An Epidemic of Bullying

Ryan Halligan

One of the first places a child may encounter conflict is being the victim of bullying by his or her peers in school. Bullying Statistics, an organization which tracks data on bullying, reports some sobering facts in its 2010 survey:

• Over half, about 56 percent, of all students have witnessed a bullying crime while at school.
• 15 percent of all students who don’t show up for school report it as being out of fear of being bullied while at school.
• 71 percent of students report bullying as an on-going problem.
• One out of every 10 students drops out or changes schools because of repeated bullying.
• One out of every 20 students has seen a student with a gun at school.
• Some of the top years for bullying include 4th through 8th graders in which 90 percent were reported as victims of some kind of bullying.
• Other recent bullying statistics reveal that 54 percent of students reported that witnessing physical abuse at home can lead to violence in school.
• Among students of all ages, homicide perpetrators were found to be twice as likely as homicide victims to have been bullied previously by their peers.
• Each year, 282,000 students are reportedly attacked in high schools throughout the nation.

The Internet has fostered a new and sometimes deadly form of bullying – cyber bullying. Cyber bullying can occur when a child is the victim of harmful or embarrassing messages posted online or sent via text.   Consider the story of Ryan Halligan as told by his father in the video below.

Teen Bullying Prevention – A Cyber Bullying Suicide Story

Many  efforts, both official and grassroots, are underway to help prevent bullying through educating teachers, school administrators, parents and especially kids themselves.  Some examples include:

• The Bully Project, a documentary recently featured at the Tribeca Film Festival
• It Gets Better, a comprehensive project featuring a series of YouTube videos and other information to help LGBT kids combat bullying
• Webisodes created by StopBullying.gov to help younger children understand bullying

There are many actions we can take to stop bullying.  But, as Ryan Halligan’s father observed, the first thing we can all do is stop being bystanders in this epidemic.