Preventing Bullying with Cooperative Games Both bullying and being bullied destroy the basic peace and sense of security students need for happiness, learning, and growth-all the normal positive experiences that should be available to every child in school. A Secret Service study of school shootings found that “almost three-quarters of the attackers felt persecuted, bullied, threatened, attacked, or injured by others prior to the incident.” 5īesides all of the suffering, bullying is also tragic for the loss of opportunity it represents. Victims of bullying sometimes explode in ways that threaten the school community, including school shootings. 4 It’s not just the bullies who are at risk for later criminal behavior. Nearly 60 percent of boys classified by researchers as bullies in grades six through nine were convicted of at least one crime by the age of 24. Moreover, the link between bullying and later delinquent and criminal behavior is clear. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, over 27 percent of students aged 12 to 18 reported being bullied at school during the school year in 2011, the most recent year for which statistics are available. 2 Nevertheless, bullying is shockingly common. Girls who are bullied are eight times more likely to be suicidal. Bullied boys are four times more likely to be suicidal.

Kids who are bullied are five times more likely to be depressed compared to their peers. Its effects can be severe and long-lasting.

1īullying typically begins in elementary school, peaks in middle school, and declines in the final years of high school. The behavior is repeated or has the potential to be repeated over time…Bullying includes such actions as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physical or verbally, and excluding someone from a group. The Department of Health and Human Services defines bullying this way:īullying is unwanted aggressive behavior among school-aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The basic fact of bullying is that it is a cruel torment, so disturbing that most educators would prefer to look away. By Suzanne Lyons, Founder, Cooperative Games

Game over dealing with bullies kids