October is National Bullying Prevention Month, and for Lori Ciccarelli of Mammoth Lakes it’s a time to raise awareness. Ciccarelli sits on the State Council on Developmental Disabilities. At one of her board meetings, Stuart Haskin of the organization GET SAFE made a presentation.
Haskin made an impression, and Ciccarelli invited him to Mammoth Lakes where he spoke to first responders.Haskin raises awareness among first responders on how developmentally disabled may respond in emergencies and how to recognize them. Ciccarelli said Mammoth paramedics and others appreciated Haskin’s training. Ciccarelli personally understands bullying concerns because her son is autistic. She said she saw bullying of him because of his difference. Haskin says that it is estimated 1 in 10 students are bullied by their peers. The number goes up for kids with autism and other learning disabilities.
For them bullying goes up to 57%, according to surveys. Haskin’s organization GET SAFE focuses on raising awareness. He also advises schools and other groups to create anti-bullying programs. Haskin advises open communication with children but not insistence that they talk about bullying. He says talk to your children about school, their friends and activities to see if they open up.
He adds that parents should look for drastic changes in your child’s personality or typical behavior. Haskin also says that confident children are less likely to be bullied and that adults should encourage children to ask for help. Finally, check out your school’s bullying policies. In earlier years, Haskin earned black belts in many martial arts disciplines and through his own martial arts school learned about his students’ bad experiences. He turned to development of his own personal safety programs. Check out GET SAFE programs at www.getsafeusa.com.
With regard, as well, on your comment of observation in relation to by standers involving themselves in the acts. Some times there are different reasons for by standers to participate, as you say, fear of being the next victim, or that they join in willingly with the “Crowd mentality”. This… Read more »
Trouble,
I’m afraid your definition of the word bully is a tad too narrow.Bullies pick on anyone they think they can get away with bullying, not only special needs people. In today’s dog-eat-dog world, bullying is running rampant.
define bullying- I think you got it totally backwards. There is a hundred times less violence in the schools these days than in my past. Remember the racial fights and when all you got was detention when you got into a scuffle. Now they expel you and have the cops… Read more »
Boys will be boys.
And some who are stronger, bigger, or more mature sometimes learn the wrong things at home and bring their totally backward thinking (bullying) to school with them.
This is usually how our more prominent criminals in our society got their first start.
Trouble, I totally agree, these are kids we’re talking about. Cops shouldn’t be involved unless it is serious enough to bring them in, parents and kids, and school officials should first work it out, which in my opinion can be worked out in most cases, if all involved are willing… Read more »
School Bullying is a type of bullying that occurs in connection with education.Bullying can be physical, verbal, or emotional. In schools, bullying occurs in all areas. It can occur in nearly any part in or around the school building, though it more often occurs in PE, recess, hallways, bathrooms, on… Read more »
Hmm some good points there Dr. We need to teach the kids how to truly treat each other, and to stand up for themselves in the face of adversity.
Schoolbullying- that’s a hell of a definition you got there. Maybe now the school consolers can go back to helping these kids get into college.
Maybe if Disney and other “children’s” media outlets didn’t cram violence as conflict resolution into the psyches of impressionable children, there would be less violence over all.
“a hundred times less violence in schools today”
“cops take you away…”
Trouble, could you please quote the official source of this data?
thanks
Ya, my kids get into a hundred times less trouble than I.
Hence the nick .. Trouble .. Trouble? … hehe
I see “Trouble” has been unable to provide any hard statistics on his claims regarding “there 100 times is less violence today” and any data on arrests made.
Formats like these can be very productive if FACTS are presented to support the point of view.
Well facts or no facts Dr. … if you want to base it on arrest statistics, then yeah .. you can skew it that way merely for the fact that .. they barely made arrests in schools 10 to 15 years ago. At least in a school like Bishop schools.… Read more »
Dr. Facts- what’s that? Does bloggers rule 2.65 say I have to have three sources to back up my blogs to you? I say what I believe and quite enjoy responded to junk blogs .
No to bullies- I agree with you when it comes to people picking on special needs people. But someone more able should be allowed to put that jerk in his place. To me, that’s what friends are for. Just calling a kid a bully does nothing .
Maybe I shouldn’t have said that, but I think a boy needs to learn to stand up for himself at some point in his life. I wouldn’t tell my kid to run to the principal and tell ’em he’s being bullied. I’ll leave that advise for his mom.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0M9dhGKGKQ
Trouble: Boys aren’t the only ones bullied, and it doesn’t always have something to do with how big a kid is, and it isn’t even necessarily physical. You’re right, telling the principal every little thing isn’t right. But by its very nature, bullying isn’t a one time incident, generally its… Read more »
JeanGenie-I know your correct in a lot of ways, but sometimes i think it is better for the person taking the abuse to stand up to the jerks. Some people think otherwise.
Trouble – please read the article, which points out that autistic children and children with other learning disabilities are bullied at a higher rate. Autistic children tend to be less socially aware and actually quite peaceful kids. Saying that someone like that needs to “stand up for themselves” is just… Read more »
Bullies in school grow up to be Rush Limbaughs later in life.
You’re right … abuse doesn’t usually stop with the end of high school. I have seen it happen every where in the adult realm. I have seen at school here, where kids in general are not so abusive towards special needs kids. I think this is due to the small… Read more »
hehe good one Trouble, and yes .. you should stand up for yourself! when you are being harassed, and at the point you need to take a stand. I kinda see what you’re saying Dr. Facts … but we need to teach our children, not just boys, to stand up… Read more »
Sad that there are those today who believesuch barbaric notions such as: “Spare the rod and spoil the child.” or “Boys will be boys, and if some of the bigger, stronger, boys enjoy bullying the weaker, smaller boys, so what?” And “boys need to be challenged – let’s create some… Read more »
Trouble….What’s your idea of a “wimpy kid” ?…..One that doesn’t want to go through their early lives in and out of trouble by acting all tough around a bunch of guys and getting into fights ?…I can remember a story a long time ago in high school….This big,so-called “tough guy”… Read more »
sounds like a TV afternoon special movie
People like “Tourbillon” are having a difficult time trying to imagine the size of the Bully vs the size of the person being bullied.
I’ve yet to hear a bullying story where the bully went after somebody bigger than he.
Not so Size,
The kid everybody was afraid of when my kid was in school was a little guy, I couldn’t believe it when I saw him. But apparently he had older brothers and a Dad who whipped up on him all the time, so he wasn’t afraid to fight.
This gets back to the point I was trying to make with you earlier. If we, as individuals – like the parents of the little guy who became a bully, worked on
themselves not to be angry and violent, it would not spread.
Benett
People like “it’s the size that counts” are having a difficult time trying to imagine that it isn’t the size of the bully, it’s the size of the victim’s heart. Heart the size of a pea, you’re gonna get bullied by a shrimp even if you’re seven feet tall. Sometimes… Read more »
I have seen bully’s go up against people bigger than them ..sometimes they’re the bug, sometimes they’re the windshield. A bully is a bully, no matter, big or small, male or female, tough or not. You never know going into a fight, if you will end up with the ass… Read more »
Bullyism should be defined as a term mothers of wimpy kids came up with to protect their over protected kids.
hehe yeah Trouble … a new word .. like a lot of others
seriously though .. yes how can we stop the cycle, if we are not willing to look at ourselves and make a change to start with?
Seems to me nobody cared about bullying until some that claimed they were bullied and picked on started picking up weapons and wiping out their perceived tormentors, which includes the general public. There seems to be a lot of lip service to stopping bullying, but it doesn’t seem to change… Read more »
We can only change problems one individual at a time, starting with ourselves.
BK
Benett: That does not, did not stop the bullying my kid experienced in school, and what his kids are experiencing. What does your comment mean? I should tell my kids that they need to change themselves, because the school will never really try to stop bullies or teasing? About the… Read more »
My comment was generic about how to live. I personally support kids, and adults, standing up for themselves against bullies.
BK
That’s the key, standing up for yourself against a bully. Stops bullying cold. The problem is that modern schools typically punish anyone who physically defends themselves as being “just as bad” as the aggressor. I’ve seen it play out time and again that way. Instead of raising kids to stand… Read more »
The biggest bully on the block is LADWP!!!
Amen Tourbillon, If you try to defend yourself, you are questioned at the least, and then punished as well for being an aggressor in the situation. If a kid .. or an adult, snaps under the pressure of being harassed, and puts a stop to it, he or she is… Read more »
School bullies become older bullies and continue their behaviors in our neighborhoods and workplaces. Unfortunately in this community this behavior is condoned by employers and at times encouraged. What is even sadder is that bullying in the workplace is not illegal in California unless the victim is part of a… Read more »
Not news. This behavior continues into adulthood, the workplace, and where we live. Our quiet neighborhood has been disrupted by a bully who feels he is the center of the universe and is suing over one third of the neighborhood. All his nearest neighbors and then some. The man isn’t… Read more »
Um .. that is kinda what I was saying Kaka no ka oi.
Sure is funny … how all of a sudden .. after centuries of bullying, it is such an epidemic. Yes it is a big problem, always has been. I guess people are dealing with it now. You can’t expect your kids to change, and or not begin bullying, if they… Read more »
The biggest Bully on the block = Our Government
GGW
Amen to that, upthecreek.
Benett
Pardon the essay, but this is a complex situation. In the 1930’s Germany, where the economy was as strained as the U.S. economy is today, a group of people existed who viewed themselves as The Übermensch. They were famous for their right-wing authoritarian ways and found great comfort in scapegoating… Read more »
It’s good to be aware of history, and your post gives us all a good reason to foster the best human qualities – compassion, thoughtful intelligence, self-discipline, concern for our fellow humans, and the positive understanding that life is as good as we make it.
Benett Kessler
Very good Professor. Look forward to your next essay about the Soviet pogroms, the Maoist cleansing of addicts and the mentally ill in China, and the summary executions perpetrated by the privileged Argentine boy named Che, the “revolutionary”-cum-psychopath still idolized by the Left. Will be interesting how you tie them… Read more »
Actually, calling Romney a bullshit*er is only an insult to bullshit*ers…as, in reality, he’s a straight-up lying fraud.
To many ism’s in this world for me.
In my experience when I was in school, in the 70’s and 80’s I saw the football coach bully the teachers of star football team players making sure the players have good enough grades to play in the next big game. The star football players saw it too and followed… Read more »
So should we get our kids a shrink or a black belt?
Try communication yourself first.
BK
A casual observation today might reveal that in some circles bullying is honored.
It’s a power-freak sort of thing.
Any idea how large Rush Limbaugh’s audience is today?
Larger than MSNBC’s, aka Bully Central. So by that indication bullying appears to be less “honored” than you think.
You must go to the source. There was a time when people read the paper, listened to the nightly news, chatted at the barber shop etc. for their political information. Today, we are witnessing groups of people willing to listen to the likes of hate-mongers Rush Limbaugh, 3 straight hours… Read more »