Final Blog

Have you heard the echo? Harassment, abuse, and discrimination are several words that can be used to describe the echo that has existed for centuries. It’s chime can be easily heard among adults, teenagers, and even children. This constant recurrence effect’s everyone and anyone at least one time or another in their life and is not to be taken lightly. The consequences of this echo can be low self-esteem, physical abuse, or even death. Whether, it would be at school, through texting, facebook, or even the everyday workplace, everyone is affected by bullying!   

I began writing this blog nearly over six weeks ago for my English 112 class. Throughout my blog I discussed the different types of bullying, who bullying can affect and how, how to recognize the signs of bullying, personal stories, helpful tips for parents, shared articles on laws, personal stories and shared any interesting thoughts about bullying along the way. Overall I hope I educated anyone who read this blog just as much as I did myself , I thought this was a great opportunity to be creative using a variety of stories, articles and facts to raise awareness. Throughout this process I was amazed how technology can affect children in such as negitive way through cyber bullying. And it made me realize even more how dependent people on are technology.  I now have a better understanding to recognize the signs of bullying for the future whether I have children of my own or family members. And lastly, I was inspired by the personal stories of Megan and Brodie’s families. Even though both these families have been through soooo much, each turned their  difficult times into away to fight for their daughters by helping other victims and creating oppurtunties to speak with parents, teachers, and children about preventing bullying.

Remember if you hear this echo that chimes so frequently even under the watchful eye of parents, teachers, and classmates, make the difference and stand up against Bullying.  

BULLYING STOPS HERE!!!

Bullying PSA

                PSA’s or Public Service Announcements serve as a great way to promote bullying, raise awareness, and share personal stories. I discovered one of these PSA’s on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY7Gvq0P4hc) that I would like to share with you and give my rhetorical Analysis of it.

            The video is called, “ The Price of Silence”. This video was approximately 2 minutes long. PSA are normally under a minute. I understand they wanted to point out the fact that no one was helping this young man in anyway at first. But instead of standing up to this bully they were just going along with whatever he was doing. However, I felt this part of the video could have been a little more short and to the point.

            The use of quotes in this video was very inspiring as they used a quote from Albert Einstein, “The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” I thought this was a very clever quote that coordinated well with their title as well as their story line. At first the other children won’t speak out or go up against the other bully as they fear him. However, it only took one person to break the silence. One person to motivate others to step up and make a difference. That is the message of this PSA. This PSA wants to motivate others to break the silence and be the first in their community or school to make the difference.

            At the end of the PSA it says, “Stand up for a vitum, they will remember you forever”. I thought they could have come up with a little more catchy saying at the end to really put that final thought in peoples head to motivate them to really get out there and make a difference by standing up to bullying.

Stop Bullying.

Brodie's Law

In previously blogs I have discussed personal stories, problems in the workplace, and how bullying can impact childern's futures. You could be asking yourself during all of these discussions what is the government doing about this? Aren’t there laws against bullying? Are there punishments for these criminal like actions?

On May 30, 2011 Brodie’s Law against bullying was passed in the Upper House. This law states that if a person is convicted of bullying they could be sent to prison up to 10 years.

The changes made to stalking laws will change workplace and cyber bullying punishment to Crimes Act provisions already governing stalking. However, children who use social networks like Facebook, Myspace and MSN to threaten or harass could be caught up in this change, although any children under the age of 10 cannot be brought before a criminal court.

Nineteen year old, Brodie Panlock was a waitress at the local Hawthorn café. In September of 2006, she jumped to her death from a building after being bullied at her workplace. If was later discovered that  co-workers abused her, spat on her, poured beer over her and held her down while she was doused in cooking oil. Brodie first attempted suicide by taking rat poison after being rejected by Smallwood whom she’d had a intimate relationship with.  

Damian and Rae have been trying for several years to change this law. "It's a good day but it's not the end it's the beginning," Damian said after seeing Brodie’s law passed. He commented that this was a good day but there is still much more to be done.

I have been reading several of these inspiring stories and I just praise God that he has created such strong willed people like Brodie’s family as well as Megan’s. These families have lost so much but at the same time are slowly but steadily over coming mountains.  

Adult Bullying: Is bullying in the workplace creating problems for future generations?

                The American economy has been in a downward slide for nearly a decade. Our future generations are now facing problems like soaring gas prices, budget cuts in school programs like Physical Education and music, along with budget and job cuts in the workplace. These problems are escalading out of control and could be linked to increasing bullying problems in the workplace. I recently discovered several articles that discussed studies showing a drastic increase in the percentage of workers bullied, not only here in American but around the world.

             The article,“Coalition cuts spark rise in work bullying” by Mark Ellis was posted on May 5, 2011 in England. This article discussed that one in three workers three have complained of bullying, nearly doubleing under the Tory-led Coalition government. And this problem is said to only get worse. However, many workers that are being bullied are afraid to complain as they are fearful of losing their jobs. A recent survey conducted by the largest public service union revealed how bullying causes stress, anxiety, anger, and low motivation to nearly 6,000 workers. Nearly half said they were too scared to complain as it could make them redundancy targets while one in four blamed cutbacks. And eight out of ten workers claimed they doubled their amount of work but still were receiving the same amount of pay due to budget cuts. This survey group expressed a great amount of concerned that bullying cases explode and multiple if these cuts continue.

            Another article I read over was post by Sandra Bookman from ABC news called, “The Bully-filled workplace”. This article discussed a studied that revealed that 35% of American workers claimed to have been bullied or are currently being bullied at work. That is approximately 53 million people! A young man shared with ABC how his first job out of college was a nightmare, claiming that he was belittled everyday by a co-worker that was verbally abusive. Many have linked this terrible behavior to the downward plunge of the economy. Many American are highly stressed with money issues due to the rising gas prices, etc. However, many will not voice their complainants for fear of losing their jobs. Though, not only is this growing problem creating health risks like depression and low self-esteem but, it can also hurt the company as well. Bullying can distract workers therefore causing a loss of productivity.

            How can we expect our children and future generations to stop bullying if adults are setting the example that bullying is okay? How can we expect to fix this problem without first fixing the problem that may be causing this? American needs to take responsibility for the problems it is creating for our future generation such as bullying. And I think that would start by setting a better example for our children, teens, and young adults.

Helpful tips for parents: Cyber Bullying

In the previous blog I shared the sad story of Megan Meier as an example of cyber bullying.  Although, parents can take many precautions, social networks like myspace can still be a very dangerous for teens and young adults like Megan. Below I have listed 10 helpful tips for parents and adults based off of personal knowledge and research in order to advise parents how to avoid another case like Megan’s.  

1.      Always know who your he or she are talking to online or on their phones.

2. Be able to access and see all information he or she is talking about or posting online. The chances are if they think that it’s something you shouldn’t see, that means it probley shouldn’t be said.
3. Make sure you’re his or her privacy settings are set on their accounts. Only sharing information with people you know and trust.( Megan did not know Josh personally but, only through myspace) Parents need to be aware of notices from social networks, because sometimes privacy settings change.
4. Make sure all profile information and pictures are appropriate. Therefore, not sending the wrong type of message to viewers.
5. Encourage him or her  not respond to cyberbullying. Many people post ,text ,or use name-calling to get a reaction. If someone has posted or sent a message that could be hurtful to others, encourage them to be the more mature person and refuse to pass it along or respond to it.
6. Parents should keep evidence of cyberbullying. Keep records of dates, times and descriptions of instances when cyberbullying has occurred. Save and print screenshots, e-mails, and text messages.
7. Block the person who is cyberbullying. Many websites and phone companies let you block people. Also, cyberbullying may violate the “Terms and Conditions” of these services. Consider contacting the service provider to file a complaint.
8. Parents and teachers need to report any incidents to school administrators. They may be able to help you resolve the cyberbullying or be watchful for face-to-face bullying. All incidents need to be reported no matter how minor the case.
9. Encourage he or she to Ask for help. Sometimes, talking to a counselor or health professional can help them get through the emotional effects of bullying. If they don’t want to talk to a health care professional encourage them to talk to someone they trust and can open up too.
10. Be aware . Today’s generation of children are extremely exposed to many situations that a parent or teacher cannot always prepare a person for, yes children and students need to learn on their own. However, parents and teachers need to always be aware of what is going on in case they need to intervene because the problem is becoming a life threatening situation.

The Megan Meier Foundation

14The cyber bullying case of Megan Meier was a tragic story that sadly ended with Megan taking her own life.  “The difference between stumbling blocks and stepping stones is how you use them”, I think this fits the Meier family’s story very well. When you think about the worst thing that could possibly happen to your child or friend, death is the worst. However, the Meier family chose to use their daughter’s story as a way to help others by creating the Megan Meier Foundation. Their mission statement is, “Bringing awareness, education and promote positive change to children, parents and educators in response to the ongoing bullying and cyber bullying in our children’s daily environment."

This foundation offers a website that share’s Megan’s story. This story offers step by step details of how this vicious mother gained Megan’s trust and confidence to convince Megan that she was a 16 year old boy named Josh. It also share’s personal conversations between Megan and her parents as well as “Josh”.

Megan’s mother, Tina began a personal blog on this website to update people on cyber bullying laws in progress, share personal events, interesting articles, and give personal advice. This blog also is serving as a great way for other victims or parents to share their stories and gain advice from Tina.

This website also offers events to raise bullying awareness in honor of Megan. Such as golf tournaments and silent auctions. The golf tournaments allow communities’ members as well as the general public to sponsor these events to support bullying awareness.

Overall, I think Megan’s parents are very inspiring! Even in the worst of times they got back up and chose to make a difference not only in their community but they shared their story across the nation.       

Cyber Bullying: Megan's Story

In previous blogs I have explained how important it is for to parents be aware of who their teens and young adults are associating with online, having access to those social accounts at all times and allowing only family, friends, or people you trust to see that information.

The Megan Meier story is an example of a young girl that had befriended a 16 year old boy named Josh Evans on her my space account. Although, Megan’s mother knew about and gave permission to Megan to add Josh on her myspace, Megan’s mother Tina kept a very close eye on them for the next 6 weeks. During this time Tina learned a great deal about the world of myspace including the 9 pages of term and conditions users are supposed to follow which included an age limit to be able to open a myspace account. The age limit was 14 years of age however, Tina claimed the only thing the account asks you to do is check mark a box telling your age. Although, Megan was under aged Tina made sure she set the privacy setting on her daughters account as well as knowing the password to the account therefore being able to access the account at any given time. During these six weeks Megan became very fond of Josh however, on October 15, 2006 Megan began receiving very disturbing from Josh that said, “I don't know if I want to be friends with you anymore because I've heard that you are not very nice to your friends.” On October 16, 2006 Megan became very upset after discovering that people that been posting mean things about her," They are posting bulletins about me." A bulletin is like a survey. "Megan Meier is a slut. Megan Meier is fat." Tina however, had to take her other daughter to the orthodontist and was running late but told Megan to log off before she left. After Tina came home she went downstairs only to discover Megan had not listened to her at all. Tina then became very anger with Megan. Megan then ran from the computer up stairs yelling, “You’re supposed to be my mom! You're supposed to be on my side!".  Tina then ran upstairs only 20 minutes later only to discover Megan hanging in her closest. Megan died the next day just before her 14^th birthday. Later that day Megan’s parents opened Megan’s myspace account to find the last message that Josh sent to her which was, "Everybody in O'Fallon knows how you are. You are a bad person and everybody hates you. Have a shitty rest of your life. The world would be a better place without you.” Later, authorities discovered that Josh Evans was actually a former friends mother that had created a fake myspace account to find out if Megan was talking about her daughter.

Megan’s story is a sad example of how even though parents can take many precautions technology can still be a very dangerous place for innocent teens and young adults like Megan to be bullied. This is why it is so important for account users to know ALL of their friends and have met them face to face.

STOP BULLYING.   

Who can be affected by Bullying: Teenagers and young adults continued

In the previous blog I began explaining the different methods of cyber bullying used among young adults and teenagers which included using social networks. This blog I would like to continue that topic by explaining cell phones that are used so frequently among teenagers and your adults. First, I want you to stop and think about how many cell phones you see daily and how many of those cell phones are being used by teenagers and young adults. According to www.cmch.tv, 60% of teen’s between the ages of 10-14 and 84% of teens and young adults from the age of 15-18 all have cell phones. On average these teenagers and young adults send over 3,000 text messages per. month.

As most people have discovered cell phones can be extremely beneficial to teens such as in an emergency situation or in case of daily plans changing. Although, cell phones and text messaging can be very convenient this form of technology can be a huge health risk as it is one of the leading culprits behind cyber bullying. Text messaging can be used to cyber bully a person without being face-to-face with that person. These bullies tend to be females and normally these girls would never say these mean things face to face. However, texts messages can be sent anonymously therefore making the bullies attack on that person even more distressful to the victim as they have no clue who is saying these mean things. Text messaging can be used to send hurtful, rude, mean messages, spread rumors, and create lies. These bullies goals are to embarrass, humiliate, or make fun of others in order to gain a sense of power and social status.

This form of cyber bullying can be spread anonymously, shared with a very wide audience and the victims can be attacked 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 day a year. Therefore, parents need to be extremely aware of the types of messages their children are sending and who they are sending them too. Parents also need to conscious of the warning signs that his or her teen or young adult is being bullied or bullying someone else.

STOP BULLYING.

Who can be affected by bullying:Teenagers & young adults

            Today’s generation of teenagers and young adults are constantly being consumed by everyday technology as our generation depends upon this for almost all their social connections. On average teenagers and young adults send over 3,000 texts monthly, spend 31 hours on a computer weekly and forty-three percent of teens claim to have been cyber bullied within the past year. Cyber bullying is a serious problem that is escalating quickly as more and more methods of social communication through technology are developed.

            A recent personal example of cyber bullying would be, the other day I was passing by my15 year old little brother while he was chatting on his facebook account. I first noticed his facial expression had a distressed look upon it and I asked what was wrong, but before he even had time to answer I seen why he had this look of  distress. He was talking to one of his now former church camp friends and she was continuously cursing and swearing at him for no apparent reason. This obviously was very upsetting to my little brother as he didn’t know how to respond to that type of language. It sickens me to know that such a young girl could think that talking to one of her “friends” in that manner was okay. It makes me even more upset to think that she would consider that method of persuasion in order to get what she wanted which was for my little brother to agree with her. Thus, I then advised my little brother to be the more mature person and not sink to her level and react to her fowl unlady-like language. I simply told him to either kill her with kindness or to let her choose her own path without being drug down that same path with her.

            The example above is a very mild case of cyber bullying however adults, parents, and even school officials need to be aware of all cases no matter how mild. My advise to adults and parents would be to always monitor and be able to access your child’s social accounts such as facebook, MSN, My space, Bebo, and Twitter. If your child claims he or she doesn’t want you to see something, most likely it doesn’t need to be posted on the internet. Another piece of advise I would have for parents would be to make sure all privacy settings on these social accounts are set so ONLY family, friends , or people that you trust can access this information.
STOP BULLYING    

Warning sign of being bullied

            Many children, teens, and young adults are bullied in many different ways which can include verbal, social, physical, and Cyber bullying. However, many of these children , teens, and young adults are too scared to come forward to tell someone or they are just too embarrassed. Another reason bullying has become such a problem among today’s generation is that parents, adults, and even teachers are not giving their children and students enough time. We as Americans are constantly on the go and are extremely busy people. Therefore, you need to stop and ask yourself are you really seeing the world around you?  Do you actually know what is going on in his or her life? Do you know who he or she is talking too? Do you know what he or she is watching? Do you know what he or she is posting online? Parents and teachers need to be aware of the warning signs for bullying as this is a very critical time in that young person’s life. The effects of bullying can be permanent leading to an un-healthy life style with depression, fatigue, and even death. The following are some of the warning signs parents and teachers need to be aware of if he or she:

1.       comes home with damaged or missing clothing or other belongings

2.      reports losing items such as books, electronics, clothing, or jewelry

3.       has unexplained injuries

4.      complains frequently of headaches, stomachaches, or feeling sick

5.       has trouble sleeping or has frequent bad dreams

6.       has changes in eating habits

7.      hurts themselves

8.       are very hungry after school from not eating their lunch

9.      runs away from home

10.  loses interest in visiting or talking with friends

11.  is afraid of going to school or other activities with peers

12.   loses interest in school work or begins to do poorly in school

13.   appears sad, moody, angry, anxious or depressed when they come home

14.   talks about suicide or tries to commit suicide

15.  feels helpless

16.  often feels like they are not good enough

17.  blames themselves for their problems

18.  suddenly has fewer friends

19.  avoids certain places

20.  acts differently than usual

21.  wants to be alone all the time

22.  acts depressed

23.  loss of interest from hobbies they once loved

What is Bullying?

What is bullying?

Bullying is an aggressive behavior that involves unwanted, negative actions that follow a repeating pattern over time generally creating an imbalance of power or strength.

            What are the different types of Bullying?
Bullying can include verbal bullying, social bullying, physical bullying, and the rapidly increasing Cyber bullying.

             Verbal Bullying
Verbal bullies use words as their choice of weapon in order to hurt or humiliate their victim. Verbal Bullying can include including derogatory comments, name calling, insulting, making racist comments, and constant teasing. “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never harm me”. This common rhyme has been told over and over again to kids of all ages. However, this saying is entirely wrong as the harsh reality is that teasing and taunting can have devastating affects in some ways although this can be easily over looked as there are no visible scars.

                Social Bullying
       Social bullies use the strategy of “actions speak louder than words”. Therefore, social bullies use the power of silence to bully their victims by convincing their peers to exclude, isolate, or reject certain people. Therefore, these types of bullies cut victims off from their social connections.  This type of bullying can be linked to verbal bullying . This type of bullying most commonly occurs from children that spread nasty rumors about others or exclude an ex-friend from the peer group. (This occurs most often with girls)  The most devastating effect with this type of bullying is the rejection.

                     Physical bullying
           Physical bullies are a classic case of bullying which is often demonstrated in movies. These bullies easy identified and are generally well known among the school population. These bullies often use threats such as hitting, kicking, punching, or taking and damaging the victim's property.  These bullies often learn these violent behaviors from watching parents, older siblings or from being physically abused themselves. As these types of bullies get older their attacks generally become more aggressive.

            Cyber bullying

        Cyber Bullying is a very serious problem among today’s generation of children, teens and even adults. Bullying has become more than a face to face confrontation as today’s generation is more tech. savvy than ever. Therefore, making it easier for bullies to humiliate their victims socially by spreading rumors through text messages, myspace, facebook, or email anonymously. This type of bullying often causes a tremendous amount of stress due to the fact that it is anonymously and these bullies can attack their victims at any given time. These bullies often engage in behavior they normally wouldn’t if they were face to face.      

             STOP BULLYING.

Who can be affected by bullying:Childern

The classic movie The Christmas Story from 1983 demonstrates in my opinion the most typical case of bullying among children. Throughout this movie it shows scenes demonstrating Ralphie, Randy, Flick, and Schwartz all being bullied going to and from school by two boys. The mean boys endlessly called the four boys names and threatened them. All four boys at one point or another were experiencing physical, verbal and emotional bullying. Clearly, this bullying struck fear into these boys as they fled at the mere sight of the two mean boys. Although, this movie expresses bullying in a comical manner realistically close to half of all children will experience school bullying at some point while they are at primary or secondary school according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. And at least 10 percent of children are bullied regularly. Boys are more likely to use physical threats as a strategy in their bullying. They like to force others to do what they want and gain power from a situation by physical intimidation.

The movie Mean Girls from 2004 displays more of the verbal and emotional forms of bullying that so commonly affect girls. Although, this movie targets high school girls, these forms of bullying do not only occur during high school surprisingly. I have discussed this many many times with my friends and family. Girls put way more thought into fights, getting back at one another, etc. Overall girls are WAY more emotional than boys and take things more personally. According to the 2009 bullying statistics at www.bullyingstatistics.org  their study showed that female and white students reported the most incidents of being the victims of bullying.

Child Bullying should not be taken lightly as it can cause serious depression, physical harm, or even death. Everyone should be aware of child bullying and the affects it could have on future generations to come.

STOP BULLYING.

Introduction to Bullying

Have you heard the echo? Harassment, abuse, and discrimination are several words that can be used to describe the echo that has existed for centuries. It’s chime can be easily heard among adults, teenagers, and even children. This constant recurrence effect’s everyone and anyone at least one time or another in their life and is not to be taken lightly. The consequences of this echo can be low self-esteem, physical abuse, or even death. Whether, it would be at school, through texting, facebook, or even the everyday workplace, everyone is affected by bullying! Bullying is a form of intimidation or domination towards someone who is perceived as being weaker. Bullies feed off of fear, resistance, and anyone who might challenge their authority. Although, the United States has improved and raised bullying awareness by passing Anti Bullying laws among 45 states. The percent number of bullying cases is stilling growing. I personally think this is due to a lack of parenting, self control,and outside influences such a TV, cell phones, and most of all the mind-blowing internet.

            I am starting a blog about bullying for my English 112 class. Throughout my blog I will discuss the different types of bullying, who it affects and how, how to recognize the signs of bullying, how to prevent bulling, statistics, give examples and share any interesting thoughts about bullying along the way. Overall all I hope to better educate myself on this topic, given this opportunity and through that hopefully I can use my knowledge to raise awareness among my classmates.   

STOP BULLYING.