Enduring harassment from the school bully may seem like just another undesirable experience that goes along with growing up, but some experts point to more serious impacts later in life that make it important to stop bullies early.
This Friday, a statewide conference in Greensboro, N.C., will present bullying as a national public health issue and offer methods of deterrence. The conference, sponsored by the North Carolina Medical Society Alliance, is entitled "Bullying: How to Stop the Bully Without Becoming One," and aims to draw around 225 people in professions ranging from education to medicine to government.
SuEllen Fried, the guest speaker for the event, is an author and advocate for the prevention of child abuse. "I hope to share enough data that will elevate the problem of bullying in [attendees'] minds so they will come to realize how serious it is," Fried said. She also aims to empower both children and adults to play a larger preventative role in bullying and to help them see that bullying can have lasting effects. "It is time to give up the myth that bullying is a rite of passage and that everyone comes out okay," she said.
Conference Co-Chair Anne Ashburn said the upcoming conference will emphasize the immediate need for action.
"Many organizations have done studies on it. It is time to address it," Ashburn said. "Research... has shown that people who were bullies as youths had a greater chance of becoming abusers or having criminal records." She added that previous symposiums have also been directed towards issues that have affected youth.
Marilyn Walls, a member of the NCMSA, cited the work the organization has done to help students who feel threatened. "We have developed resource materials for dealing with bullying, even [specifically] for little kids," she said.
She also mentioned how current methods of changing student behavior are not as effective as they could be. "It is important to try to provide alternative means of communication," she said, adding that adults cannot offer guidance to children merely by warning them not to bully.
Throughout her career, Fried has advocated increased communication between students with different experiences. "I ask children to listen to each other, and they realize how much collective wisdom they have," she said. "The more responses I get from students, the more options occur to them."
Recent studies have demonstrated the prevalence of bullying in the hallways of America's schools. A 2001 report in the Journal of the American Medical Association of over 15,000 sixth-through-tenth graders found that 16 percent of students were victims of bullying, and almost 30 percent were involved in some aspect of bullying. Studies in Norway and England suggest that bullying is even more prevalent.
In Durham however, some school officials point to larger issues that need to be addressed besides bullying. "I don't see bullying as being a problem so much as gang-related issues on the streets of Durham," said Larry McDonald, principal of Southern High School. Nathan Curry, assistant principal of Hillside High School, said the school has a much lower tolerance of bullying than some middle schools.
Fried said that in general there is much less bullying in high school than in middle school.
"The quantity decreases at the high school level, as students become more mature. But [high school administrators] are not aware of how much is underground."
In North Carolina elementary schools, there are already established programs to help students build social skills and prevent bullying. Elizabeth Feifs, executive director of guidance and counseling of Durham Public Schools, described several programs now in place, such as the buddy program which pairs problem students with behavioral role models.
In addition, she mentioned once-a-week sessions based in cognitive behavioral therapy and programs to help develop social skills, both offered at local elementary schools.
Despite preventative programs, Fried said bullying remains a problem for millions of students in America, and its effects can lead to escalating violence. "People don't realize how much more malevolent bullying has become. Children have access to weapons, they are exposed to violent images... The world is a scarier place that can leave tremendous scars," Fried said. "Peer abuse is an issue whose time has come."
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