October is Anti-bullying month: Bullying is serious business

At my grade school, boys and girls were segregated during recess. The boys divided into teams to play baseball or basketball. We girls had the less strenuous choices -- playing jacks or jump rope. When we played jacks, it was a matter of how many games you knew and could master -- pigs in the pen, shooting stars, around the world, etc. These games were endless.

In jump rope, the winner was the girl who jumped the most without “missing” (stepping on the rope). As each girl jumped, the rest of us chanted rhymes, like “Doctor, doctor can you tella, what will make poor (insert jumper’s name) wella.”

One afternoon, when neighborhood girls gathered on our driveway for a game of jump rope, my mom happened to be tending the garden nearby. That’s how she heard us chanting, “Fatty, fatty, two by four, couldn’t get through the bathroom door, etc.”

Before we could finish the chant, Mom appeared, hands on hips and scowling. “I am so disappointed. You girls sound like bullies!”

Later that evening, Mom told me how she was a chunky child and was bullied by merciless classmates. Until now, I never again repeated the chant…and while it met all the criteria for a jump rope chant, none of us, once made aware, wanted to bully anyone, especially an overweight classmate.

That’s why I titled this column, “Bullying is serious business.” Because it is!

From that day on our driveway, I never bullied again. It had hurt my mom and I couldn’t bear the thought of the pain she must have felt. I never wanted to cause that pain for anyone else.

But bullying is still a problem -- among all ages, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Bullying not only creates health problems but also mental problems… sometimes suicide. That’s why every state in the U.S. has passed specific anti-bullying laws and are enforcing these laws.

In 2006, the PACER National Bullying Prevention Center was founded to lead social change to prevent childhood bullying, so that all youth could be safe and supported in their schools, communities and online. That same year, the NBPC proclaimed October as “National Bullying Prevention Month.”

PACER was founded in 1977, by the parents and families of kids and young adults with disabilities to enhance and ensure their quality of life. Since its founding, PACER has offered opportunities, education and program activities designed to achieve these goals…and because their children were often the targets of bullying, PACER parents expanded their vision to include all children and young people.

Here are some facts about bullying the PACER Center has collected (as of 2019). Some may surprise you:

One out of every five (20.2%) students report being bullied

Of those students who reported being bullied, 13% were made fun of, called names, or insulted; 13% were the subject of rumors; 5% were pushed, shoved, tripped, or spit on; and 5% were excluded from activities on purpose.

The reasons for being bullied reported most often by students include physical appearance, race/ethnicity, gender, disability, religion, sexual orientation.

Students who experience bullying are at increased risk for depression, anxiety, sleep difficulties, lower academic achievement, and dropping out of school.

Students who are both targets of bullying and engage in bullying behavior are at greater risk for both mental health and behavior problems than students who only bully or are only bullied.

Bullied students indicate that bullying has a negative effect on how they feel about themselves (27%), their relationships with friends and family (19%), their school work (19%), and physical health (14%).

Cyberbullying tends to differ by gender. Girls were more likely to say someone spread rumors about them online while boys were more likely to say that someone threatened to hurt them online.

Students with specific learning disabilities -- autism spectrum disorder, emotional and behavior disorders, other health impairments, and speech or language impairments -- report greater rates of victimization than their peers without disabilities and their victimization remains consistent over time.

When assessing specific types of disabilities, prevalence rates differ: 35.3% of students with behavioral and emotional disorders, 33.9% of students with autism, 24.3% of students with intellectual disabilities, 20.8% of students with health impairments, and 19% of students with specific learning disabilities face high levels of bullying victimization.

Researchers discovered students with disabilities were more worried about school safety and being injured or harassed by other peers compared to students without a disability.

When reporting bullying, youth in special education were told not to tattle almost twice as often as youth not in special education.

Race-related bullying is significantly associated with negative emotional and physical health effects.

70.1% of LGBTQ students were verbally bullied (e.g., called names, threatened) in the past year because of their sexual orientation, 59.1% because of their gender expression and 53.2% based on gender.

Of the LGBTQ students who reported they were considering dropping out of school, 42.2% indicated they were doing so because of the harassment they faced at school.

There is a strong association between bullying and suiciderelated behaviors, but this relationship is often mediated by other factors, including depression, violent behavior, and substance abuse.

Students who are both bullied and engage in bullying behavior are the highest risk group for adverse outcomes.

Why don’t we in Dripping Springs not only observe the month of October, but also every month of the year as anti-bullying months. If we teach our children well, by adulthood they will be antibulliers, too, and we can wipe out this horrific practice.