By Carolina Rizzo

Journalism Class Reporter

Seventh-grader Anastasia Da Silva has always spoke differently then her classmates. She had speech problems, and ever since she was young, kids made fun of her for the way she talked. Eventually she overcame her speech problem and bullying ceased.

“It felt horrible. I used to be made of fun of for the way I talked,” She said.

She is just one of the many students who get bullied everyday. In fact, about 30 percent of students in grades 6-10 are involved in either frequent or moderate bullying, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Types of Bullying

Cyber bullying can happen through email, Facebook, MySpace, cell phones and many other technologies. This past year, 43 percent of teen ages 13 to 17 have experienced some sort of cyber bullying, and 68 percent of teens agree cyber bullying is a serious problem.

Verbal Bullying can be just as harmful as physical bullying. All bullying whether verbal, cyber, or physical, focuses on a situation where a victim is dominated by an aggressor. Girls use social exclusion techniques as well as verbal bullying to show their superiority and power,while boys use verbal bullying for domination.

Seventh-grader Etta Conteh was verablly bullied in elementary school because she was smart. “It felt bad. I wanted to start doing bad[in school]” she said.

Phyiscal bullying can take many forms– hitting, pushing, spitting, slapping, and stealing or destorying possessions of others. Bullying is most common in middle school, but bullying can occur in early grades as well as high school and adulthood.

Mental Effects

Bullying can lead to depression, low self-esteem, health problems, poor grades, and sucidal thoughts. “There is no offical ‘psychological reason’ bullying leads to suicide however the effects of constant bullying leads to suicide however the effects of constant bullying leads to students feeling hopeless, depressed, alone, and worthless. Many students who contemplate suicide following repeated bullying state that ‘no one cares’ and that ‘they can’t take it anymore.’  They only see suicide as a solution” said Ms. Sakay, student support specialist.

Nearly one student in every classroom is being bullied and the rest , bystanders, are affected by bullying.

“I don’t believe that any decent person could stand by and observe someone being bullied. Most people understand how frightening bullying can be and will try to prevent it. What actually makes them want to step in as a bystander may come from personal experience, education, or just plain deceny” teacher Ms. Queiroz said.

Talking About It

“Students who are bullied often feel that they are unimportant and no one will help them.  Many are also fearful of reporting bullying because they worry the buly will retaliate. It is commonly believed that reporting bullying in ‘snitching.’ It is NOT,” Mrs. Saky said.

“Reporting bullying is done in order to get someone out of trouble, ‘snitching’ or ‘tattling’ is done in order to get someone in trouble and doesn’t apply to bullying incidents. The more students that make decisions based on defintion, the less bullying will occur.”

Conteh said she talked with her aunt and uncle, who encourgaged her to keep doing well, and told her that bullies were jealous of her. She wished to her former bullies, “Your words don’t hurt me because in the end, I’ll be on top!”

Anti-Bullying Resources

STRYVE(Striving to Reduce Youth Violence Everywhere)- www.safeyouth.gov/

Stop Bullying Now- www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov

National Crime Prevention Council- Cyberbullying www.ncpc.org/cyberbullying/

GLSEN(the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network) www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/home/index.html

The Trevor Project - www.thetrevorproject.org/

It  Gets Better Project -  www.itgetsbetter.org