Definition+of+Bullying+and+Bystander

BYSTANDER POWER: I CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! **[]** Today, 1 in 7 students is either a bully or victim of a bully. In the United States alone, 5 million school aged children in Kindergarten through eight grade have been affected by bullying. As many as 160,000 students may stay home on any given day because they're afraid of being bullied. Bullying behaviors at school also change over time. Experts have found that direct, physical bullying increases in elementary school, peaks in middle school, and declines in high school. Verbal abuse, on the other hand, remains constant from elementary school through high school. Cyberbullying is also a recent phenomenon brought to us by the digital age. About forty-two percent of children today have been bullied while online.

What is bullying?
Bullying is when a stronger, more powerful person hurts or frightens a smaller or weaker person on purpose and repeatedly. There are 4 types of bullying we should all be aware of:
 * 1) ====**Physical Bullying:** involves pushing, shoving, spitting, kicking, stealing, and threatening. ====
 * 2) ====**Verbal bullying:** is mocking, name-calling, taunting, teasing, and verbally threatening. ====
 * 3) ====**Emotional bullying:** is giving dirty looks, excluding people, spreading rumors, and ignoring. ====
 * 4) ====**Cyberbullying:** involves ending inappropriate emails, texts, or pictures, prank calling, texting, emailing, and blogging. ====

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//**Bystanders**//
====While far too many students report that they are bullies, victims, or both, the vast majority of young people are neither bullies nor victims. Instead, most students fall into the category of bystander. This group includes everyone — other than the bully and victim — who is present during a bullying incident. According to John A. Calhoun, president and CEO of the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC), 6 out of 10 American teenagers witness bullying in school one or more times each day. In addition to the terrible problems that bullying creates for those who are directly involved, student bystanders to bullying also experience feelings of fear, discomfort, guilt, and helplessness. According to the U.S. Department of Education, bystanders may experience the following: ==== ====It is clear that bystanders display distinct patterns of behavior during a bullying incident; these responses represent students' attitudes toward the problem of bullying (e.g., positive, neutral-indifferent, negative) as well as the actions they are likely to take during an actual incident. The Bullying Circle below, based on Olweus' early research as well as the research of Salmivalli and colleagues, illustrate and describe each of these bystander roles. ====
 * ==== //Be afraid to associate with the victim// for fear of either lowering their own status or of retribution from the bully and becoming victims themselves ====
 * ==== //Fear reporting bullying incidents// because they do not want to be called a "snitch," a "tattler," or "informer" ====
 * ====// Experience feelings of guilt and helplessness // for not standing up to the on behalf of their classmate ====
 * ====// Be drawn into bullying behavior //by group pressure ====
 * ==== //Feel unsafe//, unable to take action, or a loss of control ====



=Bystander Power! = =<span style="color: #5e3d82; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: left;">Be Part of the Solution = =<span style="color: #8400ff; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">1. Don't take part in bullying = =<span style="color: #8400ff; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">2. Offer support - be an ALLY to someone being bullied = =<span style="color: #8400ff; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">3. Take action against bullying = = <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">BYSTANDERS, YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! =
 * =<span style="color: #8400ff; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">Don't laugh at teasing or if someone is hurt. =
 * =<span style="color: #8400ff; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">Ignore the bully, don't give them attention. =
 * =<span style="color: #8400ff; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">Ask the person being targeted to join you and walk away to another activity. =
 * =<span style="color: #8400ff; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">Offer to help in another way. =
 * =<span style="color: #8400ff; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">Make a distraction or change the subject. =
 * =<span style="color: #8400ff; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">Report the bullying to an adult if someone is being hurt. =