Bullying has long been tolerated as a rite of passage among children and adolescents. There is an implication that individuals who are bullied must have "asked for" this type of treatment, or deserved it. Sometimes, even the child who is bullied begins to internalize this idea. For many years, there has been a general acceptance and collective shrug when it comes to a child or adolescent with greater social capital or power pushing around a child perceived as subordinate. But bullying is not developmentally appropriate; it should not be considered a normal part of the typical social grouping that occurs throughout a child's life. Although bullying behavior endures through generations, the milieu is changing. Historically, bulling has occurred at school, the physical setting in which most of childhood is centered and the primary source for peer group formation. In recent years, however, the physical setting is not the only place bullying is occurring. Technology allows for an entirely new type of digital electronic aggression, cyberbullying, which takes place through chat rooms, instant messaging, social media, and other forms of digital electronic communication. Composition of peer groups, shifting demographics, changing societal norms, and modern technology are contextual factors that must be considered to understand and effectively react to bullying in the United States. Youth are embedded in multiple contexts and each of these contexts interacts with individual characteristics of youth in ways that either exacerbate or attenuate the association between these individual characteristics and bullying perpetration or victimization. Recognizing that bullying behavior is a major public health problem that demands the concerted and coordinated time and attention of parents, educators and school administrators, health care providers, policy makers, families, and others concerned with the care of children, this report evaluates the state of the science on biological and psychosocial consequences of peer victimization and the risk and protective factors that either increase or decrease peer victimization behavior and consequences.

Back Page I cry every day before and after school because I have been a victim of bullying for most of my life. I had the misconception that once I reached middle school that I would be free from being [a] victim. Wow! Was I wrong [!] I am now a 7th grader and the torture continues. I suffered in silence until I met Ms. Smart; I feel some level of comfort because she let us know that she does not tolerate bullying in her classroom. Like many others I tried to commit suicide by jumping out of a window of a three-story building. I am also a cutter. I want to live but how? –Seventh-grade student Unfortunately, stories like that of this middle school student are all too common. The social pressures of bullying can lead to intolerable unpleasantness for some students. Bullying in schools is a growing concern in the United States. Bullying causes many problems, not only for the victim, but also for the bully. Students desire a safe haven at home and school; however, problems with bullies lead to insecurity in the victim and make home and school feel more like a prison than the safe haven they are supposed to be. Bullying via the Internet or cyberbullying is steadily increasing. A bully can harass someone via text, email or hurtful comments on a social network site. This has led to a whole new breed of bullying. A bully no longer has to be face to face. He/she can now say harmful things about a person through the Internet for others to read and comment. No matter how it is looked at, bullying is wrong. It’s never okay. It’s never cool. It never makes one person look better than another because they are bullying someone. This book offer strategies as to what to do if one should find themselves as a victim of bullying behavior as well as if you happen to be the bully. Also covered are tips for parents, teachers and community members.

Celebrated scientists Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler explain the amazing power of social networks and our profound influence on one another's lives. Your colleague's husband's sister can make you fat, even if you don't know her. A happy neighbor has more impact on your happiness than a happy spouse. These startling revelations of how much we truly influence one another are revealed in the studies of Dr. Christakis and Fowler, which have repeatedly made front-page news nationwide. In Connected, the authors explain why emotions are contagious, how health behaviors spread, why the rich get richer, even how we find and choose our partners. Intriguing and entertaining, Connected overturns the notion of the individual and provides a revolutionary paradigm-that social networks influence our ideas, emotions, health, relationships, behavior, politics, and much more. It will change the way we think about every aspect of our lives.

If you want to fix your rebellious and disrespectful child, you need to start by fixing yourself. Are your kids pummeling you with demands and bossing you around with impunity? Have your once-precious preschoolers become rebellious, entitled, and disrespectful to authority? While there are plenty of so-called experts who might try to validate your convictions that you have done all you can to “fix” your “difficult” children, the hard truth is, they’re not doing you any favors by placing the responsibility solely on your children. Parenting struggles rarely originate from just one side. Instead, they erupt at the volatile intersection of a child's personality with a parent's own insecurities and behaviors. In When Kids Call the Shots, therapist and parenting expert Sean Grover untangles the forces driving family dysfunction, and helps parents assume their leadership roles once again. Parents will discover: Three common bullying styles used by kids Parenting styles that contribute to power balances Critical testing periods in a child’s development Coping mechanisms that backfire Personalized plans for calmly exerting authority in any scenario The solution to any problem begins with learning to control what you can control. In parenting, you’ve already learned how impossible it is to control your kids. Begin by controlling you!

Explores different ways children and teenagers are bullied (both mentally and physically), how the bully becomes a bully, how the victim becomes a victim, and what can be done about it.

Ready-to-use activities integrate into the daily curriculum to help teachers create a safe and caring classroom