BULLYING: THE ART OF BEING A JERK
Bullying is still a major problem according to the Boys and Girls Club of America's "Youth Right Now" survey. But let's be honest, bullying has been around since the dawn of time. Even cavemen probably bullied each other over who had the best cave painting.
The survey found that 40% of youth report being bullied on school grounds in the last year. That's double the number reported in 2012. It's like bullies are multiplying faster than rabbits on Viagra. And to make matters worse, 18% of youth have experienced cyberbullying. So now bullies don't even have to leave their house to torment someone. They can just do it from the comfort of their own bed while eating a bag of Cheetos.
But let's not dwell on the negative. Let's focus on the positive. The Boys and Girls Club of America's survey is helping over 5,200 Boys & Girls Clubs improve their services to youth. That's great news! Maybe they can start offering classes on how to give a proper wedgie or how to make a really good prank call.
Licensed professional counselor, Nancy Lloyd, says that bullying can be particularly hard to prevent in school because of a lack of resources. But I have a solution! We should just hire a bunch of clowns to follow the bullies around all day. That way, every time they try to bully someone, a clown can pop out and squirt them with a flower or honk a horn in their face. It's foolproof!
In all seriousness though, bullying is no laughing matter. Children start forming their identity and discovering who they are around age nine, so experiencing bullying at this age can have lasting effects. Parents need to be "emotion-focused," and have multiple conversations with their children to try and understand the situation. Or they could just give their kids a can of whoop-ass and tell them to stand up for themselves.
In conclusion, bullying sucks. It's been around forever and it doesn't seem like it's going away anytime soon. But we can all do our part to help prevent it. Whether it's through education, clown squads, or just teaching our kids to be strong and confident, we can make a difference. And who knows, maybe one day we'll live in a world where everyone is nice to each other and we can all hold hands and sing Kumbaya. Or maybe not. But it's worth a shot.
Recent study finds number of students bullied at school has doubled since 2012 | WCIV https://abcnews4.com/news/local/recent-study-finds-number-of-students-bullied-at-school-has-doubled-since-2012-ecuation-news-school-abc-news-4-wciv
Insights from the largest data set on kids and teens. https://bgca.org/en/about-us/youth-right-now
