Beware of the Bully

There’s nothing new about bullies.

Most can remember a schoolyard bully or two.

I can remember a couple of mine that had me avoiding them like the plague.

What used to be, for the most part a harmless annoyance that could be taken care of rather easily has escalated into a very serious problem, and with the advent of social media and cyber-bullying has even turned deadly.

The National School Safety Council estimates that 525,000 “attacks, shakedowns, and robberies” occur in an average month in public secondary schools.

It’s estimated that 160,000 children miss school everyday due to fear of attack or intimidation by other students.

These studies show bullying is most frequent in grades 2 through 6, most serious in grades 7 through 9, and tapers off after that.

Most research indicates that 10 to 15 percent of children are regular victims of bullies and that 7 to 9 percent of school-age children are bullies.

Boys are more likely than girls to be the victims of bullying and are considerably more likely to be bullies.

However, 30 to 40 percent of the bullying of girls and 15 to 20 percent of the bullying of boys is done by girls.

If you suspect your child is being bullied look for these signs.

Torn clothing, unexplained bruises, moodiness, withdrawn behavior, a drop in grades, lack of friends, or low self-esteem.

Also be suspicious if your child needs extra school supplies or extra lunch money.

The bullies of old such as Butch from the Little Rascals and Eddie Haskell from Leave it to Beaver, endearing as they may have been, have morphed in these present times into a whole other level of bullying.

It’s far from teasing and name-calling and needs to be taken seriously.

Be aware of the signs and let’s have a safe school year.

See you out there.