Cameron Conaway lists five reasons bullying is on the rise, as well as concrete methods of combatting this increase.
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“Bullying is a complex issue” has become a clichéd phrase without substance. Politicians sling it around to sound knowledgeable and celebrities use it to sound in touch with reality. It is complex, but it’s an issue that will not change unless we move away from sound bites and move into a national conversation about why.
(1) Technology. Often when technology is brought up in regards to bullying the conversation is about how it allows kids to bully in new ways. This is true. However, while tech has enabled us to have global virtual connections, it has degraded the quality of local human connections. This doesn’t just mean our children are nervous in face-to-face encounters and more comfortable communicating on Facebook, it means their faculties for empathy and compassion is weakening. When students are unable to relate to each other they are more apt to mistreat each other.
(2) Physical Education. “Crisis” is another term thrown around loosely these days, but it could certainly apply to the physical health of today’s youth. In an attempt to keep up with academic powerhouses like China, we’ve adopted an ideology that puts far too much emphasis on classes other than physical education. Physical Education is not simply playing dodgeball. Though exercise and play are important for children in terms of regulating hormone production and even fostering strong minds, it’s essential that we also educate today’s youth on why exercise is important. Exercise makes kids smarter, and I’d argue that it also makes them more tolerant of others
(3) Nutrition. I believe this is an important enough issue to be given it’s own space. We’ve spent billions to create the best chemically-configured oils for the health of our automobiles. Yet when it comes to the nutrition of our children, we are still just feeding them the cheapest out there. Much of it is fried, reconstituted junk. We’ve saturated our children’s taste buds with so many artificial sweetenings that even naturally-sweet fruits and vegetables no longer taste sweet to them. A healthy diet with real foods can help kids better handle stress, sleep deeper and think more clearly. And a healthy body composition increases confidence and bullying often festers because of a lack thereof.
(4) The Educational System. Despite the talk to change things, most schools still have a teach-to-the-test system in place for a large part of the year. And many schools still reward teachers based not on their ability to develop a child’s creativity and true educational skillset, but based on standardized test scores. I’ve witnessed first-hand how this can suck the life out of learning and make school a nightmare for students. Where there’s a classroom of 30 miserable students there’s a breeding ground for bullying. To tie in with #1, schools need to compensate by creating more activities that teach empathy. This could be something as simple as a writing lesson where they free-write from the perspective of a character in a painting.
(5) Parenting. Another cliché thrown around is how education “begins in the home.” Yes, it does. But there’s never talk about what that really means or how this crucial step can be improved. These days, parents simply cannot pop out a kid and expect to learn everything on the fly. There are some tools like creating teachable moments, talking about difficult issues, handling inter/intra personal stressors, etc., that could significantly help how a parent raises their children. No, kids don’t come with instructional manuals, but there are plenty of available tools out there that can help parents be better parents. To come back to the car metaphor, we have to take a driving test before we get on the road. Bad parenting creates bullying. Good parenting prevents bullying.
This article only scratches the surface. Not only are there other factors involved in the complex issue of bullying, but even the five I’ve mentioned here could be significantly expanded into articles (even books) unto themselves. It’s not enough to be emotionally crushed when we hear on the news of a bullied student committing suicide. We must act. And before we can act we must understand.
I need to make a public apology to Cameron. Yesterday I attempted to post a private apology at his website; but for all I know, he may not have received it. Cameron, I apologize to you for being rude in my reaction to your OP. That was not the way to communicate in an online exchange. I posted late at night on impulse. I should have slept on it. Then I should have asked you what kind of P.E. program you supported. I should have waited for your response before I said any more. Although I work out with only… Read more »
Bullying Requires Non-Education Professionals Bullying requires non-education paofessionrls to step in.Unfortunately, education paofessionrls, as experienced as theyare and have to be with education-related matters, do not havethe know-how or experience needed to deal with radicallyuncontrolled bullying. However, there are police (men and women), psychologists (men and women), and therapists (men and women) who are not in the business of education; but who are trained to deal with the deviant behavior expressed by a true bully. A 1-800 number for bully victims that is easy to remember should be plastered everywhere in schools from the classrooms to the halls to the… Read more »
How has the Internet affected Bullying? Is it getting worse??? What percentage and numbers bullying gett worse
Regarding #5, bad parenting creates bullies not through neglect but through active abuse–abusive parents bully their children, and their children either learn to be victims or learn to be victimisers.
I’d also suggest that bullying is increasing because adults model it on television, both in drama and action series, but also on political talk shows and the news.
Sorry to be “that guy” again, but:
What’s the evidence that bullying really is getting worse? Perhaps we are more sensitive to it today, but that doesn’t mean that it’s getting worse.
OMG! Then we better be careful not to do any more about it than we ever have.
I hear the fat kids pick on the skinny kids now.
Glad to see that Technology is number one on the list!
It has been a growing issue in the arsenal of Bullying for 20 years – and it has exploded in stages, from Mobile phone and texting to the exponential increase caused by Social Networking and Web3.
20 years ago the percentage of school children reporting bullying was under 2% – now it’s 25% and the increase is linked directly to opportunity via the net.
Interestingly the most common defence from bullies is It was a joke – It was funny.
MediaHound, Is the increase because there’s an actual increase in bullying, or simply because it’s now easier for the children to report on bullying because of the internet? Has the quantity of the behavior changed, or are children simply exposed to broader definitions of “bullying” on a regular basis? There are many reasons why the growth of the internet has lead to an increase in the number of children who report being bullied that have nothing to do with more actual bullying taking place. I’m just not convinced there has been a real change in behavior, rather than a change… Read more »
I have heard that argument before, and it comes in many flavours. White Collar crime such as fraud has increased – but is that due to increased reporting options or an actual increase? The evidence points to an actual increase due to means, motive and **opportunity** – there have been so many increased opportunities created through bad programming, bad security and the now ubiquitous nature of the net. I’m phlegmatic about the revelations – it just seems to prove that Man’s Inhumanity to Man is alive and well, and Human Nature as always had a nasty side. It just has… Read more »
But there has also been an offset in other kinds of opportunities. 20 years ago, a fist fight in school would not necessarily lead to immediate suspension for one or both parties. Children know this today and respond differently. There was also always a focus on traditional bullying through physical violence, “emotional bullying” wasn’t considered before the late 1990s. In fact, the entire point of the book “Queen Bees and Wanna Bees” and why it was so “eye opening” was because it exposed a great deal of bullying taking place among girls which was completely unseen before: because it never… Read more »
I don’t think that the definition has expanded.
People getting with the program has!
The stats are still relevant – they help model other social factors such as the long term effects – lower health outcomes – social exclusion – educational underachievement. Some deal in short term outcomes – some in long term.
Yea pretty much. “Bullying” “Rape” “Abuse” “Sexism” Misogyny”
They’ve become so conflated that if you walk down the street and cough you have simultaneously raped, bullied, abused, sexismd, and misogynied.
Yeah, far better to throw them all out and leave our kids to face their peers with no help at all. The strong ones will do just fine, and the rest can just go to hell anyway, right?
” Exercise makes kids smarter, and I’d argue that it also makes them more tolerant of others.” Are you kidding? Are you out of your mind? Ask nonathletic boys if much tolerance is shown towards them when they are forced to participate in team games in a mandatory P.E. class. Your assertion is absolutely ridiculous. Dodgeball itself is bully primetime. It’s nothing more than an opportunity to bully an unpopular nonathletic kid in P.E. Some of the worst bullying takes place in P.E. classes. I’m talking about physical bullying, not mere name-calling. Do you think scrawny boys and fat boys… Read more »
Dear Bill,
A discussion about bullying cannot begin with bullying.
Regarding this: “Exercise makes kids smarter, and I’d argue that it also makes them more tolerant of others,” you asked:
“Are you kidding? Are you out of your mind?”
Nope. No, I’m not.
Perhaps get to your health club, pound the iron and shower up. When you’re ready to discuss rationally and without the impairment of emotion’s clouds I’ll be ready and willing.
~Cameron
Nice bit of shaming there, Cameron. Do you respond to all critiques this way? Do you agree with his general point that non-atheletic kids are treated like trash in the Physical Education System? Or not? If not, Why? If you do, then say it. Do you also agree with the fact that sports, though a healthy thing, gets pushed way too much on kids who aren’t interested and not built for sports? Or not? It’s as simple as that. I’m no sports fanatic. And let me tell you, Physical Education Class was horrid for me. I hated changing with the… Read more »
The fact that non-athletic kids are bullied by athletic kids is considered common sense. It’s not always true, but it is one of the more common types of bullying and always has been, at least between boys. It is more common though less intense than the homophobic bullying that keeps making the news. Actually though the two types are related, as both unathletic males and homosexual males are often seen as failures, though the homosexuals are considered bigger failures. Bill was not trying to engage in bullying but rather express intense shock at Cameron’s ideas. Cameron seems to believe that… Read more »
It isn’t utterly impossible, but the Cameron doesn’t really offer any evidence that improved health, via exercise and/or nutrition would make kids treat each other nicely. There’s two sentences: 1. “Exercise makes kids smarter, and I’d argue that it also makes them more tolerant of others” 2. “And a healthy body composition increases confidence and bullying often festers because of a lack thereof.” 1. he never actually makes that argument. 2. I see the logic, however I read about research that suggests that bullying is often caused when a kid develops a superiority complex. Such a person probably has too… Read more »
Mr. Conaway- Bill’s emotional impairment aside, everything he said regarding mandatory P.E. is true. In junior high and high school (1984-89) I saw it in action toward my non-athletic friends and my younger brother (who was, and still is, obese), and with regard to dodgeball, I also was on the receiving end of the athletic/bulked-out classmates desire to see who could raise the biggest welts with the ball. The only moments I did shine were in team-related activities: volleyball, softball, and while not team-related: archery. I’ve heard it said by parents of my generation and older, that this sort of… Read more »
I actually don’t find any impairment in Bill’s comment.
What was apparent, though, is that he was hurt majorly by his peers in high school. The hurt is pretty raw and he was expressing it. It didn’t help that Cameron outright dismissed it with his snark response.
Bill was also very honest about his hurt and explained fully where it came from. So no, there was hardly any impairment from his emotions. Now, if he went out and attacked Cameron full blast, insulted him, without any reason whatsoever then I’d see impairment. Since none of that happened, Bill did fine.
Thank you, Eagle34. Ah, there’s an advantage to reading the comments from the bottom. I won’t be reading the snarky comment. 🙂 I was a bit strident; and for that, I apologize. But my position hasn’t changed. Historically traditional mandatory P.E. has had a dirty little secret; and that is, nonathletic boys have often been bullied in those classes. It just goes to reason. If a P.E. class divides into two teams, the presence of the nonathletes will be resented by the more athletically inclined students because they’re a drag on the team’s performance. The atmosphere in such P.E. classes… Read more »
It’s not just boys who are bullied into PE. I was the smallest girl during most of my time in elementary school. I was also bullied. It was bad enough during class (I had constant respiratory illnesses and once had all my clean tissues billow out onto the floor; after that I was called ‘the tissue lady’), but PE was the worst. I was small, graceless and the only black girl in my class. Every gym class was agony. No one wanted me on a team, or even wanted to touch me. Even at 50, I still remember how painful… Read more »
Back when we were a more authoritarian society, maybe phy ed bullying made some half-assed kind of sense, or at least reflected the views of the majority of adult culture. All young men had to be drafted and serve in the military, where institutionalized bullying and exercising till you drop is vital to discipline and training. Once out, they presumably would need to respond positively to belittlement from male workforce superiors, as well. For young women, who were mostly segreated in PE classes of the day, the issue was intense in different ways. But I would guess it helped reinforce… Read more »
Cameron, your arguments are weak. Your reaction to Bill is even worse. The intent of the bully is not to win an argument. The intent of a bully is to establish a dominant power dynamic over another person (which can include group exclusion). I think we both know that Bill has no interest in establishing a dominant power relationship over you. Consequently, his foreceful rejection of your article is not bullying. You have taken a number of important educational issues, all of which I agree with, and wrapped them up in a nonsensical enchilada that you call “bullying”. It just… Read more »
In at least two of your five blurbs, you subtly blame the victim for being bullied. I am a bullying researcher and speaker and blaming the victim in any way removes responsibility from the aggressors. While leading a more healthy lifestyle with some sort of physical release for stress and better nourishment helps a person cope with the stress of bullying, not fitting into the patriarchal masculinity-based paradigm of what boys and girls ought to be gives no one the right to abuse someone. Being abused is never the victim’s fault. I agree that laissez-faire parenting has contributed to an… Read more »