This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Schools

Parents Talk: The Serious Issue of Bullying

Please join our conversation about this weighty issue and how it affects the children in Waukesha and Muskego.

Based on results of a recent study, chances are good that your teenager has been bullied, knows someone who has been bullied or has bullied someone. 

According to a fall 2010 study by the Josephson Institute of Ethics, half of all high school students admit they bullied someone in the past year, and nearly half (47 percent) say they were bullied, teased, or taunted in a way that seriously upset them in the past year. The study reports the responses from more than 43,000 high school students, public and private.

The results were similar among different types of schools attended.

Find out what's happening in Waukeshawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In public schools, 47 percent of public high school students reported that they were bullied, teased, or taunted in a way that seriously upset them at least once within year compared to 48 percent in religious private schools and 45 percent in non-religious private schools, according to the study.

Forty-nine percent of public high school students reported that they bullied, teased, or taunted someone, compared to 44 percent of students from religious private schools and 58 percent from non-religious private schools.

Find out what's happening in Waukeshawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Bullying is a widespread and serious problem that can happen anywhere. It is not a phase children have to go through, it is not ‘just messing around’, and it is not something to grow out of. Bullying can cause serious and lasting harm,” according to the website StopBullying.gov.

According to the website, although definitions of bullying vary, most agree that bullying involves an imbalance of power, intent to cause harm and repetition. Bullying can take many forms name-calling, teasing, spreading rumors, leaving people out on purpose, breaking up friendships, hitting, punching, shoving and cyberbullying, using the Internet, mobile phones or other digital technologies to harm others.

The problem is not confined to teenagers.

One friend’s son was bullied “pretty badly” in second grade. The situation was resolved but not by the school, where the problem was occurring.

“It's really tough to stomach when a bullying issue gets resolved in spite of the adults who should be handling the resolution,” my friend said.

What’s your experience with bullying? Have you or your children been bullied? Was the school helpful? What was helpful? Has anything really changed since we were kids? What about cyber bullying?

Also, does our society condone or glorify bullying behavior? What about the ‘mean girls’ portrayed on TV? Recently, I saw a car with a bumper sticker that said "Bully" cut off another car and wondered if it was now cool to be a bully.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Waukesha