By: Jessica Vacco
When you think your words don’t hurt, think again. Words DO hurt, contrary to the popular phrase that we all learned as kids, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” Verbal bullying is the most common kind of bullying, and is one of the main reasons children and teens miss school regularly. We are going to take a look into just a small portion of the bullying that is happening in today’s youth society, and what you can do to help prevent it, or stop it if you see it.
What can you do to help stop it?
If you see or hear anyone getting verbally bullied, step in and speak up. If you are a parent, guardian, coach (etc.) watch your language around your children and teens. Parents/older siblings: watch the conversations you have with people in front of them! If a child/teen hears you on the phone referring to someone else as “ugly” or a “b*tch” chances are, they will begin to use the same language. Remember at all times, you are a role model and they are looking up to you. Children and teens, watch what you say! You may think telling your friend that he/she is “ugly” or “fat” may be funny, but in reality, those words cut deep and can really hurt someone’s feelings. Unfortunately, words like “fat” and “ugly” aren’t even close to as bad as this type of bullying gets, verbal bullying can easily lead to verbal attacks, and statistics show that over half of verbal attacks end in physically fighting.
What will you do to put a stop to verbal bullying in your home, schools, neighborhoods and in public? Speak up! Your voice can be heard!
Cyberbullying:
Bullying taking place via internet, mainly on sources such as facebook, twitter, email..etc.
Why is this happening?
Kids/teens who are able to be using online sources such as facebook and twitter feel that they have some sort of power. They say things that they would probably never say to someone’s face. They make fun of people, they judge people by their pictures, and they talk derogatorily to each other because they think it is ok. I’ve seen things on facebook with kids and teens that I can’t even wrap my head around. I see young teenage boys having statuses that read “Like my status then I will rate top 10 most beautiful girls,” or “top 10 hottest chicks…go!” They aren’t even realizing how this can hurt someone, they aren’t thinking that 27 people like their status, they choose 10, no harm, right? How about those other 17 girls? What if one of them has a crush on the boy writing this status, and she isn’t “rated” top 10? Also, since when is “rating” girls acceptable? Shouldn’t we be teaching respect to these teens? I also find it hard to believe that a 14 year old girl or boy knows 2,101 “friends” on their facebook, it goes from bullying to dangerous. Please, monitor your teens facebook, or do not let them have one!
What can you do to help?
Think about it, everyday there are kids physically and emotionally harmed because of bullying. Suicide rates are at an all-time high and a lot of them are because of bullying. It’s the scary realization that no kid is safe, no kid can be completely protected from bullies, so the best we can do is to all join together to start paying more attention to our kids (you’d be surprised how many parents don’t know that their child IS the bully) and to start making our children and teens aware of the huge issue this is.
This is just phase 1 of my “anti-bullying” movement. Please help me spread the word and make schools, playgrounds and after school activities safer and more enjoyable for today’s youth.
Next we will get into how bullying doesn’t stop at a certain age, and can even continue through your career. Stay tuned, and please feel free to contact me at jessicavacco@gmail.com if you have any stories, insights or any information you would like to share for the next article!
