What to do about kids and bullies

Bullies: What to do?

Talk about it. Talk about it with your own children, your family, friends and community. Don’t let it go unnoticed. Children and others need to hear that bullying and violent behaviours are hurtful, immoral, hateful, often illegal and won’t be tolerated in our society.

Fight back. By spreading tolerance of individual differences and hope for overcoming oppression using the same tools — the internet and social media — we can get the attention of our youth and poignantly share messages of compassion, hope, strategies and resources for help-seeking, and a message, loud and clear, that we are all equal regardless of our identities be they defined by ethnicity, race, sexuality, gender, status or other classification. Dan Savage, a Seattle-based advice columnist, has taken this very approach through his online project, It Gets Better, in response to the suicide of Billy Lucas, a 15-year old from Indiana who was the victim of anti-gay bullying.

Prosecute and hold accountable the perpetrators. Help make sound policy and laws, and enforce them. In the Criminal Code of Canada, the punishment for being found guilty of publishing material known to be false and harmful to a person’s reputation is up to five years in prison. This includes publishing a web page or posting on a newsgroup untrue statements about a person that could entice other people to ridicule or perpetuate the untruths about this person.

Step up to the fight. BullyingCanada.ca is working with MP Mike Allen to start a national petition to have the Canadian government introduce a law against bullying.

Check your own behaviour. Be aware of what you say and how you behave that may be perceived as hateful and intolerant. You needn’t share other people’s interests, beliefs, biologically determined sexual preferences or lifestyle, but you do need to let them be who they are. That’s called freedom. Adults are not immune to being bullies, and our children are listening and watching closely.

Monitor your kids’ behaviour. Implement internet monitoring measures if you feel this is necessary, but most important, listen to children and watch how they behave. Don’t let bad behaviour or hateful speech go by unnoticed. That’s your job as a parent, teacher, or member of the community.

Support non-profit organizations that educate children about bullying. PREVnet is one such organization that provides supports to prevent and address bullying, in partnership with 62 expert researchers from 27 Canadian universities and 49 national organizations. Trust me, we need organizations like this in our world.

Show kids you care. Be available to the children you know, to listen, encourage, model positive behaviours and attitudes, and show them the world sees a wonderful future ahead for them. Pave the way, because they are our future. All of them.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/10/05/f-barwick-online-bullying.html#ixzz15AtTcOYd