Bullying

About Bullying

What is bullying?   When someone tries to make you feel bad about yourself and it is hard for you to make it stop.

Basically, there are three things that need to be present in a situation for it to be defined as bullying:

  • Unwanted, aggressive behavior = words or behavior intended to harm or hurt another person

  • An imbalance of power = a real or perceived power imbalance between those involved; someone could be bigger, older, stronger, more popular, or part a group 'ganging up' on someone else

  • Repetition = it happens more than once, or has the potential to happen more than once

Bullying can be verbal, social, and/or physical. It can be direct and confrontational, or passive. Bullying can be covert, with few or no witnesses, but it can also be very visible, even occurring through publicly-shared media platforms. Whether teasing, name-calling, spreading rumors, hitting or purposely excluding someone, bullying always has negative impacts on those that witness the behavior and those that engage in the behavior.

Report it!  Bully Patrol(Elementary schools), Say Something(Middle & High Schools) is our dedicated online tool for reporting bullying located on the WS/FCS district home page. It is accessible 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. You can also find a teacher, School Counselor, School Social Worker or other staff member who will listen. No one has to face these problems alone.

Online Anti-Bullying Information & Organizations

AbilityPath.org: Support for Parents of Children with Special Needs
AbilityPath.org is an online hub and special needs community for parents and professionals to learn, connect and live a more balanced life - through all phases of a child's growth and development. The website combines social networking features with expert content from AbilityPath.org’s team of educators, parents, therapists and medical professionals. It includes relevant information and resources on special needs bullying.

Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League was founded in 1913 "to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all." Now the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency, ADL fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects civil rights for all.

Bully Bust: Promoting a Community of Upstanders
A nationwide bully prevention campaign that supports students and adults to become “upstanders”—people who stand up against bullying or mean/cruel behavior, and mobilize the entire community to end harmful harassment, teasing, and violence in our nation's schools.

Bystander Revolution
Bystander Revolution is a website offering practical, crowdsourced advice about simple things individuals can do to defuse bullying and help shift the culture. The ultimate goal is the discussion and spread of simple habits of kindness, courage, and inclusion.

Cyberbullying Research Center
Dedicated to providing up-to-date information on cyberbullying, this website serves as a clearinghouse of information and resources for parents, educators, law enforcement officers, counselors, and others who work with youth. 

Girlshealth.gov
Girlshealth.gov offers girls reliable, useful information on health and well-being. We cover hundreds of topics and are committed to empowering girls to create strong, positive relationships and happy, healthy futures.

Girlshealth.gov was created in 2002 by the Office on Women’s Health, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network)
At GLSEN, we want every student, in every school, to be valued and treated with respect, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. We believe that all students deserve a safe and affirming school environment where they can learn and grow.

We accomplish our goals by working in hallways across the country -- from Congress and the Department of Education to schools and district offices in your community -- to improve school climate and champion LGBT issues in K-12 education. 

ItGetsBetter.org
The It Gets Better Project was created to show young LGBT people the levels of happiness, potential, and positivity their lives will reach – if they can just get through their teen years. The It Gets Better Project wants to remind teenagers in the LGBT community that they are not alone — and it WILL get better.

Media Smarts: Canada's Centre for Digital and Media Literacy
MediaSmarts has been developing digital and media literacy programs and resources for Canadian homes, schools and communities since 1996. Through our work we support adults with information and tools so they can help children and teens develop the critical thinking skills they need for interacting with the media they love.

Though a Canadian website, it contains valuable information and is relevant to parents and kids living in the U.S.A.

NetSmartz® Workshop
Provides age-appropriate resources to help teach children how to be safer on- and offline. Designed for children ages 5-17, parents and guardians, educators, and law enforcement. Includes videos, games, activity cards, and presentations.

PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center
PACER's portal page for parents and educators to access bullying resources, which include educational toolkits, awareness toolkits, contest ideas, promotional products and more.

PFLAG (Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays)
PFLAG chapters work directly with schools and stakeholders in their communities, providing support, resources, training, creative programs, and even model policy to create an environment of respect. Our umbrella program to support their efforts, work with our national partners and raise visibility of the issues facing LGBTQ youth in learning environments is our Cultivating Respect: Safe Schools for All program. Our advocacy work at the federal, state and local levels are an integral part as well. All of this work is designed to reinforce and support the work done by our local chapters to ensure that we all create and support learning environments that help all students find educational success.

PREVnet (Promoting Relationships & Elminating Violence Network)
Canada's authority on bullying. This site contains valuable information and is relevant to parents and kids living in the U.S.A.

PREVNet is a national network of leading researchers and organizations, working together to stop bullying in Canada. It is the first of its kind in this country and a world leader in bullying prevention. Through education, research, training and policy change, PREVNet aims to stop the violence caused by bullying - so every child can grow up happy, healthy and safe.

Stomp Out Bullying
STOMP Out Bullying™ focuses on reducing and preventing bullying, cyberbullying, sexting and other digital abuse, educating against homophobia, racism and hatred, decreasing school absenteeism, and deterring violence in schools, online and in communities across the country. 

Stop Bullying Now
Website of the Youth Voice Project; including information, advice and ideas for schools, parents and youth.

StopBullying.gov
A federal government website managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; providing one-stop access to U.S. Government information on bullying topics.

The Bully Project
The BULLY Project is a full spectrum advocacy campaign inspired by the award winning film BULLY. Powered by partnership, we build will and capacity for social and emotional learning practices as the key to creating safer schools and improving educational outcomes for all. The film Bully has screened to 4 million kids and educators all over the world. The BULLY Project website, social media channels and tools reach over 13 million people a week and are essential go-to resources for thousands of individuals seeking to create a culture of kindness.

The Trevor Project
Founded in 1998 by the creators of the Academy Award®-winning short film TREVOR, The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) young people ages 13-24.

University of Cinncinati: Behavior Analysis
The University of Cinncinati Behavior Analysis has a webpage devoted to "Understanding Bullying Behavior." This webpage provides a brief but comprehensive introduction to bullying in an easy-to-understand, straightforward format. Each segment provides a short list of links to other online resources for further information. (Thanks for this link go to an enthusiastic Ohio student who took the time to share.)