Bullying is a unhealthy behavior with multiple manifestations. It does not discriminate against the age, ethnicity, belief system, lifestyle, and level of well-being of an individual. This unhealthy behavior usually starts early in life. Individuals can potentially exhibit and or be victimized by bullying. Most cases are underreported and not detected while the solutions exist to reduce the incidence and the prevalence of this common phenomenon. Targeting bullying in childhood and adolescence is a great determinant of healthier learners, but also of healthier and productive adult citizens.

1. "Our lives are not determined by what
happens to us but by how we react to what
happens, not by what life brings to us, but
by the attitude we bring to life. A positive
attitude causes a chain reaction of
positive thoughts, events, and outcomes. It
is a catalyst, a spark that creates
extraordinary results."
-Anon

2. Mental Health
Harm
in The
Communityby Mickelder Kercy, CCMA | HealthCorps Member
prepared on July 4, 2014

3. Bullying
Children & Young Adults

4. •A person or group repeatedly tries to harm someone who is weaker or
who they think is weaker.
•Sometimes it involves direct attacks such as hitting, name calling,
teasing or taunting.
•Sometimes it is indirect, such as spreading rumors or trying to make
others reject someone (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012).
•A form of aggressive behavior in which someone intentionally and
repeatedly causes another person injury or discomfort. Bullying can take
the form of physical contact, words or more subtle actions.
•The bullied individual typically has trouble defending him or herself and
does nothing to “cause” the bullying (American Psychological Association,
2014).
A Behavior

7. As reported by the Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention Center (2013):
•Nearly 1 in 3 students (27.8%) report being bullied during the school year.
•19.6% of high school students in the U.S. report being bullied at school in
the past year. 14.8% reported being bullied online .
•64% of children who were bullied did not report it; only 36 percent
reported the bullying.
•The reasons for being bullied reported most often by students were looks
(55%), body shape (37%), and race (16%) .
General Statistics

9. •11.1% said that they were bullied because of their race than did white
victims (2.8 percent), African-American victims (7.1 percent) or Latino
victims (6.2 percent) (Tran & Okazaki, 2014).
Statistics – Students who identified as
Asian-American

10. As reported by the Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention Center (2013):
•Only 10 U.S. studies have been conducted on the connection between
bullying and developmental disabilities, but all of these studies found
that children with disabilities were two to three times more likely to be
bullied than their nondisabled peers.
•The National Autistic Society reports that 40% of children with autism
and 60% of children with Asperger’s syndrome have experienced
bullying.
Statistics - Students with Disabilities

11. As reported by the Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention Center (2013):
•81.9% of students who identify as LGBTQ were bullied in the last year
based on their sexual orientation.
•63.5% of students feel unsafe because of their sexual orientation, and
43.9% because of their gender expression.
•31.8% of LGBTQ students missed at least one entire day of school in the
past month because they felt unsafe or uncomfortable.
Statistics - Students who identify or
are perceived as LGBTQ

12. •1 in 4 children faces bullying over their religious beliefs (Lipsett, 2008).
•Among the 70% of students with religious beliefs (e.g., faith in God, views
of Family life, peaceful mannerisms and lifestyle), many wanted to keep
quiet about their faith (The Christian Institute, 2008)
•All 57 respondents of a 2010 survey of Muslim youths aged 11 to 18
reported being called a name because of their faith, including 80% who
said they had been called "terrorist“ (Sacirbey, 2011).
Statistics – Students with Religious
Beliefs

13. As reported by the Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention Center (2013):
•64% of students enrolled in weight-loss programs reported experiencing
weight-based victimization.
•1 out of 3 girls and 1 out of 4 boys report weight-based teasing from
peers, but prevalence rates increase to approximately 60% among the
heaviest students .
•84% of students observed students perceived as overweight being called
names or getting teased during physical activities .
Statistics – Students with Overweight

15. Bullying
Community Health
Impact

16. Students who are bullied Students who bully
•Substance use
•Academic problems
•Violence later in adolescence
and adulthood (Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 2012)
•More than Twice as likely to
experience depression, anxiety and
attention deficit disorder (ADD or
ADHD)
•Three times more likely to become
adults who bully (Turcotte-Benedict,
2012)
•Depression
•Anxiety
•Sleep difficulties
•Poor school adjustment
(Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, 2012)
•Headaches
•Stomach aches
(Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention
Center. (2013)
•3 out of 4 of the 41 attackers
Mass school shootings 1974 - 2000
(Vossekuil et al., 2002, p. 30)

17. Students who are bullies and Victims
•Most serious consequences
•Greater risk for both mental
health and behavior problems
(Centers for Disease Control,
2012).

20. Bullying
The Causes

21. •Personal History: Children who experience social rejection themselves are
more likely to "pass it on" to others. Children who experience academic failure
are also more likely to bully others.
•Family Issues: Families that are not warm and loving and in which feelings
are not shared are more likely to have children who bully, either within the
family home or in other locations in which the children meet others. Another
home environment that is prone to producing bullies is one in which discipline
and monitoring are inconsistent and/or a punitive atmosphere exists.
•Cultural: Researchers point to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as
glorification of bullies in the name of entertainment and point out that the
high rate of domestic violence means that many young people grow up
expecting that violence is an acceptable way to get what one wants.

22. •Social Issues: The fact that one gets more social recognition for negative
behaviors than for positive ones can also contribute to reasons why people
bully. Situation comedies and reality television, as well as real life
situations in schools, for example, show that acting out is more likely to get
noticed than behaving oneself civilly and courteously. Jealousy or envy and
a lack of personal and social skills to deal with such feelings can also be
reasons why people bully.
•Institutional: There is a lack of high standards for the way people treat
each other.

23. Bullying
Prevention in the
Community

24. •Research on preventing and addressing bullying is still developing.
•School-based bullying prevention programs are widely implemented, but
infrequently evaluated.
•Based on a review of the limited research on school-based bullying
prevention, the following program elements are promising:
1) Improving supervision of students
2) Using school rules and behavior management techniques in the
classroom and throughout the school to detect and address bullying by
providing consequences for bullying
3) Having a whole school anti-bullying policy, and enforcing that policy
consistently
• Promoting cooperation among different professionals and between
school staff and parents.(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
2012)

25. •Community-wide efforts: School staff, parents, students; and community
members such as law enforcement officials, faith organizations and
community action groups.
•Promote Bystanders’ beliefs in their social self-efficacy were positively
associated with defending behavior and negatively associated with
passive behavior from bystanders – i.e. if students believe they can make
a difference, they’re more likely to act. (Pacer’s National Bullying
Prevention Center, 2013).
•Not labeling a student as a “bully” because it can have a detrimental
effect on their future and often limits their ability to change their
behavior.
•Teachers/Educators need to focus on a student’s behavior, not their
profile, when determining if bullying occurred.

26. Positive Impacts Negative Impacts (worsen)
•Victim fighting, getting back at
them, telling them to stop
•Tell the student to solve the
problem themselves
•Tell the student that the bullying
wouldn’t happen if they acted
differently or ignored what was going
on
•Tell the student to stop tattling
•Victim telling the person how
he/she feels, walking away or
pretending it doesn’t bother him/her
are often used by youth and often
recommended to youth
•Accessed support from others
•Listen to the student
•Check in with them afterwards to see
if the bullying stopped
•Give the student advice to find peer
actions helpful than educator or self-
actions
•Allying and supportive actions from
their peers such as spending time with
the student, talking to him/her, helping
him/her get away, or giving advice)
were the most helpful actions from
bystanders
Interventions (Activities)
Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention Center. (2013)

27. •More than half of bullying situations (57%) stop when a peer intervenes
on behalf of the student being bullied (Hawkins, Pepler & Craig, 2001).
•School-based bullying prevention programs decrease bullying by up to
25% (McCallion & Feder, 2013).
•Peer victimization of all youth was less likely to occur in schools with
bullying policies that are inclusive of LGBTQ students (Hatzenbuehler &
Keyes, 2012).
•Peace Keepers: A Christian Bully Prevention Program (2014) reported a
reduction of more than 50% of bullying (Figure 1).
Healthier Community

28. Figure 1: Peace Keepers: A Christian Bully Prevention Program

29. Social Justice
calls out loud

32. American Psychological Association. (2014). Bullying. Retrieved from
http://www.apa.org/topics/bullying/
Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012). Understanding bullying.
Fact Sheet. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention
/pdf/BullyingFactsheet2012-a.pdf
Lipsett, A.. (2008). Children bullied because of faith. The Guardian. Retrieved
from http://www.theguardian.com/education/2008/nov/17/bullying-
faith
Nobullying.com. (2014). Putting an End to Religious Bullying and Intolerance.
Retrieved from http://nobullying.com/putting-an-end-to-religious-
bullying-and-intolerance/
Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention Center. (2013). Bullying Statistics.
Retrieved from http://www.pacer.org/bullying/about/media-
kit/stats.asp
Peace Keepers: A Christian Bully Prevention Program. (2014). Survey Results.
Retrieved from http://www.christianpeacekeepers.com/
References

33. PRWeb. (2014). Religion Bullying, a Guide Released Today by NoBullying.
Retrieved from http://www.virtualstrategy.com/2014/03/17/religion-
bullying-guide-released-today-nobullying
Sacirbey, O. (2011). 9/11 bullying: Muslim teens push back. Huffington post.
Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/07/bullying-
muslim-teens-push-back_n_952947.html
The Christian Institute. (2008). A quarter of children bullied for their faith.
Retrieved from http://www.christian.org.uk/news/a-quarter-of-children-
bullied-for-their-faith/
Tran, N & Okazaki, S. (2014). Bullying & victimization and Asian-American
students. American Psychological Association. Retrieved from
http://www.apa.org/pi/oema/resources/ethnicity-health/asianameri
can/bullying-and-victimization.aspx

34. Turcotte-Benedict, G. F. (2012). Association between mental health disorders
and bullying in the United States among children aged 6 to 17 Years.
American Association of Pediatrics. Retrieved from https://aap.confex.
com/aap/2012/webprogrampress/Paper17739.html
Vossekuil, B., Fein, R., Reddy, M., Borum, R., & Modzeleski, W. (2002). The final
report and findings of the safe school initiative: Implications for the
prevention of school attacks in the United States. U.S. Department of
Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Safe and
Drug-Free Schools Program and U.S. Secret Service, National Threat
Assessment Center, Washington, D.C., 2002. 1-63. Retrieved from
http://www.secretservice.gov/ntac/ssi_final_report.pdf