls (Espelage, Bosworth, & Simon, 2000; Hyde, 1986; McDermott, 1966). However, more research is needed to verify this, and the research indicates that assumptions should not be made about the nature of their aggression (Espelage & Swearer, 2004).
* Boys are just as likely as girls to use social and emotional taunting.

Girl Bullies:

* Girls are aggressive, but may use more indirect behaviors to damage relationshipsand can be sneaky and nasty.
* Girls are becoming more physical in bullying than in the past
* Girls are more likely to bully other girls, but sometimes they bully boys (Olweus, 1993).
* Girls bully in groups more than boys do.
* Girls seek to inflict psychological pain on their victims, which hurts as much as, if not more than, physical attacks and has long-lasting effects.
* Girls behave well around adults but can be cruel and mean to peers.
* Girls target weaknesses in others.
* Girls frequently make comments regarding the sexual behavior of girls they don’t like (Byrne, 1994a, 1994b).
* Girls attack within tightly knit networks of friends, which intensifies the hurt.

Source - http://bullyfree.com

Megan Maier Story - example of cyberbullying (video)

Probably the most frightening example of cyberbullying. Megan was 13 in October 2006 when she took her own life after being cyberbullied. She had been in contact with a “Josh Evans” on MySpace. Josh started being kind and flirty, but then turned mean and insulting. He wrote: “The world would be a better place without you.” However, “Josh” never existed. It was created by some adults who lived on Megan’s street. Her story was covered extensively by the media in the US and worldwide.