-Caveat Lector- > > Survey figures > Nationwide survey shows bullying widespread among students > > >From News Services > Wednesday, April 25, 2001 > > > Amid growing concern over school violence, a nationwide study has found that > bullying affects nearly one of every three U.S. children in sixth through > 10th grades. Young students and boys were most likely to be affected. > > The authors say their 1998 survey of 15,686 public and private school > students is among the first to document the prevalence of bullying in U.S. > classrooms, and the results show that not enough has been done to prevent > what is often seen as an unpleasant rite of passage. > > "It's a problem that has been in a lot of ways ignored for quite a while," > said lead author and researcher Tonja Nansel of the National Institute of > Child Health and Human Development. > > The survey appears in today's Journal of the American Medical Association. > > It is part of the U.S. contribution to a study of worldwide childhood health > and behavior by the World Health Organization. > > Bullying has been implicated in recent school shootings, including the March > slayings of two students in Santee, Calif., and the 1999 massacre of 13 by > two students at Columbine High in Colorado. > > A growing number of schools across the country have adopted bullying > intervention programs; the Colorado Legislature is considering a proposal > that would require school districts to develop an anti-bullying policy. > > Among the most recent programs in Minnesota schools to combat violence, > including bullying, is the Safe Schools/Healthy Students program that is > being organized in the St. Paul public schools and the Fertile-Beltrami > School District in northwestern Minnesota. > > They are two of 77 sites nationwide with grants from the U.S. Departments of > Education, Justice and Health and Human Services that are intended to make > schools safe by making their communities safer, using a combination of > educational, mental health and social services. > > "The initiative is based on evidence that a comprehensive communitywide > approach is an effective way to ... address the problems of school > violence," program sponsors said. > > According to information from the Department of Justice, the St. Paul > program includes a violence-prevention curriculum, mental health centers in > schools to combat violence and suicide, and projects on peaceful parenting > and school readiness. > > Participating schools are Battle Creek Middle School, Cleveland Quality > Middle School, Hazel Park Academy, Mississippi Magnet and Bruce Vento > Elementary School. Participating agencies, besides the school district, > include the Wilder Foundation, the St. Paul Police Department and Big > Brothers Big Sisters. > > The Fertile-Beltrami Schools, trying to rebound from the 1997 flooding that > among other things prompted a soaring school mobility rate, is leading seven > school districts and social agencies with plans for home-based nurse visits > for struggling mothers, expanded after-school programs, and Spanish > translations of all school materials. > > Such programs, Nansel said, have been shown to work in other countries but > are untested in the United States, where efforts to address the problem have > been hampered by a pervasive attitude "that kids will be kids and this is > just going to happen." > > Since nationwide research on bullying is so scarce, the survey doesn't show > whether the U.S. prevalence is rising, she said. And while it did not > examine criminal behavior, the survey found that fighting was more common > among bullies and bullied children. > > Researchers also point out that the study has limitations. It relies on the > children's own assessments, which may not be wholly accurate. > > "The merits of the study are obvious: the size of the study and the fact > that it's a representative sample covering both middle and high school," > said Jaana Juvonen, a behavioral scientist at Rand Corp. in Santa Monica, > Calif. "But it's important to recognize that this study is all based on self > report." > > Children who said they were bullied reported more loneliness and difficulty > making friends, while those who did the bullying were more likely to have > poor grades and to smoke and drink alcohol, the survey found. > > Other research has shown that people who were bullied as children are prone > to depression and low self-esteem as adults, and that bullies are more > likely to engage in criminal behavior. > > Kevin Dwyer, a school psychologist and adviser for the National Mental > Health Association, said there is evidence that the incidence of physical > fights and violence in schools has declined in recent years. > > To reduce bullying, schools need to involve all staff members, parents and > even student bystanders. > > "People need to recognize that adolescence is not an easy time," he said. > "We should prepare for it, which we don't. We treat adolescents as if > they're little adults and we request of them to kind of take care of > themselves." > > -- Star Tribune staff writer H.J. Cummins contributed to this report. > > > > Return to top � Copyright 2001 Star Tribune. All rights reserved. > > > > > <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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