BULLYING

TIPS FOR PARENTS, TEACHERS, AND CHURCH LEADERS

LINDA MEI LIN KOH, Ed.D.

GENERAL CONFERENCE CHILDREN’S MINISTRIES
 B-U-L-L-Y-I-N-G

• Why do we need to talk about this?

• Is bullying real?

• Is it happening?

• What is bullying?
BULLYING?

IS IT REAL?

IS IT HAPPENING?

WHERE?

WHEN?

HOW?
 WHAT IS BULLYING?

BULLYING IS REPEATED
• Verbal
• Physical
• Social or Psychological
• Aggressive Behavior by a Person
 WHAT IS BULLYING?

Aggressive behavior
by a person or group
directed towards a
less powerful person
or group that is
intended to cause
harm, distress or fear.
 WHAT IS BULLYING?

BULLYING IS SCARING OR HURTING,

ON PURPOSE,
ANOTHER PERSON WHO CANNOT DEFEND
HIMSELF OR HERSELF.
 WHAT ARE THE
TYPES OF BULLYING?

• Verbal bullying

• Physical bullying

• Social bullying

• Cyber bullying
 VERBAL BULLYING

Making reference to one’s

culture, ethnicity, race,
religion, gender or looks
• Name calling
• Joking
• Sarcastic remarks
• Teasing
• Constant criticism
• Displaying offensive posters
• Spreading rumors/Gossiping
 PHYSICAL BULLYING

• Hitting
• Poking
• Pinching
• Chasing
 PHYSICAL BULLYING

• Shoving
• Coercing
• Destroying or stealing
belongings
• Unwanted sexual touching
 SOCIAL BULLYING

• Mobbing or ganging together

• Scapegoating or blaming others for
punishment
• Excluding others from a group
• Humiliating others with public gestures
intended to put down others
 SOCIAL BULLYING

Using internet, phones or computers for text

messaging or social media to:
• Intimidate
• Put down
• Spread rumors
• Make fun of someone
IS BULLYING REALLY A PROBLEM?

• How do we know the Knowing

magnitude of the negative STATISTICS
impact of bullying? will open our
• What is the negative eyes to the
consequences of this true magnitude
behavior? of the problem.
 WHAT DO STATISTICS SAY ABOUT
BULLYING?
THE ANNUAL BULLYING SURVEY 2014 UK

Experienced bullying before 18 years old 45%

Experienced bullying in a daily basis 26%

Bullied for personal appearance, body size, shape
A survey in 2014 of more and weight
36%

than 3,600 young people Never told anybody that they are bullied 39%

in 36 schools and colleges Not satisfied from teacher’s support when bullied 51%

across the UK highlights Bullied for prejudice/race, religious, disability,

cultural discrimination
34%

the current climate of Bullied for disability, extremely excluded socially 63%
bullying among Physically attacked 61%
teenagers, ages 13-18. Gone self-harm as a result of bullying 30%
Attempted suicide as a result of bullying 10%
www.ditchthelabel.org/uk-bullying-statistics-2014/
Been sexually assaulted 10%

Confirmed bullying affected self-esteem 83%

Confirmed bullying affected their studies 56%

WHAT DO STATISTICS SAY ABOUT STATES
WITH HIGH FREQUENCY OF BULLYING?
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, US
Department of Health and Human Services, STATES WITH HIGHEST LEVEL OF
Cyberbullying Research Center BULLYING

Research Date: 7.8.2014 Rank State

Bullying is a form of aggressive behavior 1 California

manifested by the use of force or coercion to 2 New York

affect others, particularly when the behavior is
3 Illinois
habitual and involves an imbalance of power. It
can include verbal harassment, physical assault 4 Pennsylvania
or coercion and may be directed repeatedly
5 Washington
toward particular victims, perhaps on grounds of
race, religion, gender, sexuality, or ability. The
http://www.statisticbrain.com/cyber-
“imbalance of power” may be social power
bullying-statistics/
and/or physical power. The victim of bullying is
sometimes referred to as a “target.”
 WHAT DO STATISTICS SAY ABOUT
BULLYING?

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, US Department of Health and Human Services,

Cyberbullying Research Center

Research Date: 7.8.2014

Bullying Statistics Data

Percent of teens who report being bullied while at school 37%

Percent of students who bully others often 17%

Made fun of by a bully 20%

Had rumors or gossip spread about them 10%

Physically bullied 20%

Threatened 6%

Excluded from activities they wanted to participate in 5%

Coerced into something they did not want to do 4%

http://www.statisticbrain.com/cyber-bullying-statistics/
WHAT DO STATISTICS SAY ABOUT
FREQUENCY OF BULLYING?

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, US Department of Health and Human Services,

Cyberbullying Research Center

Research Date: 7.8.2014

Percent of bullying that occurred inside the school 85%

Percent of bullying that occurred on school grounds, bus, or on their way 11%

Percent of victims that reported the bullying to someone at school 29%

Victims who were bullied once or twice during the school year 2 in 3

Victims who were bullied once or twice a month 1 in 5

Victims who were bullied daily or several times a week 1 in 10

Percent of middle schools that reported bullying problems 44%

Had personal belongings destroyed by bullies 4%

http://www.statisticbrain.com/cyber-bullying-statistics/
 WHAT DO STATISTICS SAY ABOUT
CYBER-BULLYING?
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, US Department of Health and Human Services, Cyberbullying
Research Center
Research Date: 7.8.2014
Elementary schools that reported bullying problems 20%
High schools that reported bullying problems 20%
Percent of middle and high school students who have had hate terms used against them 10%
Percent of students who avoided school or certain places because they were afraid of being
7%
harmed in some way
Percent of teen weapon injuries that took place at school 8%
Cyber Bullying Stat Data
Percent of students who reported being cyber bullied 52%
Percent of teens who have experienced cyber threats online 33%
Percent of teens who have been bullied repeatedly through their cell phones or the Internet 25%
Percent of teens who do not tell their parents when cyber-bullying occurs 52%
Percent of teens who have had embarrassing or damaging pictures taken of themselves without
11%
their permission, often with cell phone cameras

http://www.statisticbrain.com/cyber-bullying-statistics/
 WHAT DO STATISTICS SAY ABOUT
THE TYPES OF VICTIMS?

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, US Department of Health and Human Services, Cyberbullying
Research Center

Research Date: 7.8.2014

STAT

Homosexual and bisexual teens are more likely to report bullying than heterosexual teens

Students with disabilities are more likely to be the victims of bullying

Females are more often the victims of bullying than males

Males are more likely to experience physical or verbal bullying

Females are more likely to experience social or psychological bullying

Females and white students reported the most incidents of being the victims of bullying

http://www.statisticbrain.com/cyber-bullying-statistics
 WHAT DO STATISTICS SAY ABOUT
BULLYING?

The survey on the school lives SEXUAL MINORITIES-

LGBT’S
KANTO REGION, JAPAN
2014
of LGBTs, the first large-scale
Bullied by teachers 12%
study undertaken in Japan,
Bullied for over one year 43%
found that 68 percent of the
609 respondents experienced Thought of committing
suicide
32%

bullying in elementary, junior

Injured themselves by
high or high school. cutting their wrist
22%

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/05/08/national/lgbt-bullying-rife-in-schools-survey/#.U-aUH
 WHAT DO STATISTICS SAY ABOUT
BULLYING?
JANUARY 24,
The survey in 2013 SOUTH AFRICA
2013
Students worried about being assaulted
in South Africa with a weapon
68%

Students worried about being attacked 78%

polled 2,064 BY RACE

students, Whites 69%

ages 13 to 21, Blacks

BY GENDER
54%

and 1,015 family Male 63% among males

members, Female
71% among
females

ages 18 to 34. BULLYING WEAPONS

Teasing and insults 52%
Pushed, hit or beaten 26%
http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2013/0
By e-mail, cellphones, social media 16%
1/24/57-of-sa-children-claim-to-have-
been-bullied-at-school Believed bullies to have guns and knives 45%
WHAT DO STATISTICS SAY ABOUT
BULLYING?
Source: AFRICA WOMEN AND CHILD MAY 2007 | KENYA

Students reported to have been beaten up or

63%
hit
Blackmailed or threatened 64%
Called bad, nasty names 71%
Had tricks played on them 68%
Lies been told about them 72%
BY GENDER
Female 60%
Male 67%
BY SCHOOLS
National Schools 70% experienced one form of bullying
Provincial Schools 60% experienced one form of bullying
VICTIM BULLIES
Bullied by person older than them 30%
Bullied by person younger than them 10%
http://www.awcfs.org/new/index.php/features/education/238-bullying-in-kenyan-schools-higher-
than-world-rate#sthash.o4JlnMqQ.dpuf
2011 Harvard School of Health Study
 WHO WILL BE THE
FUTURE OF THE CHURCH?

Who will be the church

of tomorrow?

Challenges are real.

WHAT IS OUR ROLE in

creating a bully-free
environment?
 WHAT PARENTS, TEACHERS AND
CHURCH LEADERS CAN DO

The Adventist Home

AWARENESS
is very important. “The Adventist home is a home where
Seventh-day Adventist standards and
practices are lived and taught, a place to
Our response to
which Seventh-day Adventist fathers and
bullying needs to be mothers are commissioned by Christ to go
PREVENTIVE and and make Christians of the members of the
PROACTIVE. households. And in order to perform that
tasks well, … [look] for all help they can
possibly find.”
Ellen G. White, The Adventist Home, p. 5.1.
 WHAT PARENTS, TEACHERS AND
CHURCH LEADERS CAN DO

AWARENESS The Adventist Home

is very important. “Ellen G. White … has touched upon every
phase of the home, and offers specific
Our response to instruction on many problems which gives
bullying needs to be so much concern to thoughtful and often
anxious parents today.”
PREVENTIVE and
PROACTIVE. Before she died, “she indicated her desire
to get out ‘a book for Christian parents’ that
would define ‘the mother’s duty and
influence over her children.’
The Adventist Home, p. 5.2.
 WHAT PARENTS, TEACHERS, AND
CHURCH LEADERS CAN DO

AWARENESS The Adventist Home

is very important.
This book, The Adventist Home, a handbook
or manual for busy parents, is the ideal
Our response to “pattern … of what home can and should
bullying needs to be become.”
PREVENTIVE and The Adventist Home, p. 5.3.
PROACTIVE.
WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF BULLYING?

• Coming home with damaged or missing clothes, without

money they should have, or with scratches and bruises.
• Having trouble with homework for no apparent reason.
• Using a different route between home and school.
• Feeling irritable, easily upset or particularly emotional.
 WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF
BULLYING?

• Feel lonely, unhappy, and frightened.

• Feel unsafe.
• Feel something is wrong with them.
• Lose confidence.
• May not want to go to school.
• May feel sick.
BULLYING LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES
PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL

• Shyness
• Stomachaches
• Headaches
• Panic attacks
BULLYING LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES
PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL

• Sleeplessness
• Sleeping too long
• Being exhausted
• Having nightmares
BULLYING IS PRIMITIVE
WHAT PARENTS CAN DO
 WHAT PARENTS CAN DO

BULLY–FREE your HOME

School is just an extension of our home.

If children are bullied at home, they become bullies or
they continue to be bullied at school.
Re-learn your home discipline styles.
Create a BULLY-FREE ZONE.
 WHAT PARENTS CAN DO

BULLY–FREE your HOME

“Purity in speech and true Christian courtesy should be

constantly practiced. Teach the children and youth to
respect themselves [and others], to be true to God, true to
principle; teach them to respect and obey the law of God.”
The Adventist Home, p.16.3.
Begin with SELF to create a BULLY-FREE ZONE.
 WHAT PARENTS CAN DO

BULLY–FREE your HOME

“Every one of us knows that conditions in society are but
a reflection of conditions in the homes of the nation. We
likewise know that a change in the home is mirrored in a
changed society.”
The Adventist Home, p. 6.3.

Begin at HOME to create a BULLY-FREE ZONE.

 WHAT PARENTS, TEACHERS,
CHURCH LEADERS CAN DO

B – Be aware of the signs and symptoms of bullying in the

behavior of a child being bullied.
U – Understand that the bully and the bullied both need
help; they are both victims.
L – Listen, listen, listen! Let them tell stories.
L – Log every incident reported. Let the child keep a diary.
Y – Yoke them into the Hands of the Almighty through
prayer constantly.
 WHAT PARENTS, TEACHERS,
CHURCH LEADERS CAN DO

F – Find new friends for your children where they can find
genuine connection.
R – Report to parents, school administrators, and
organizations that can help.
E – Express your love and concern to your children and
other children in a higher level.
E – Educate all persons involved and concerned.
 WHAT PARENTS CAN DO

Z – Zero-tolerance to bullying be the aim from home to

school and everywhere.
O – Organize a parent coalition—no bully clubs—there’s
credibility in a united group effort to express your
concern.
N – Never, never give up! Keep on fighting for our
children’s right, the right way. Never encourage your child
to retaliate physically.
E – Expose and dispose of the bullying tactics.
LET’S CREATE A BULLY-FREE
ENVIRONMENT
TRAIN YOUR CHILDREN TODAY

LEAD TO STOP BULLYING IN OUR HOMES,

IN OUR SCHOOLS, IN OUR CHURCHES
TRAIN YOUR CHILDREN TODAY

BUILD A CARING,
SECURE,
SAFE,
PEACEFUL
CHURCH OF TOMORROW
 REFERENCES

Blanco, Jodee. Bullying; Life Saving tips for

Parents of a Bullied or
Excluded Child, Pediatrics Week
via NewsRx.com, 2010.

Sprung,B.,M.Froschl The anti-Bullying and Teasing Book for

& B. Hinitz. Pre-school Classrooms,
Beltsville, MD:Gryphon House, 2005.
 REFERENCES

http://www.awcfs.org/new/index.php/features/educati
on/238-bullying-in-kenyan-schools-higher-than-world-
rate#sthash.o4JlnMqQ.dpuf
www.bullyingcanada.ca/content/239900
Department of Education and Early Childhood
Development, Victoria Canada , July 23, 2014
www.education.vic.gov.au/aboutprograms/bullystoppe
rs/pages//whataspx
 REFERENCES

Government of Alberta

http://www.statisticbrain.com/cyber-bullying-statistics

http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2013/01/24/57-of-sa-
children-claim-to-have-been-bullied-at-school