Forty percent of U.S. students voluntarily report being involved in bullying -- as bullies or as victims -- according to the results of the first national survey on this subject. Bullying is increasingly viewed as an important contributor to youth violence, including homicide and suicide. Case studies of the shooting at Columbine High School and other U.S. schools trace the multiple murders to bullying incidents.
In a survey of 558 students in a Midwestern middle school, 80 percent of the students had engaged in bullying behavior during the previous 30 days, verbally or in cyberspace by teasing, name calling, spreading malicious rumors, ridiculing, and leaving students out of social activities deliberately, or even physically by damaging belongings, aggression, extortion, beating, and use of deadly force.
Given that most bullying goes unnoticed and unreported, Americans have been slow to react to this behavior that is taking over our schools. Other countries deal with mean people while, in the United States, take-charge insolence, no matter how threatening, is rewarded in schools, in business, in sports, and in everyday life. Often those who stand up to a bully suffer retribution so that their only defense seems to be to turn to violence themselves.
School is a prime location for bullying, and its effects can last a lifetime. Bullying is one of the most underrated and enduring problems in schools today and is a reality in the lives of all children, whether they are bullies, victims, or witnesses.
In this book, you will learn why bullying occurs and get at the root causes for it, why some children are victimized and why others are vicious, how to develop an anti-bullying policy, how students, parents, and teachers can work together to stop it before it goes too far. You will learn about cyber bullying, racist bullying, sexist bullying, phone or note bullying, gang bullying, teacher bullying, and sports bullying. You will know how to evaluate the bullying problem in your school, develop anger management and conflict resolution skills, develop awareness of the problem, learn victim role playing and assertiveness training, and how to provide better supervision of key areas of the school where bullying often occurs.
All children deserve the right to go to school free of intimidation. Help make your school bully-free by using the information contained in this groundbreaking new book. If you are interested in learning essentially everything there is to know about stopping bullies and bullying, then this book is for you.
Atlantic Publishing is a small, independent publishing company based in Ocala, Florida. Founded over twenty years ago in the company president's garage, Atlantic Publishing has grown to become a renowned resource for non-fiction books. Today, over 450 titles are in print covering subjects such as small business, healthy living, management, finance, careers, and real estate. Atlantic Publishing prides itself on producing award winning, high-quality manuals that give readers up-to-date, pertinent information, real-world examples, and case studies with expert advice. Every book has resources, contact information, and web sites of the products or companies discussed.
Margaret Kohut is an Oklahoma native and still holds proudly to her "Midwestern drawl." She earned bachelor's degrees in English and criminal justice, and a master's degree in social work. Her initial foray into human service work was as a correctional officer in both adult and juvenile maximum security correctional institutions. Margaret's unique job history includes being a courtroom bailiff and a fugitive recovery agent ("bounty hunter"), and she spent a year in the private practice of clinical social work specializing in adoption studies, pre-sentence investigations, probation and parole intervention, family therapy, and therapy with troubled juveniles. Margaret has a strong educational and vocational history of forensic counseling and addiction therapy. Margaret served in the United States Air Force for 17 years as a commissioned officer and clinical social worker, providing psychotherapy services for active duty members, family members, and retirees. Margaret served the nation during Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom. She is now a disabled veteran, conducting her full-time freelance writing business from her home. Margaret maintains national-level certifications in human services. She is a prolific writer, having penned many award-winning publications for the Air Force on mental health issues, domestic violence, workplace violence, chemical dependency, trauma therapy, and adolescent acting-out behavior. As a civilian, Margaret coauthored an academic textbook on sexual serial killers and has been extensively published in the Canadian Journal of Adlerian Psychology and other academic publications. Margaret founded Rocky Mountain Way Freelance Writing in February 2006 after more than 20 years of non-commercial writing. Margaret was selected for the 2007-2008 Cambridge Registry Honors Edition of Outstanding Business and Professional Women. She is the recipient of numerous writing awards, including the 2008 National Book Award and the Bronze Medal Award from the Independent Publishers contest in 2008 for her book on school bullying. In 2009, Margaret was selected for lifetime inclusion in the Cambridge Who's Who Registry. Margaret lives in Anaconda, Montana with her husband of 18 years, Lt. Col. (ret) Dr. Tristan Kohut, senior physician at the Montana State Prison, and their 13 miniature dachshunds; most of them are accomplished animal-assisted therapy dogs. She can be reached via her Web site, www.rockymountainwaywriting.com.
