I am NOT a doctor…and I am NOT a bully either!!!!

Bullying has always been an important issue but now it’s even more severe with the growing reports of young people taking their own lives as a result of being bullied.

It’s sad, upsetting and disgusting to think that people can be so cruel. Now, more than ever it’s important to:

a) NOT be a bully
b) STOP bullying whenever you see it. I’m not saying resort to fist-to-cuffs, but do your best to diffuse the situation as best you can.

Here are some alarming stats about bullying:

• Punching, shoving, teasing, spreading bad rumours, keeping certain people out of a group, getting certain people to “gang-up” on others are all forms of bullying
• One in seven Canadian children aged 11 to 16 are victims of bullying
• 25% of children in grades 4 to 6 have been bullied
• Bullying occurs once every 7 minutes on the playground and once every 25 minutes in the classroom
• In majority of cases, bullying stops within 10 seconds when peers intervene, or do not support the bullying behaviour
• Adults who were bullied as children are more likely to suffer from depression in adulthood.
• * Between 10% and 15% of high school students are victims.
• * 11% of secondary students bully other youngsters at least once a year.
• * 31% of students say they would participate in the bullying of a young dislikes.

People, kids especially have enough to worry about when they grow up in terms of pimples and hair in places they normally didn’t have hair earlier, etc. They should NOT be worried about the clothes they wear or the toys they have because of fear that they will get made fun of/bullied.

Thankfully, there are programs in place like http://www.stopabully.ca that list the facts and bring awareness and solutions to bullying.

[Start stopping bullies]

Dr. Steve, Ph.D. (Pretty Helpful Dude)