Bullying Prevention
October 23, 2017
October is National Bullying Prevention Month and, in an effort to unite communities, PACER is asking that people wear orange on Wednesday, October 25th, to show their support. Bullying is still very prevalent in our schools – more than 20% of students have reported being bullied which means there’s more kids who do not report this behavior.
Bullying is not just in schools, it happens when students are home. Cyberbullying is the use of electronic communication to bullying a person. This means that a child can leave school, go home, sign onto their social media and still be harassed.
A much larger amount (about 70%) of young people and even school staff have said they’ve witnessed bullying and more often than not bystander intervention helps stop bullying. It is also estimated by the US Department of Justice that around 160,000 kids per day do not attend school for fear of being bullied.
It’s a very sad reality for kids to face, but if we show them that adults care and support them, they can seek help to end the harassment. So, again, please wear orange this Wednesday, October 25th.