2. WHAT IS THE ISSUE?
• Children are being bullied more today than ever before
• Bullying can happen in a number of different ways, which now include
cyber bullying.
• Bullying is an unwanted, aggressive behavior that involves a real or
perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the
potential to be repeated.
• Bullying can be actions such as spreading rumors or making threats,
attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone on
purpose.
• Cyber bullying takes place in the form of technology. It can be over text
message, social media, or chat rooms or websites.
• As technology continues to evolve the bullying becomes worse as
pictures and videos can be posted on the web and in a matter of
minutes be seen by thousands if not millions of people.

3. WHO IS AT RISK?
• Anyone can be a victim of bullying.
• Those who are typically bullied are perceived as being different.
• A child may be at risk of being bullied if they seem weak and
unable to defend themselves.
• If a child has trouble making friends they may be at risk of being
bullied.
• Just because a child may show signs of being at risk for
bullying doesn’t mean they will be bullied.

4. THE EFFECTS OF BEING BULLIED:
• Increased depression which can lead to a higher rate of suicide
• Low self esteem
• Lower GPA and test scores
• Decreased cognitive function that can last on into adult hood
and middle ages
• Higher levels of alcohol dependence and substance abuse
• More likely to drop out of school

5. THE COST TO SOCIETY FOR IGNORING THIS:
• 12 of the 15 school shootings in the 1990’s are because of bullying.
• The shooting at Columbine High school was a result of bullying
• Students are committing suicide when they don’t receive help
• There is a loss of funding for schools due to absentees, truancy,
expulsions, and suspensions ( using the national average it costs a
school about $22,000 per year due to truancy; $ 17,000 due to
suspensions; about $72,000 due to expulsions and upwards of $2
million for dropouts)

6. HOW DO I RELATE TO THIS ISSUE?
Because I am going into teaching I will deal with this problem every day.
Because I am choosing to work with children with special needs, my
students are more likely to be bullied than most students. I will be
responsible for defending and being the voice for my students who
won’t be able to defend themselves. I will be responsible for making
sure that the bullying is stopped quickly before it escalates to a huge
problem. My goal is to work with children with Autism so they will not
be able to recognize social queues or the fact that they may be being
bullied. I will work with my students so that they know how to handle
situations if they are being bullied. I will teach them to ignore the
remarks and walk away from any physical altercations that may arise. I
will make sure that my students know that they can always confide in
me. I will also make sure that my students know that they can talk to
any teacher or principal.

7. RESOURCES:
• Sanjay, G. (2014, February 17). Bullying’s mental health toll may last years.
CNN. Retrieved April 20, 2014, from
http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2014/02/17/bullyings-mental-health-toll-may-
last-years/
• Bernstein, L. (2014, April 21). Bullying leaves scars into middle ages. The
Washington Post. Retrieved April 21, 2014, from
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2014/04/21/bullying-
victims-suffer-psychological-impacts-for-decades/
• http://www.stopbullying.gov/what-is-bullying/
• DeMarche, E. (2013, October 15). Girls, 12 and 14, arrested in bullied Florida
girl who killed herself. Fox News. Retrieved April 12, 2014, from
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/15/girls-12-and-14-arrested-in-death-
bullied-florida-girl-police-say/
• Phillips, R. (n.d.). The Financial Cost of Bullying, Violence, and Vandalism.
National Association of Secondary School Principals. Retrieved on April 12,
2014, from
https://www.principals.org/Content.aspx?topic=The_Financial_Costs_of_Bull
ying_Violence_and_Vandalism