Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Bullying Starts Before School Years Begin: Study







And obese boys more likely to be both bully and bullied than slimmer peers, researchers report

By Tara Haelle
HealthDay Reporter

(HealthDay News) -- In a finding that illustrates the complexity of bullying, Dutch researchers report that obese boys are more likely to bully and be bullied than their thinner peers and the vicious cycle begins before these children ever step foot inside a school.
Past research has shown an association between bullying and weight, but most of those studies focused on older children or teens. The average age of the children in this new study was 6.

"I was very surprised by how young these kids are," said Rachel Annuziato, an assistant professor for clinical psychology at Fordham University in New York City. "I think our understanding of bullying is that it's something that starts a little later cognitively and developmentally, but this suggests that isn't the case. From the day kids walk into school, this is a concern."
She said researchers have typically thought of bullying as a school-based phenomenon in which students learn bullying behavior from other kids. But these findings imply that kids are learning this behavior outside of school.
Annuziato said she also found it interesting that obesity increased the risk of being both a perpetrator and a victim for boys.
"Kids who are being picked on might start to think this is the way to fit in, to pick on other kids," she suggested. "That becomes their way to assert themselves after they've experienced bullying."
The link between being a bully and a victim of bullying may also offer clues to the link between bullying and obesity, said Susan Tortolero, a professor of public health at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston.
"A lot of these risk behaviors may have to do with self-regulation, self-discipline and decision-making, which gets into the executive functioning of the brain," Tortolero said. "It could be that poor coping is going on here, too. They could be expressing aggression because they're being bullied and they don't know how to cope with it or express it."
This possibility was also raised by the researchers, whose earlier work showed that being overweight or obese can lead to social problems among children. Having difficulty managing their emotions might be contributing to both the peer problems and to abnormal eating behaviors, the researchers suggested.
In the new study, more than 1,300 Dutch children and their teachers were surveyed to learn which children were bullies or victims, how often bullying occurred and what form it took: physical (hitting, kicking); verbal (teasing, name-calling); relational (being excluded or shunned); or material (personal items hidden or broken). The children were classified as having a normal weight or being overweight or obese based on their body-mass index, a measurement used to assess a person's healthy weight for their height.

More...

                     
October is bullying prevention month.  Is your school prepared?





  **District Tour Specials**
Competitive rates are available when multiple schools in your area schedule together for our district packages. 
Sexual Harassment Prevention
Staff Professional Development
Workplace Bullying and Harassment

Student, Staff, Parent Workshops


802-362-5448

Shipping and handling is included on all orders.
Fax purchase orders to: 802-549-5024
Providing dynamic and practical anti-bullying workshops to students, staff and parents, Mike Dreiblatt teaches realistic bullying prevention strategies and best practices that can be used immediately to STOP bullying.

Bullying Prevention PSAs!!!




802-362-5448 -- 136 Clover Lane Manchester Center Vermont 05255


When The Teacher Is The School Bully





Anti-bullying laws may now have a significant impact on what is considered to be “emotional abuse” in schools.  Recently, the Connecticut Supreme Court concluded that a teacher’s bullying behavior toward a student met the legal definition of emotional abuse.Nicholas Frank v. Department of Children and Families, SC 18980, July 8, 2014.   In this case, a sixth grade teacher, Nicholas Frank, had been placed on the central registry of abuse and neglect after the Department of Children and Families [“DCF”] found that he had emotionally abused one of his students.  The abuse came in the form of targeting an overweight boy in his class by repeatedly calling him demeaning and embarrassing names — such as “pregnant,” “birthing mother,” “cheeks,” “fish out of water,” — painfully pinching the student’s cheeks, and effectively encouraging other students in the class to join in.  As a result, the student began to suffer from anxiety, bedwetting, fear of school and reduced academic performance. The teacher’s primary defense was that his comments were jokes, said in an effort to keep a light atmosphere in the classroom and could not be considered to be abuse as that term was too vague to apply to his situation.
This case had started as an appeal of a DCF hearing officer’s decision to keep the teacher’s name on the registry of abuse and neglect. The Court concluded that the hearing officer’s decision was based upon substantial evidence, and thus worthy of deference by the Court, and that the abuse and neglect law as applied to this teacher was not unconstitutionally vague.  In other words, the teacher had fair notice that his behavior fell within the statutory definition of abuse.  Such notice came mostly from DCF policy, but also, quite notably, from the anti-bullying and safe school climate law.
In Connecticut, bullying policies and safe school climate plans do not apply to teacher conduct toward students.  Acknowledging this, the Court stated that “[a]lthough the statute is expressly directed at student conduct intended to cause harm, it directs teachers to take an active role in preventing and responding to bullying.”  The Court went on to note that teachers play a vital role in minimizing, if not eliminating bullying among students.  Therefore, the anti-bullying law is further proof that this teacher should have known that his behavior was abusive.

                     
October is bullying prevention month.  Is your school prepared?





  **District Tour Specials**
Competitive rates are available when multiple schools in your area schedule together for our district packages. 
Sexual Harassment Prevention
Staff Professional Development
Workplace Bullying and Harassment

Student, Staff, Parent Workshops


802-362-5448

Shipping and handling is included on all orders.
Fax purchase orders to: 802-549-5024
Providing dynamic and practical anti-bullying workshops to students, staff and parents, Mike Dreiblatt teaches realistic bullying prevention strategies and best practices that can be used immediately to STOP bullying.

Bullying Prevention PSAs!!!





802-362-5448 -- 136 Clover Lane Manchester Center Vermont 05255

8 types of bullies and how to handle them



8 types of bullies and how to handle them




Compiled by Herb Scribner
Bullying has been a common issue for kids throughout their lives in high school.
But with the rise of social media, cyberbullying and heightened pressures of a new age, bullying has been at the center of much discussion and debate. A survey by the Olewus Bullying Prevention Program found that 1 in 6 American kids have been bullied, and it’s something they’re worrying about. Kids actually worry about getting bullied more than they fear ghosts, another survey revealed.
And another recent study by the American Journal of Psychiatry found that the after effects of being bullied can last well into adulthood.
With kids readying to return to school across the nation, here’s a look at some of the different bullies you or your children may encounter this year:

See the list...

                     
October is bullying prevention month.  Is your school prepared?





  **District Tour Specials**
Competitive rates are available when multiple schools in your area schedule together for our district packages. 
Sexual Harassment Prevention
Staff Professional Development
Workplace Bullying and Harassment

Student, Staff, Parent Workshops


802-362-5448

Shipping and handling is included on all orders.
Fax purchase orders to: 802-549-5024
Providing dynamic and practical anti-bullying workshops to students, staff and parents, Mike Dreiblatt teaches realistic bullying prevention strategies and best practices that can be used immediately to STOP bullying.

Bullying Prevention PSAs!!!





802-362-5448 -- 136 Clover Lane Manchester Center Vermont 05255